RFID and Competitive Advantage (continued) Vlad Krotov DISC 4397 – Section University of Houston Bauer College of Business Spring 2005 Source: Acccenture, 2002; RFID Journal, 2005

Administrative Issues Lab Assignment 1 –Monday is your last chance CDs –Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 –TAVIS Concentrator LI is in!

Administrative Issues APICS meeting on Feb 17 –Topic: Discussion will focus on RFID. Building an adaptive manufacturing/distribution process that allows people to react to a changing business climate requires decision-makers to have detailed and timely information from many sources, including the data collection devices themselves –Presenter: Mike Nichols is the Manager of RFID Systems Consulting for Intermec Technologies. Mike has been working in the automatic identification and data capture industry since He has served in various maintenance, systems design, software development, sales support and management roles. –Place: Marriott Galleria, 1750 West Loop South, Houston, Texas USA (713) –Web Site: –Cost: $10-$15 –5:30 PM - Registration 6:00 PM - Dinner 7.00 PM - Speaker's Presentation

Administrative Issues Guest Speaker: Mr. Mel Davis, ModusLink Corporation, Feb 23d Please prepare for the presentation –Browse the company’s web site: –Read the bio of Mr.Davis –Read the papers posted on our class web site –There will be a quiz!

Purdue Pharma RFID Project Challenges Integrating hardware from Matrics and middleware from SAP –Auto-ID Infrastructure (AII) by SAP –SCM application by SAP Defective RFID labels –Automated process for detecting Usage of light sensors to activate readers

Competitive Advantage Cost leadership Differentiation Cost leadership + differentiation

Strategic Characteristic of RFID Technology Identification Transaction Efficiency Visibility

RFID in Freight Transportation

DoD

DoD Derives Value from RFID Improved asset visibility More timely and accurate shipments through one of its freight consolidation centers The DOD expects to be also able to pay suppliers more quickly

Source: Accenture, 2002

AIDC Freight

Challenges for Freight Transportation Existing identification Standards Existing identification processes and infrastructure Proliferation of RFID

RFID in Manufacturing

RFID in Auto industry

Ford puts RFID tags on each parts bin Warehouse operators now know, in seconds, when supplies run low, and automatically deliver parts as needed to workers on the assembly line Ford is also planning to use RFID sensors to transmit battery status of their forklifts Source: RFID Journal, CIO Insights, 2005

Applications of RFID in Automotive Industry

Source: RFID Journal, 2005

RFID Strategies Improve supply chain Gain competitive advantage Improve customer service Source: RFID Journal, 2005

RFID Project Develop a business case –Identify the area where RFID can be applied –Select an RFID solution –Provide justification for the project Develop a detailed plan Conduct proof of concept Pilot an RFID solution Implement RFID on a larger scale

10 Questions to Ask RFID Vendors 1.Which frequencies and standards do you support? 2.Do you do site inspections? 3.Can you back up your performance claims? 4.How will you help me protect my investment? 5.How will you help me minimize my maintenance costs? Source: RFID Journal, 2005

10 Questions to Ask RFID Vendors 5. Have you done any interoperability testing? 6. Do you offer middleware? 7. Do you have a partner who can integrate the readers with backend systems? 8. Will you work with me to customize tags if I need them? 9. Can you deliver the volumes I need? Source: RFID Journal, 2005

Conclusion Use RFID only if it intrinsic to your business Align your strategy with the capabilities offered by the technology