HI Friends i need some idea about RFID...?

Question

i am doing final year ece , i have do a project next SEMESTER so i have choosen the topic RFID any one can help me about that topic. i have a idea about rfid but i dont know about fUlly, i my project i am trying to do some aplication orianted BY USING rfid.. any one give a inovative idea about RFID..

Answer 1

This is a paper i wrote regarding Wal-Mart and their use of RFID. hopefully you can get some ideas from this......good luck


Wal-Mart is one of the most efficient giant retailers around. They are known for their everyday low prices, the company is always looking for ways to cut cost and service the customer. Despite their efficiency, Wal-Mart had supply chain issues. Shelves would be empty; items would be seemingly out of stock but yet located in the back room. If associates noticed empty shelves they would scan the barcode on the shelf, the scanner would let them know how many were in stock. This seems fair enough, but what was happening on a regular basis was costing Wal-Mart sales. Associates would spend upwards of 20 minutes looking for items in the back room, taking them away from the sales floor. If they could not find the item they were looking for, they would assume there was an error in the system and reduce quantity to zero. The problem would then escalate, causing management to think they needed to order more items. In the meantime, customers would see an empty shelf, Wal-Mart was ordering double and the items are physically in the backroom.

In January of 2005 Wal-Mart introduced RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). The RFID system enables information to be sent via a mobile device, called a tag, which is read by an RFID reader and processed according to the needs of a particular application. The information sent by the tag provides identification or location information, or specifics about the item that are tagged with an EPC code (Electronic Product Code). In other words the idea is to track the item(s) from point of origin to point of consumption. In 2005 Wal-Mart required their top 100 suppliers to apply RFID labels on items and all suppliers should be in compliance by 2006. There are other retailers requiring suppliers to use RFID technology. Best Buy, Target and Albertsons are also getting in on it. The U.S. Department of Defense has also required their suppliers to implement RFID technology.

HP is one company that is eagerly taking advantage of RFID technology, they are working closely with Wal-Mart and are gaining the benefits. HP had fully integrated RFID into its internal supply chain processes. “We have implemented RFID within what we call manufacturing and product completion areas, and into our finished goods warehouse and shipping processes as well,” explains Edds. HP not only tags cases and pallets, but they tag individual printers, allowing them to track items at individual levels.

When suppliers send items to Wal-Mart Distrubition Centers they are sent with RFID tags on the pallets and cases. The DC removes items from the pallets and sends cases to the stores. Located in the store receiving areas are RFID readers. As items come off the truck they are read by RFID readers indicating they have been received. This system is seamless, there is no stopping to count no slowing down to check on the computer. Items are simply read as they go past the reader on the conveyer belt. With the old system items were not scanned in order to save time. Although time was saved, the stores were not sure what they received it was always assumed that they received the items. With the new system no assumptions are made. There are RFID readers located in the backroom and near the trash compactor. The backroom RFID reader keeps track of movement to and from the sales floor. The RFID reading by the trash compactor is considered the most important because this is considered the end of the products life. The idea is at this point the case is being thrown out and the item is on the shelf.

RFID is proving to helpful for Wal-Mart supply-chain-management. For starters the system combines point-of-sale information on customers purchases with RFID data on items available in the back room to generate pick lists. “Based on sales history, we can prioritize lists by which items are going to sell out first”, Langford says. “So instead of getting into a situation where there is an out-of-stock, we can fill those gaps before we sell out.” The system is a definate upgrade from the original. Associates were depended on to determine the restocking needs. This approach is time saving and it allows management to do their jobs without having to double check associates. This also allows Wal-Mart executives to be effiecient and ahead of the competition. Customers will no longer be faced with empty shelves and Wal-Mart reduces missed sales opportunities.

The RFID system can be looked upon as knowledge management-which is a new way to think about organizing and sharing an organization’s intellectual and creative resources It refers to the efforts to systematically find, organize and make available a company’s intellectual capital and to foster a culture of continuous learning knowledge sharing so that the organizational activities build on what is already known. Wal-Mart is hoping that the RFID system can help them with locating product recalls faster. Langford states that the scattergun approach they currently use costly and time wasting.

Wal-Mart for the most part seems to be doing well with their RFID system. However, there are concerns from the public regarding privacy. Customers don’t want something in their home that is being monitored on someone’s computer. This has prompted Wal-Mart to post a message on their website assuring customers that the use of EPCs is strictly internal. EPCs will not be used to collect additional data about our customers or their purchases. IBM has come up with tag designs that allow consumers to deactivate an RFID after purchase. The RFID system has the power to track items from the beginning of its life to the end. Eventually the idea of tracking people will not be far off. Technology is great but how far should we go?

Answer 2

I know that Walmart is using RFID in their distribution facilities to do receiving, inventory and trigger routing for shipping. It is cost effective by the pallet but not so at the individual item level. I am sure Walmart's use of RFID would be a very intersting case study. Once you got into the costs of the tags, you would then be able to draw conclusions about why it is not eveywhere yet.

Also, you could note the advances in RFID tag creation and how the cost is coming down so it is possible that someday you would simply go to the store, fill your cart and walk out.

The RFID scanners would read everything in your cart on your way out the door and automatically charge your credit card, debit card, etc.