RFID-enabled Lateral Trans-shipments in the Fashion & Apparel Supply Chain

Abstract

There is a growing attention towards the application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFId) technology in the Fashion & Apparel supply chain. This paper describes a Lateral Trans-shipment replenishment policy enabled by item-level RFId tagging. In fact, in order to adopt a Lateral Transshipment policy, a firm should have an accurate visibility of both the inventory level in its warehouses and in each store. Such visibility can be provided by RFId technology. An analytical model has been developed to evaluate the convenience of applying a Lateral Trans-shipment policy, and the main managerial implications are discussed.