Radio frequency identification (RFID) is revolutionizing the way organizations around the world track the location and movement of goods and assets. RFID technology utilizes inexpensive wireless RFID chips or tags that report their location to nearby scanners. Items with RFID tags can be tracked from a supplier’s factory floor to the retailer’s store shelves. RFID provides new levels of visibility of the operations and processes within an organization.

DataInvent Systems has strived to become an early provider of this technology because we understand its importance and value for the business and industrial sectors. Through the use of our software products and the products of our partners, we provide solutions which leverage benefits of the RFID technology.

RFID Business Benefits

Use of RFID technology can increase business productivity and visibility and reduce associated costs. To ensure that companies benefit from the advantages RFID provides it is important to understand how to adopt this technology. By analyzing current practices and procedures eight main areas of benefit can be identified. These are:

• Improved Productivity and Cost Avoidance.
• Decreased Cycle Time and Taking Costs Out.
• Reduced Rework.
• Reduced Business Risk & Control of Assets.
• Improved Security and Service.
• Improved Utilization of Resources.
• Increased Revenues.
• Exception Management.

Improved Productivity and Cost Avoidance

Identifying items by RFID involves less work than using barcode scanning and other less automated ways. This leads to greater process effectiveness in many tasks such as receiving and putting away, picking and shipping goods when the time required and cost of identifying items by RFID is substantially less than other methods.

Decreased Cycle Time and Taking Costs Out

RFID scanning is not a serial process, like traditional Barcode scanning, so the business can perform identical tasks much more quickly. This means processes that move goods through a supply chain are more efficient, leading to a reduction in the need for larger inventories.

Reduced Rework

As RFID scanning has a greater first time pass accuracy, this reduces the number of errors that are generated, and the number of retries that are needed.

Reduced Business Risk and Control of Assets

RFID tagging enables better audit and asset control. The ability to better track and trace items means assets can be located more easily. The opportunity for enhanced data collection leads to increased accuracy of record keeping and improved asset maintenance. Regulatory compliance can be achieved more effectively.

Improved Security and Service

Being able to validate information relating to an item enables increased security. This individual identification contributes to more effective access control, reductions in shrinkage and other losses, and the ability to provide fast and efficient services at the point of need. Ability to authenticate information can prevent activities like counterfeiting and fraud.

Improved Utilization of Resources

Information obtained by RFID scanning can be used to improve planning. Processes can be improved, time can be saved, assets can be utilized better.

Increased Revenues

By eliminating uncertainty, companies will suffer less "out of stock" situations and obtain greater item availability. This will reduce lost sales and increase choice, leading to more sales.

Exception Management

RFID enables processes and procedures to be measured better. Until a process can be measured accurately, it often can't be improved. Decisions that are based on limited, inaccurate, out-of-date information are often poor decisions. The contribution information captured by RFID offers to IT applications will allow managers in companies to be alerted when compensatory business decisions need to be taken.