row1
Abstract
While much research has been conducted on adoption of complex technologies, relatively little has addressed the post-adoption deployment of that technology. This research proposes a hierarchy of RFID assimilation which proposes that the creation of supplier business value is dependent upon the depth of assimilation (extent of use). The proposed hierarchy is grounded in industry observations of the difficulty of early adopters to fully realize benefits of RFID assimilation. At the base level of the hierarchy is Technology Deployment, with the next level of Data Understanding, and, lastly, at the top of the hierarchy is Business Value Creation. Each level of the hierarchy is explored and organizational examples are provided to illustrate the three developmental levels.
Summary
While much research has been conducted on adoption of complex technologies, relatively little has addressed the post-adoption deployment of that technology. This research proposes a hierarchy of RFID assimilation which proposes that the creation of supplier business value is dependent upon the depth of assimilation (extent of use).
The proposed hierarchy is grounded in industry observations of the difficulty of early adopters to fully realize benefits of RFID assimilation. At the base level of the hierarchy is Technology Deployment, with the next level of Data Understanding, and, lastly, at the top of the hierarchy is Business Value Creation. Each level of the hierarchy is explored, and organizational examples are provided to illustrate the three developmental levels.
So, why deploy RFID when barcodes exist? The technology has advantages such as not requiring a line of sight to work, allowing hundreds of tags (and by extension, items and units) to be read per second, and holding more data per tag than a barcode can. Deployment of RFID can happen in different levels of the supply chain; Retailers can tag the items in the distribution centers, or items can be tagged in the manufacturing process.
The next level of assimilating RFID is understanding the data that RFID provides. In short, every time a tag is scanned, an ID, a place, a date/time, and the location of the reader will be available. This gives far more insight into an item’s information and status than traditional inventory management methods.
Lastly, companies have to evaluate the value created from adding RFID into their process. The level of visibility RFID provides into the supply chain is unprecedented. This has far-reaching, positive consequences. For example, Walmart found a 26% reduction in out of stocks by using RFID, without changing the shelf replenishment process.
