14-10-2010, 12:58 PM
By:
Arjit Srivastava
Supervised by:
Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Henrik Janzen
&
Prof. Dr. Stan Oliver
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Abstract
RFID: Strengthening the Weakest Link for an intelligent supply chain!
This is something which is easier said than done. According to all the SCM studies carried over world-wide it is now evident that the weakest page link in the supply chain is visibility. Supply chain visibility implies that data about the demand forecasted , the production planned , inward-outward inventory movements, logistics, warehousing, and all other activities that lead up to customer demand satisfaction is available to all members in the supply chain. The string that well connects these elements i.e. visibility across the supply chain is extremely sensitive, a small jerk at one end can cause big fluctuation in other side. The fundamentals of selling have not changed in over a century. The goal is to have the right products at the right place at the right time—when the customer is ready to buy. To do that, the sellers have many overarching business imperatives which make SCM even more complicated, a few of the main concerns being:
• Volatility in demand planning
• Injudicious production planning & scheduling
• Ineffective inventory management
• Obscured logistics & distribution models
Keeping this backdrop in mind the objective would be oriented towards following a twofold approach to the problem:
1. Firstly the intention would be towards studying in detail the different stages of a supply chain like, demand forecasting, production planning, and inventory management and distribution models. This will identify the perceptible stumbling blocks or loopholes which make a supply chain less agile.
2. Secondly, the intention would be towards appreciating the potential and impact of RFID enabled Inventory Management solution in the current supply chain models. This portion of work will help in understanding how an RFID enabled inventory management approach eventually enhances the visibility of inventory in warehouses and across different stages in the supply chain, through tagging and unique identification of cases /pallets / product items.
