Communications and Media

Overview of the Radiofrequency Identification Technology
Supply chain covers the distribution activities of the companies and businesses which involve the design, creation, distribution and usage of product or services. The industry relies on its supply chain as this provides the activities which help every business exist and survive. Radiofrequency identification is defined as the use of tags or microchips adhered to items for the purpose of tracking and identification within a firm or an organization as they run throughout the supply chain. The technology is known to be a direct substitute for the barcode technology. The main objective of the RFID tag is to be able to track a unique item throughout its product life cycle. As such, a tag could contain a number of basic information like an item number primarily based on the products electronic product code or EPC as well as its location (Jilovec, 2004, p. 95). Electronic product code is a distinctive number that works as an identifier of specific items in the supply chain. It is definitely stored on an RFID tag which is in combination with a reader and a silicon chip. The retrieval from the tag of electronic product code can be related to the dynamic data that includes the source of an item or the items production date. A radiofrequency identification system is composing of five components tags (also known as transponders), readers, encoders, the middleware and the application software. The following are the description of the various components of the radiofrequency identification technology or RFID

RFID Tag or the Transponder  A usual RFID tag is consisting of a microchip containing data or information. An RFID tag is composed of an antenna, a wireless transducer and an encapsulating material. The antenna functions by means of emitting radio signals to activate the RFID tag making data transmitted back and forth. These tags can be either active or passive. While the active tags have on-chip power, passive tags use the power induced by the magnetic or other field of the RFID reader. RFID tags also differ in terms of physical size and form (Martocchio, 2006). These tags range from small RFID devices that are inserted within the skin of livestock or sea creatures for the purpose of tracking their movements, up to credit card sized devices employed for other business oriented applications. In addition, RFID tags are also different in terms of their reading and frequency range. Similar to compact discs, RFID tags come in three classifications in the way data is being encoded to them. Read-only tags which is considered the least expensive among the three classifications, have a low capacity and a short read range and are usually containing the basic information of the item they are representing (Angeles, 1979). Meanwhile, read-write once tags are almost similar to the read only tags but these type of tags have the capacity to have additional data written to them one at a time. Finally, read-write many tags are considered the pricey of the three types of tags among the three but considered the most flexible allowing data to be written to the tags as many times as needed throughout the operations of the supply chain.

RFID reader or transceiver  The RFID reader or transceiver is the device use for the sending of radiofrequency signals to the tags for the request of the necessary data which it collects in a digital format. An RFID reader consists of an antenna, transceiver and decoder, which sends periodic signals to inquire about any tag in the vicinity. On receiving any signal from a tag it passes on that information to the data processor.

RFID encoder- Encoders are a type of RFID readers with the capability of writing the data to tags. Depending on a companys specific needs, it may need an encoder with full writing capabilities making it possible to write additional data into an embedded tag of RFID.

Middleware  Considered as a necessary and significant part of an RFID system, middleware is acting as the interface between the RFID system and the applications with which the data must eventually be integrated. The middleware software also works for the generation of an interoperable system especially when multiple vendor products or items are involved.

Application Software  RFID related software empowers the company to manage its various compliance needs face from different types of consumers. It gives the company the ability to use various standards of radiofrequency identification. Flexibility of application software is significant in meeting or handling dual systems.

Areas of Application of RFID
The radiofrequency identification technology can be used in various ways and is not only intended for the tagging of products. For instance, the technology is also being used for employee identification cards that authenticate the holder before given the permission to enter a facility (Rushton, et al, 2006). A related use of the RFID technology is for access of events in amusement parks, concerts and ski areas wherein tagged tickers or bracelets are being employed. RFID is also being deployed in the related contexts of transportation. A great instance would be the use of the technology in authenticating the keys use by the driver that adds a greater layer of security in starting to drive a car. Also a significant example would be the birth of the Speedpass allowing drivers to buy gasoline and goods from the convenience store from various ExxonMobil stations. In the like manner, RFID technology is also being used with the introduction of the E-ZPass in Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states in the United States allowing drivers to pass on toll gates without stopping to pay for the price of the toll fee (Tabrizi, 2006). The system works by way of installing an active tag on a vehicles windshield that allows the reader installed on the tollbooth to have knowledge that a tagged vehicle is approaching, wherein the checking account or prepaid account is charged related to that vehicle.

The technology is now being utilized in distribution centers, warehouses other phases of the supply chain operations of the private sector with the initial use of the Wal-Mart company. Meanwhile, in the public sector, the RFID technology is now being employed which begun with the acquisition of the technology of the United States Department of Defense.  It is primarily being utilized by government agencies to meet objectives similar to their counterparts in the private sector. The mandate of the US Department of Defense stated in October of 2003 outlined that they are requiring suppliers to utilize tags of RFID by the year 2005 to local systems of library employing the technology for the purpose of tracking and tracing their books. As such, the main goal of the policy was the promotion of better inventory management with the assistance of a faster hands-off processing as the Department not only purchased military products but also include consumer products that it seeks efficiency in its supply chain operations. The initiative of the US Department of Defense could reportedly affect the almost 43,000 military suppliers of the agency. Likewise, public libraries in various states have executed internal systems of RFID for the facilitation of managing stock and patron usage. The United States Food and Drug Administration is also utilizing the technology for the purpose of fighting drug counterfeiting while the United States Department of Homeland Security utilizes the technology for the purpose of tracking baggage of travelers.

Impact of the RFID technology on Business
Various firms especially small and medium sized enterprises are wondering of the return on investment of the technology when implemented in their supply chain operations. Multinational companies like Wal-Mart had initially tested the benefits derived from the RFID technology as well as the United States Department of Defense (Jones and Chung, 2007). The technology is expected to generate significant benefits for the supply chain. Major benefits include the reduction of inventory, reduction of the level of out-of stock items, and the reduction of labor expenses. Advantages of the technology also include the accurate reading of products and the ability to survive demanding environments as well as the elimination of line-of-sight necessities (Venkatesh, 2007). Read precision is frequently a serious factor in choosing RFID. With fixed location barcode readers, realizing a first-pass read precision of 95 to 98 is fairly reputable.

Additional advantages of the RFID technology include reduction of theft and improved management of the warehouse. With the benefit of the technology in improving the visibility of products as well as the levels of inventory at the shelf level, retail systems could automatically order stocks only when the need arises that aids a company to improve its forecasting capability and considerably reduced times for the cycle of orders. With the automated systems available for organizations with the help of the RFID technology, business enterprises incur less people and administrative expenses especially in the management of supply chain management operations. Possibly, the greatest known benefit of the RFID system would be the increase in sales of a company due to the fact that the technology has the capability of reducing out-of-stock situations. The fact that the retail industry suffers significant losses of between 180 and 300 billion yearly due to poor supply chain visibility provides the great opportunity to adopt the practices of the RFID technology (Federal Trade Commission, 2005, p. 59).

For small retailers, the costs of implementation are normally considered as one-time expense especially for the acquisition of the readers and the needed software, giving them the ability to recover the costs afar the initial time. In the case of Wal-Mart Corporation, tags that are situated on cartons and pallets provide the ability for the accurate tracking of shipments or items to distribution centers and warehouses.

Product manufacturers are also benefiting from the advances made by the radiofrequency identification technology. With the attachment of RFID tags on items, a manufacturer also gains higher visibility to the levels of inventory within its distribution centers and warehouses (Hugos, 2006). In addition, the presence of more automated systems means a reduction of manual cycle counts or lesser use of the bar code scanning technology. Likewise, manufacturers are also significantly benefiting from the efficient processing of the operations in their dock and carrier utilization. Presently, the greatest benefit of the RFID system for product manufacturers came from the increased visibility of the activities in the store level. To be specific, data on sales from retail stores can now be sent with the employment of the RFID with the tagging of the products or items. This gives manufacturers instant access to trends on sales and patterns of buying, offering them the capability of checking the effectiveness of programs on promotions and making it feasible to refill stock as quickly as items are deemed delayed.

Other benefits of radiofrequency identification include the improvement in the quality of products. In particular, the use of the RFID makes it quicker and easier to tag items than the traditional laser bar code reading. In the like manner, the radiofrequency identification technology is also beneficial especially in shortening the various processes of the supply chain operations (Wolfram, et al, 2008). It is because of the fact that RFID technologies can be integrated with other technologies in the area of supply chain like stock picking systems and automated pallet handling which highly reduced the time from order to dispatch and delivery. Another benefit of the technology was its potential to significantly trim down capital costs. RFID technologies are crucial for the reduction of inventory costs by offering better control of the stock and can also be utilized to effectively administer business assets like computing technology, test equipment and other forms of portable devices.

Radiofrequency identification is also contributory to the improvement of regulatory compliance (Finkenzeller and Waddington, 2003). This benefit refer to the use of RFID to control when items are undergoing inspection which form part to the strategy of improving safety and health issues. Likewise, RFID provides better security as access control systems make use of the technology that contribute to the security of business premises including tracking inventory shrinkage and the increased awareness against product piracy or counterfeiting. Finally, the technology offers accuracy and relevancy of current management information because it allows data to be captured in real-time as stocks or assets moved making management information available for operational management and planning activities.