Challenges for building RFID tracking systems across the whole supply chain

Abstract

Abstract. Eventhoughnumerousarticlesandreallifecaseshavehighlightedthebenefitsofradiofrequencyidentification(RFID)trackingforsupplychainmanagementforalmostadecade,companiesareratherslowto implement the technology. This paper concentrates on researching the reasons for the slow adoptionof RFID tracking in the supply chain management using literature review and multiple case studies asthe research methodology. The literature review of the articles classifies different challenges for RFIDtracking implementation and elicits the academic explanations for the slow acceptance of the technology.The conclusion of the literature review is that most of the published articles have been concentrating onpresenting technological obstacles to RFID tracking implementation, while the problems nowadays areincreasingly organizational or inter-organizational. Also companies usually settle for using RFID trackingto improve their operational processes instead of exploiting the full potential in the technology and theincreased visibility for improving managerial processes of the company, or upgrading the efficiency of thewhole supply chain. In addition to the literature review, five RFID tracking case surveys are presented toprovide experience and insights into managerial decisions concerning supply chain-wide RFID trackingsolutions. Followed by the literature review and case studies, this paper presents a framework, whichsuggests three levels, where different potential challenges to supply chain-wide RFID tracking systemimplementations should be handled: the supply chain, inside a company or inside a certain function.Keywords: RFID, supply chain management, tracking, multiple case study, literature review