ABSTRACT
Tagging, as a form of connective technology, is important in today’s economy, enabling exact tracking and matching of products or assets. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is one of the tagging technologies, which has begun to be applied for managing a supply chain. RFID has been applied in diverse industries, including retail, logistics and distributions, manufacturing, airport baggage tracking services, and pharmaceutical sectors, among others. However, a holistic overview of RFID applications for supply chain management is lacking. This chapter aims at collating a comprehensive review of RFID applications for supply chain management, both in research and in practice. A taxonomy of the critical success/failure factors of RFID applications for supply chain management is developed. The drivers for and the benefits of RFID applications for supply chain management are analyzed on case-by-case and industry-by-industry bases. The problems associated with RFID applications for supply chain management, as well as their solutions are presented. Recent as well as future developments of RFID applications for supply chain management are discussed. Such a review is important to share information about critical success/failure factors of RFID applications for supply chain management. This research will help academics and practitioners in this area to further their understanding, expand their knowledge, and build on lessons learned from previous cases in specific industries so as to avoid repetition of costly mistakes, thus increasing successful RFID applications for supply chain management.
