Radio Frequency Identification Implementations Research Articles

MIMO Radio Frequency Identification: A Brief Survey.

In this paper, we briefly look at the latest state-ot-the-art in the domain of multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radio frequency identification (RFID) systems while detailing the work done in the domain of anti-collision, range enhancements, bit error rate (BER) improvements and security. Various passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID implementations are considered that employ multiple antennas at the reader and single or multiple antennas at each tag. We look at several recent works those explored MIMO for RFID receivers. When using MIMO at the backscatter channel, significant improvements can be achieved in the BER as well as range extension. With the extra reliability and increased throughput, such systems can be deployed in many important applications like large tag reading scenarios and accurate tracking. Increased throughput is directly dependent on estimation of tag quantity in a bulk reading environment and usually estimators designed for single antenna systems under-perform in such settings causing low signal to noise ratio (SNR) when employed in MIMO systems where tag signal overlapping can happen more often. One of the key challenges is to keep the design of the RFID tag simple, cutting cost and power requirement when employing anti-collision schemes. We provide a brief survey in some of the recent developments related to MIMO RFID systems, the protocols and algorithms used, and improvements achieved.

Three-Dimensional Chipless RFID Tags: Fabrication through Additive Manufacturing.

A new class of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags, namely the three-dimensional (3D)-printed chipless RFID one, is proposed, and their performance is assessed. These tags can be realized by low-cost materials, inexpensive manufacturing processes and can be mounted on metallic surfaces. The tag consists of a solid dielectric cylinder, which externally appears as homogeneous. However, the information is hidden in the inner structure of the object, where voids are created to encrypt information in the object. The proposed chipless tag represents a promising solution for anti-counterfeiting or security applications, since it avoids an unwanted eavesdropping during the reading process or information retrieval from a visual inspection that may affect other chipless systems. The adopted data-encoding algorithm does not rely on On–Off or amplitude schemes that are commonly adopted in the chipless RFID implementations but it is based on the maximization of available states or the maximization of non-overlapping regions of uncertainty. The performance of such class of chipless RFID tags are finally assessed by measurements on real prototypes.

RFID Applications in Airline Maintenance Operations

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been widely used in different industries in recent years but its use in the aviation industry has been very limited. In this article, the use of RFID technology is explored in relationship to airlines’ maintenance operations. The main objectives of this article are to assess the current use of RFID in aviation maintenance and to evaluate future opportunities as well as the barriers to this technology in regards to airline maintenance operations. To this end, a survey of airlines was conducted in 2013. The results show that the airline industry has recently taken notice of RFID and that its use is growing. The results also show that airlines are facing several barriers for RFID implementations . They are: lack of knowledge, cost of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integration, cost of tags, lack of support from managers, and immaturity of technology. This research has also identified the categories of parts that can benefit the most from RFID.

A framework for mapping the RFID-enabled process redesign in a simulation model

Empowered by the possibility to automatically identify unique product instances, the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is expected to revolutionize the supply chain processes. However, in view of the numerous possible ways that RFID can be implemented within the supply chain, the issue of supporting the design choices based on a credible assessment between the current (as-is) and the future (to-be) processes has become a matter of considerable concern and debate for both practitioners and academics alike. To design RFID implementations in the supply chain using a robust dynamic analysis, we resort to discrete event simulation. As a result, this paper conceptualizes the ‘RFID-enabled process redesign’ and proposes a framework regarding all possible types of RFID effects when integrating the technology within the supply chain processes. The research design was based on the empirical evidence through three case studies combined with the development of simulation models and on theoretical constructs regarding the information technology (IT)-enabled process redesign.

RFID-Enabled Business Process Intelligence in Retail Stores: A Case Report

The growing interest in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in recent years has sparked an intensive debate on the benefits to be expected. With the growth of RFID implementations in size and scope comes a shift away from infrastructural aspects to the question of how to draw value from the large amounts of collected data. However, the necessary procedures for the handling of massive RFID data sets are still an under-researched issue. Against this background, the study presents results from a real-world trial conducted by a large apparel retailer. The objective of the trial was to explore the opportunities for generating novel performance indicators and reports on the reality of store processes and customer behavior on the sales floor. We give an overview of the algorithms used for RFID data processing and the interpretation of the resulting insights from a practitioner's point of view. The case example thus provides an overview of the potential of RFID as a powerful tool for assortment optimization, customer research, store layout design, and other management tasks in retail.

Applying RFID Technology in Tourism Industry: The Case Study of Hotel in Taipei

The study analyzes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology developments reported in tourism industries, methods used, contexts covered, and provides an overview of the wide range of ways that RFID is being applied to improve tourism processes in hotel. The study develops a research framework: RFID Technology Application Model and stresses that RFID application brings many benefits for hotel, the study summarizes their readiness on different attributes into the two approaches: operations-centric approach and technology-centric, and evaluates the major applications of the two approaches for the case study of hotel in Taipei. The findings show that different RFID applications in tourism industry lead the different benefits. The study offers hotel some managerial implications of how to gain benefits, and make suggestions for internal operating management, as well as recommendations for future research directions. It would be beneficial for future research to study similarities and differences in best practices for RFID implementations not only between different sectors within tourism, but also across industries.

A Review on Agri-food Supply Chain Traceability by Means of RFID Technology

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology which provides appealing opportunities to improve the management of information flow within the supply chain and security in the agri-food sector. Nowadays, food safety is considered a major requirement in several countries, in particular, the traceability of food products which is mandatory by law. Thus, technological implementation leading to traceability strengthening in the agri-food sector is crucial. The first aim of this review is to analyze the current developments in RFID technology in the agri-food sector, through an operative framework which organizes the literature and facilitate a quick content analysis identifying future research direction. RFID technology seems to be able to bring great opportunities to this sector; nevertheless, several constraints are slowing its adoption. This survey may provide readers with an exhaustive overview of opportunities and constraints for the wide adoption of RFID. The second aim of this review is to provide an updated analysis on the current developments of RFID technology for different product typologies within the agri-food industry, discussing at the same time its potential in technological and logistical development regarding different sectors of the production/distribution chain. As referenced here, RFID implementations in the agri-food sector are increasing at a fast rate, and technological advancement follows the applicability opportunities. However, real applications of RFID technologies are still limited because of various technical and economical obstacles which are also discussed.

What Drives a Successful Technology Implementation?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is revolutionizing item identification and tracking. The technology demonstrates complexities in terms of (a) huge initial capital investment, (b) validating the need for RFID followed by its implementation decisions, (c) risks associated with consumer acceptance and consequences of incorrect implementation, and (d) capability to support enhancements and upgrades in cordial agreement with the individual implementer organizations. This paper explores the extent of RFID implementation at the Swansea University Library, examining the Social, Technological, Economic, and Managerial (STEM) aspects directly associated with implementation. A focused interview approach was resorted to, for data collection purposes. The core implementation team for RFID at Swansea University was interviewed to gain insights into the study’s areas of interest. It was found that self service is the most sought after benefit. It simplifies stock management and enhances security at the libraries. Although the cost of the system remains a concern, varying on the basis of the scale of implementation, vandalism also continues to exist but to a reduced degree. University libraries are public sector organizations, consequently leading these findings to have an insinuation for RFID implementations in other public sector organizations as well.

RFID Tag Cost Sharing in the Retail Supply Chain

In this research, we study some of the operational benefits of item-level radio frequency identification (RFID), and how these benefits may affect the dynamics of the retailer-manufacturer interaction. We describe a retail operation with backroom and shelf stock under the assumption of multiple replenishment and sales periods, where backroom stock is replenished according to a periodic review order-up to policy and shelf stock is replenished continually from the backroom. In this environment, retail shelves are outfitted with RFID readers to continually monitor the remaining stock on the shelves and issue low-stock and replenishment alerts to store personnel so that shelves can be replenished from the store backroom before actual sales are lost at the shelf. We are interested in the dynamics between retailer and manufacturer with respect to the cost of item-level tagging the products. Of interest is the way in which the cost of tagging the product is divided among the two supply chain partners. To do this, we investigate a supply chain in which power is distributed asymmetrically among manufacturer and retailer. This interaction is modeled using the Stackelberg game framework. From an analysis of this framework, we derive several properties of interest, relating to the appropriate division of tagging cost as well as to a life-cycle centric view of RFID implementations.

Using System Dynamics to assess the impact of RFID technology on retail operations

The application of item-level radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in retail supply chains creates cost savings and promises large potential benefits from revenue growth. However, the economic assessment of the impact on improved store operations, labor utilization, and increased sales is still not fully explored. We propose to use System Dynamics as a structural modeling and simulation approach to integrate conventional return on investment evaluations. Building on previous research about RFID technology in retail supply chains, we developed a model based on the case exploration of a leading Italian apparel retailer. Simulations show that RFID implementations are profitable whenever they contribute to increase sales, especially when a fashion retailer is focused on clerk-assisted sales strategies. Sales growth results from the dynamic and integrated impacts of RFID technology on better inventory control, faster inventory turnover, and longer time available for store personnel to assist consumers as an effect of more efficient backroom operations.

Item-Level RFID in a Retail Supply Chain With Stock-Out-Based Substitution

In this paper, we present a model to help evaluate the impact of an introduction of item-level radio-frequency identification (RFID) in a retail environment where stock-out-based substitution is common. There are two main thrust areas in this work. First, we examine the impact of RFID in a centralized setting where retailer and manufacturer are one entity. This thrust area is concerned with evaluating the profitability of RFID and exploring which product properties favor an RFID implementation. Second, we examine the impact of RFID in a decentralized setting, where retailer and manufacturer independently maximize their profits. We investigate the problem of sharing the costs of RFID, from both the perspective of tag costs and fixed costs. Our research shows that the presence of substitution at the shelf plays a major role in determining the expected benefits of an RFID implementation, as well as in determining the optimal allocation of these benefits among retailer and manufacturer. It is therefore critically important that decision makers make strong efforts to correctly account for subsitution effects when evaluating potential item-level RFID implementations in the retail sector.

Impact of RFID technology on economic order quantity models

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been adopted by many organisations in recent years. The existing inventory models – commonly used for reordering products by the retailer – have been well studied for non-RFID implementations. In this paper, we modify these models to consider RFID implementations. The problem we address in this paper is how RFID implementations can affect the production models. RFID implementations incur additional costs, which is a disadvantage for organisations involved in the supply chain. However, the advantage of RFID is that it can make the supply chain continuously visible, thus reducing the production lead times to zero or almost negligible. The key question we address is, if RFID technology is implemented should the organisation move to a different production model to reap the benefits of RFID implementations? This paper discusses the conditions under which an RFID implementation is beneficial compared to a non-RFID implementation for existing inventory models. We argue t...

Preventing avoidable stockouts: the impact of item‐level RFID in retail

PurposeThis paper aims to characterize some of the operational benefits of item‐level radio‐frequency identification (RFID) in a retail environment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper examines a retail store operation with backroom and shelf stock under the assumption of multiple replenishment and sales periods. Backroom stock is replenished according to a periodic‐review order‐up to policy and shelf stock is replenished continually from the backroom. Backroom replenishment decisions are made based on demand forecasts that are updated in each sales period based on previous sales. The influence of item‐level RFID is two‐fold: first, it directly affects the number of products sold through the efficiency and effectiveness of the backroom‐to‐shelf replenishment process. Second, it indirectly affects the retailer's demand forecast: ceteris paribus, more products sold mean a higher demand forecast, which means a higher order‐up to level in the backroom.FindingsThis study confirms that the direct effect of more efficient and effective backroom‐to‐shelf replenishment contributes the majority of benefits. On average, this model shows that approximately 80‐85 percent of the total RFID benefit is directly due to the backroom‐to‐shelf process, and only 15‐20 percent is due to an improvement in backroom stocking. This finding suggests that, in general, the operation of the backroom is not as crucial to the overall retail store profitability.Originality/valueThe model in this paper delivers further evidence of the importance of the “last several yards” in retail execution. This has important implications for retail RFID projects: most current retail RFID implementations and pilots focus on case‐ and pallet‐level RFID to ensure correct backroom stocking. Seeing, however, that this type of benefit accounts for less than 20 percent of total potential RFID benefits, it appears that current case‐ and pallet‐level implementations are merely scraping the tip of the iceberg.

Progress Towards the First Wireless Sensor Networks Consisting of Inkjet-Printed, Paper-Based RFID-Enabled Sensor Tags

This paper discusses the evolution towards the first integrated radio-frequency identification (RFID)-enabled wireless sensor network infrastructure using ultra-high frequency/radio frequency (UHF/RF) RFID-enabled sensor nodes and inkjet-printed electronics technologies on flexible and paper substrates for the first time ever. The first sections highlight the unique capabilities of inkjet printed electronics as well as the benefits of using paper as the ultra-low-cost, conformal and environmentally friendly substrate for the mass-scale ubiquitous implementation of the first RFID-enabled wireless sensing applications. Various inkjet-printed antenna configurations are presented for enhanced-range compact RFID-enabled sensing platforms in “rugged” environments up to 7 GHz, followed by the discussion of their 2-D integration with integrated circuit (IC) and sensors on paper. This integration is extended to a power-scavenging “smart-shoe” batteryless integrated RFID module on paper that could be used for autonomous wearable sensing applications with enhanced range. The paper concludes discussing the details for establishing for the first time an asynchronous wireless link between the aforementioned RFID-tags and a widely used commercial wireless sensor network (WSN) mote using a simplified protocol; a paramount step that could potentially create ubiquitous ultra-low-cost sensor networks and large-scale RFID implementations eliminating the need of expensive RFID reader infrastructure and linking RFIDs to the mature level of WSNs.

Critical management issues for implementing RFID in supply chain management

The benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the supply chain are fairly compelling. It has the potential to revolutionise the efficiency, accuracy and security of the supply chain with significant impact on overall profitability. A number of companies are actively involved in testing and adopting this technology. It is estimated that the market for RFID products and services will increase significantly in the next few years. Despite this trend, there are major impediments to RFID adoption in supply chain. While RFID systems have been around for several decades, the technology for supply chain management is still emerging. We describe many of the challenges, setbacks and barriers facing RFID implementations in supply chains, discuss the critical issues for management and offer some suggestions. In the process, we take an in-depth look at cost, technology, standards, privacy and security and business process reengineering related issues surrounding RFID technology in supply chains.

Models for Cost-Benefit Analysis of RFID Implementations in Retail Stores

<para xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> In this paper, we focus on the models for analyzing radio frequency identification (RFID) implementations in terms of their costs and benefits. We consider the supply chain comprised of the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, and the consumer. We classify the transactions generated by different RFID tag reads and discuss implementations of the data networks connecting the tag readers at the retail store. Our models consider the cost of implementations including the cost of tag readers, the communication network cost and other infrastructure costs. The analytical models we propose consider the benefits of these implementations including automatic checkout at retail stores and reduced inventory costs due to efficient shelf replenishment. </para>

Piloting RFID Along the Supply Chain: A Case Analysis

The paper examines a project utilizing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems between a department store chain (Kaufhof) and a fashion goods manufacturer (Gerry Weber). It analyses the project according to the '5 Ps' of RFID, a concept, proposed by Loebbecke and Palmer (2006b), which suggests that firms considering RFID should investigate: the Physics of the transponder, the reader, and the data transfer; the Processes being changed and enhanced, the Prices for technical components and their installation, the Privacy aspects of capturing and retaining customer data, and the Performance impacts, the business case contribution of RFID implementations. The paper shows project results which support the business case for RFID adoption with benefits for both project partners and the entire supply chain. It concludes with a brief summary and an outlook to future research opportunities in the emerging RFID field.

The Identification of Japanese Black Cattle by Their Faces

Individual management of the animal is the first step towards reaching the goal of precision livestock farming that aids animal welfare. Accurate recognition of each individual animal is important for precise management. Electronic identification of cattle, usually referred to as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), has many advantages for farm management. In practice, however, RFID implementations can cause several problems. Reading speed and distance must be optimized for specific applications. Image processing is more effective than RFID for the development of precision farming system in livestock. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to attempt the identification of cattle by using image processing. The majority of the research on the identification of cattle by using image processing has been for the black-and-white patterns of the Holstein. But, native Japanese and Korean cattle do not have a consistent pattern on the body, so that identification by pattern is impossible. This research aims to identify to Japanese black cattle, which does not have a black-white pattern on the body, by using image processing and a neural network algorithm. 12 Japanese black cattle were tested. Values of input parameter were calculated by using the face image values of 12 cows. The face was identified by the associate neural memory algorithm, and the algorithm was verified by the transformed face image, for example, of brightness, distortion, noise and angle. As a result, there was difference due to a transformation ratio of the brightness, distortion, noise, and angle. The algorithm could identify 100% in the range from -30 to +30 degrees of brightness, -20 to +40 degrees of distortion, 0 to 60% of noise and -20 to +30 degree of angle transformed images.