Week 2: RFID Case Studies and RFID Standard

As we have learned during week 1, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a relatively new technology to the supply chain, although it has been around since the 50's. RFID tags can be used in different configurations: Active/ Passive, Read-only, Write once/ read many (WORM), Read/ Write.

There are many benefits of RFID:

• RFID technology has the ability to send relatively large amounts of data with the product as it travels through the supply chain
• Read/ write RFID tags can be updated through the manufacturing steps of a product
• By lowering the error rate of goods moved through the supply chain, vendors can share in the savings realized by RFID technology

By using RFID, Wal-Mart saved EIGHT BILLION DOLLARS!!!

• 6.7 billion -- eliminating the need to have people scan barcodes on pallets
• $600 million -- reduced out of stock
• $575 million -- RFID scanning of products automatically reduces administrative error and vendor fraud
• $300 million -- better tracking of the more than 1 billion pallets and cases that move through its distribution centers each year
• $180 million -- improved visibility of what products are in the supply chain in its own distribution centers
• Total = $8.35 billion -- total pre-tax saving is higher than the total revenue of more than half the companies on the Fortune 500.

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ECPglobal:

• Standards and govemance
• Public policy
• Training templates
• Brands, marketing

Migration Paths

• Global Trade Item Number (GTIN): Item, case, pallet; 14-digit generalization of product barcodes
• Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC): Logistics units (shipping containers); SSCC is unique to a particular shipment
• Global Location Number (GLN): Physical, functional, legal entities; company division or department, down to specific storage area within a building
• Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI): Rented or loaned objects (pallets, gas cylinders, beer kegs...)
• Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI): High-value long-lived assets

EPCglobal Network Infrastructure

(Grandiose) vision is global common standardized network infrastructure:

• Tags with EPC's identify physical objects
• Readers with filtering/ aggregation gather information about tags
• Information about EPC's exchanged using Physical Markup Language
• PML resources identified on the Internet by the Object Naming Service

Instant ONS

• EPC is communicated in URI format
• Tag EPC (binary data) converted to pure identity
• Call ONS to find servers with information on EPC

Instant PML

• Markup language based on XML
• Core elements are sensors, observations, observables
• Example: tag read...

EPCIS: Addresses two fundamentally different types of data

• time-stamped data
• attribute data

EPCglobal Summary

• EPCglobal vision is Internet of Things
• Key standards already existing or soon to come: Electronic Product Code, Tag standards (class 0/1, Gen II)
• Network vision is more complex, path to realization difficult: PML, ONS, EPCIS, Savant, Partial/ delayed implementations likely
  

Week 1: Introduction to RFID

After week 1, I had a basic knowledge about RFID system. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID)

Actually RFID is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders.

There are three basic components of RFID system (Infrastructure):

- An RFID Tag

- An RFID Reader

- A predefined format for the information

RFID Tag includes three essential elements: antenna, integrated circuit, memory.

There are three types of tags: 

- Passive tags

- Semi-passive tags (battery-assisted)

- Active tags

I acknowledge that RFID technology impacts strongly supply chain management. There are many benefits of using RFID technology as mentioned on the videos. RFID helps to improve system efficiency, tracking, and communication, while preventing data entry and collection errors. 

“Time is money”, that is right. Speed is an important factor for most data capture systems. With today's decreasing production cycle times, the amount of time needed to access or update the RFID pallet identification system must fit within a very small time window. 

Using RFID technology is getting the benefit over the bar coding. RFID tags contain a read-write option which means that data stored on a RFID label can only be read or modified by authorized users. There is the added benefit that the reader can read numerous tags at the same time. Add to this the fact that RFID tags are not only robust, they are very secure.

The familiar example of using RFID technology is in library. The use of RFID tags for document tracking greatly reduces the time spent searching for books or documents. Checkout becomes a much faster process as stacks of books can be checked out with one scan of a reader without opening or handling the books. 

Besides, RFID can lead to reduced labor costs, improved inventory availability and reduced inventory stock outs.The technology can also help combat counterfeiting and supply chain security breaches.

In conclusion, RFID technology is applied widely in a lot of fields nowadays. It is necessary to use RFID in manufacturing and other related areas for the same goal, time saving, because “Time is money”.

Just started !~

Hi everyone!~

It's pretty good to learn a new thing, isn't it?

Okay, let's start with RFID!~