1. Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)
RFID and its use in Supply Chain Management
RFID as part of the Internet of Things (IoT)

2. The Internet of Things (IoT)
A system in which any object (natural or manmade) has a unique identity (its own IP address) and is able to send and receive information over a network without human interaction.
There are enough IP addresses to uniquely identify every object on the earth.
Invisible “everywhere computing” that is embedded in the objects around us.
Wireless sensors are an underlying technology of the Internet of Things.
Autonomous device that monitors its own condition and the environment around it.
Provides information that enables a central computer to integrate reports of the same activity from different angles within the network.

3. ITs role in supply chain
Visibility and the ability to see upstream and downstream in as close to real-time as possible.
Modeling, simulation and various forecasting tools to combine information from various sources to figure out what is needed (or might be needed) when.
Eliminating time lags allows everyone to react faster at a lower cost
Communication and trust-relationships are CRUCIAL for a successful supply chain
Key Element: Reliable information quickly flowing from one entity or stage to another one (both upstream and downstream)
Organizations must know about customer events triggered downstream and so must an organization’s suppliers and their suppliers
This visibility needs to be in real-time or as close to real-time as possible

4. Global Inventory Management Systems
Let you locate and track items moving through your supply chain.
Lets you know what you have and where it is at.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Uses a microchip embedded in a tag or label to transmit information back and forth between an object and a receiving device.

5. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
Can be used to track inventory, count inventory and access product information.
Pay at toll road plazas.
Purchase products without standing in line (just walk past a scanner with the product).
Produce/vegetable & Livestock tracking
Manufacturing supply chain management
Book tracking and luggage tracking.
KSU uses RFID in the parking garage to track customers and customer types (counts customers, grants access to areas, monitors usage, including length of stay)
US passports now have RFID chips containing information about the passport holder.

6. RFID RFID tags will be added to every product and shipping box
At every step of an item’s journey, a reader scans one of the tags and updates the information on the server
Manufacturers and retailers can observe sales patterns in real-time and make swift decisions about production, ordering, and pricing

7. Spanish retail giant Inditex
RFID Architecture
Spanish retail giant Inditex
Bar code vs RFID

9. Information Technology and Supply Chain Management
Advances in information technology have made it possible to bring to life the idea of a truly integrated the supply chain.
The key is to have as close to real-time visibility throughout the entire supply chain as possible.
I can see what you are doing and you can see what I am doing.
Real-time flow of accurate information with minimal time lags (communication is key)
An organization needs to select its SC strategy and then IT can be used to implement and enhance that strategy.
RFID is one of the technologies used in supply chain management.

11. Supply Chain Management
Managing the flows of information between all of the parties directly and indirectly involved in the procurement of a product or raw material.

12. Players in a Supply Chain
Materials flow from suppliers and their “upstream” suppliers at all levels down to you
Transformation of materials into semi-finished and finished products through the organization’s own production process
Distribution of products to customers and their “downstream” customers at all levels
Anyone involved with a product, from the order being made until its delivery to the customer
Traditional SCM thinking involved “I buy from my suppliers, I sell to my customers.”
Today, organizations are quickly realizing the tremendous value they can gain from having visibility throughout their supply chain
Knowing immediately what is transacting at the customer end of the supply chain, instead of waiting days or weeks for this information to flow upstream, allows the organization to react immediately
Best Buy checks inventory levels at each of its 750 stores across North America as often as every half-hour
Collecting, analyzing, and distributing transactional information to all relevant parties, SCM systems help all the different entities in the supply chain work together more effectively
SCM has significantly improved companies’ forecasting abilities over the last few years
Businesses today have access to modeling and simulation tools, algorithms, and applications that can combine information from multiple sources to build forecasts for days, weeks, and months in advance

13. Basic Supply Chain Management Components
Plan for managing all of the resources that go toward meeting customer demand for products and services.
Select suppliers to deliver goods and services needed.
Transform materials into semi-finished and finished products
Logistics: the transportation of order to the customer.
Plan for the return of defective products.

14. ITs role in supply chain
Visibility and the ability to see upstream and downstream in as close to real-time as possible.
Modeling, simulation and various forecasting tools to combine information from various sources to figure out what is needed (or might be needed) when.
Eliminating time lags allows everyone to react faster at a lower cost
Communication and trust-relationships are CRUCIAL for a successful supply chain
Key Element: Reliable information quickly flowing from one entity or stage to another one (both upstream and downstream)
Organizations must know about customer events triggered downstream and so must an organization’s suppliers and their suppliers
This visibility needs to be in real-time or as close to real-time as possible

15. Focus of Organizational Supply Chain Strategies
Efficiency: focus on performance
Getting the most from each resource (optimize resources)
Looks at throughput, speed, availability
Throughput: the volume that can be sent through the system
Effectiveness: focus on doing what is right
Setting the right goals and objectives and making sure they get accomplished.
Looks at customer satisfaction, conversion rates, sell-through increases
Do things right and/or Do the right things
How much of each do you do?
Sometimes, you have to trade one for the other.

16. SUPPLY CHAIN DRIVERS
Organizations use these four drivers to support either a supply chain strategy focusing on efficiency or a supply chain strategy focusing on effectiveness

17. Facilities Efficiency (saves money at expense of other things)
Economies of scale when facilities centralized. Saves money but further from customers and longer to deliver
Save money by building a facility that is only big enough to handle production requirements
A single product focus lets me do a really good job producing just one thing.
Effectiveness (tends to increase costs)
Goods can get to customers faster with more facilities
Building in lots of extra capacity provides flexibility
A multi-product focus may allow me to perform the same operation on many different things.
Efficiency
A company can gain economies of scale when it centralizes it facilities
It is cheaper for a company to maintain one large facility then several small facilities
However, the goods are farther from the customers and it might take longer and be more difficult to deliver the goods in a timely fashion
Effectiveness
It costs more to have many facilities located closer to customers, however the company can deliver goods with relative ease and in a timely fashion
A company can save money by building a facility that is only big enough to handle production requirements
By spending more money and building in a lot of extra capacity, an organization can be prepared to handle unexpected future events
If a company chooses a product focus design, it is anticipating that the facility will produce only a certain type of product
All operations, including fabrication and assembly, will focus on developing a single type of product
The facility becomes highly efficient in producing a single product
If a company chooses a functional focus design, the facility will perform a specific function (e.g., fabrication only or assembly only) on many different products
The facility becomes more effective since it can use a single process on many different types of products

18. Inventory Efficiency (saves money at expense of other things)
Saves money by not holding much inventory or using as much space. Incoming shipments must be received more frequently.
A company can save money by not maintaining as much safety stock, but runs the risk of disappointing customers if inventory runs out during a busy season (such as Christmas)
Single storage location
Effectiveness (tends to increase costs)
Spend money to hold larger amounts of inventory so as to immediately be able to respond to customer needs.
A company spends money by maintaining higher amounts of safety stock so as to not run out during busy times (Christmas), but not enough demand may lead to price cuts and losses.
Multiple storage locations (close to customers)
Decide whether to risk the expense of carrying too much inventory (effective) or run the risk of losing sales (efficient)
Efficiency
A company can save money by not maintaining a lot of inventory
Receiving inventory every day, or every week, allows a company to operate without the need for large amounts of inventory storage space
Effectiveness
A company spends money by maintaining large amounts of inventory, but they are better able to provide immediate goods and services to their customers (more effective)
A company can save money by not maintaining a lot of safety inventory
This company runs the risk of losing customers if it runs out of goods during Christmas and Easter
A company spends money by maintaining large amounts of excess safety inventory
However, this company is better able to fulfill its customers’ needs during busy seasons such as Christmas and Easter

19. Transportation Primary transportation methods
Truck, rail, ship, air, pipeline, electronic
Speed of delivery and price of delivery are difference drivers
Efficiency (saves money at expense of other things)
A company can save money by shipping goods inexpensively, but this takes longer for the customer to receive the goods.
Inexpensive shipping = Efficiency
Effectiveness (tends to increase costs)
To ensure speedy delivery, a more expensive delivery method is selected.
More expensive shipping = Effective
A company that uses Federal Express to ship goods is focusing on safe and timely delivery and not on the cost of delivery.
Regardless of which transportation method is selected, having a global inventory management system is vital (ability to track and locate all components and materials in both the upstream and downstream portions of the supply chain)
It is cheaper to send a package by boat then it is to send it by plane
Efficiency
A company can save money by shipping goods inexpensively
However, this usually causes the shipment to take longer
Effectiveness
It costs a company money to ship goods quickly
FedEx’s entire business strategy focuses on its customers’ need for highly effective transportation methods. Any company that uses FedEx to transport a package is focusing primarily on a safe and timely delivery and not on the cost of delivery. Many businesses even locate their facilities near FedEx hubs so that they can quickly transport inventory overnight to their customers.

20. Information
An organization must decide how and what information it wants to share with its supply chain partners
Efficiency (saves money at expense of other things)
Freely sharing lots of information increases the speed and decreases the cost of supply chain processing.
Pull strategy: partners are responsible for retrieving/pulling information when they need/want it (and they bear the cost of getting info)
Must trust partners when letting them access your systems. Partners control when info is pulled
Effectiveness (tends to increase costs)
Share only selected information with certain individuals, which will decrease the speed and increase the costs of supply chain processing
Push strategy: you send info to partners when YOU want to (partners may have to wait to get what they need and you bear the cost of sending/pushing info to them
Using a push strategy, your organization controls what is shared and when it is shared.
Efficiency
A company can save money by sharing information with everyone involved in the supply chain
Effectiveness
It costs a company to be selective on what types of information it shares with its different partners
It takes time and money to safeguard information, which is what the company would have to do to ensure it didn’t get into the wrong hands
Pull strategy
A company can save money by asking its partners to incur the expense and responsibility of pulling supply chain information from the organization’s systems
Push strategy
A company will have to incur the expense and responsibility of pushing supply chain information out to its supply chain partners

23. Wal-Mart's organizational goal is to be a low cost retailer that provides a variety of mass consumption goods.
Wal-Mart’s supply chain emphasizes efficiency (saves money at expense of other things), but it does maintain an adequate level of effectiveness.
Facilities focus (efficiency)
Wal-Mart maintains few warehouses and builds warehouses only when demand is high enough, which saves them money.
Inventory focus (efficiency)
Wal-Mart ships directly to its stores from the manufacturer. This significantly reduces inventory since the inventory is held in stores, and not in the warehouses and stores. Obviously, low levels of inventory saves them money.
Transportation focus (effective)
Wal-Mart maintains its own fleet of trucks, and there is obviously an expense for doing so. However, they feel this expense is worth it since they are able to use their fleet of trucks to keep inventories low.
Information focus (uses an effectiveness strategy to be more efficient, and therefore save money)
Invests heavily in technology and the flow of information through its entire supply chain
Although Wal-Mart has spent a lot of money on its supply chain and uses a push information sharing strategy – its overall information focus is on using information to enable the company to maintain small amounts of inventory (efficiency)
Wal-Mart uses its supply chain to operate its business in a just-in-time fashion
Wal-Mart’s strong information flows allow it to operate its business in a just-in-time fashion (JIT inventory)