The Use of RFID Systems in Transportation - Report Example

The Use of RFID Systems in Transportation I. Executive Summary Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) system has emerged as one of the most beneficial advancements in the areas of logistics and supply chain management. It has helped in bringing about significant amount of changes within the ways in which the logistics organizations carry out their transportation and goods tracking operations. The RFID technology has assisted organizations in conducting their operations competitively. The development of the technology has assisted in maintaining stock information and keeping a track of goods in transit. The paper subsequently intends to derive a comprehensive understanding of the use of RFID systems in transportation. In the discussion, the integration of RFID systems into supply chain management will be comprehended. Moreover, the advantages as well as the disadvantages of RFID will be determined. Besides, the specific transportation and supply chain uses of RFID will be ascertained with a reference to two of the leading global organizations i.e. Wal-Mart and Boeing. II. Introduction Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) system can be described as a kind of wireless technology, which, in the present scenario, is commonly used for the purpose of tagging. The technology has attained subsequent importance in the areas of retail shopping, wildlife monitoring, transportation and logistics among others (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). The technology depends on the utilization of electromagnetic field for the purpose of transmitting data between the sending port and the data receiving port. In the field of transportation and logistics, this technology is specifically used for keeping track of the location of the goods being transported. RFID with the assistance of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is often used by the law enforcement organizations for effectively monitoring the city transportation flow (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). In the similar context, the implementation of the RFID systems has also attained high significance in the field of retail marketing. An instance in this context is the use of RFID tags on the products. This gradually helps in effectively monitoring each and every product within their systematic arrangement in the store shelves (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). Further details regarding this technology have been provided in the discussion section of this report (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). The objective of the paper is to make an effective evaluation and derive a comprehensive understanding regarding the use of RFID systems especially in transportation. II.a. Define Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) RFID is generally defined as a type of tagging technology that depends on the use of both electromagnetic as well as electrostatic signals, which remain integrated within the radio frequency (RF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. With the help of this integrated electromagnetic or electrostatic signal, the unique identification data of the tagged commodity are attained. It is mainly due to the unique tag identification and tracking feature of the technology owing to which it is used as an alternative of the bar-code register. As compared to different bar code technologies, the RFID tags are not required to be brought under any sort of direct contact for data extraction or tracking purpose (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). The RFID equipment generally comprises three components which include the antenna part, the transceiver part and the transponder part. The antenna part and the transceiver part remain in a combined manner, which form the reader and on the other hand, the transponder part forms the tag. Whenever, these two come in close proximity, the transponder transmits the information of the tagged commodity to the reader (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). Finally regarding the frequency, it can be stated that the low frequency systems range between 30 KHz and 500 KHz. Transponders that range between these frequencies belong to the short range category. Conversely, the high-frequency system ranges between 850 MHz to 2.5 GHz and is defined under long range category (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). II.b. History of RFID The concept of ‘Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)’ technology emerged long back during the period of World War II. The technology was implemented for the first time by the armed forces in the form of radar. The founder of the innovative technology i.e. radar was Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, who was a well-known physicist during the period of World War II (Violino, 2005). The implementation of the RFID technology in the radar system subsequently helped the armed forces of Germany, Japan, Britain and America to safeguard themselves from enemy air attacks. During the period of World War II, the radar system helped the aforesaid nations in identifying the enemy aircrafts miles away before they can commence an attack. It also helped in identifying allied aircrafts in order to prevent friendly fire (Violino, 2005). Thus, by taking into consideration the effectiveness of RFID technology, its progress has exponentially grown up within the past few decades (Violino, 2005). II.c. General Use Applications of RFID Before getting into details regarding the usage of RFID in the areas of transportation and logistics, it is important to understand the operating pattern of the technology. The operating pattern of the RFID is provided in the pictorial representation below: II.c.1 In Case of Goods Transportation (Boeing) The above depicted diagram provides a brief understanding about the procedures based on which RFID technology works. For the primary step, the cargos marked with the RFID tags are loaded into the transportation vehicle. Correspondingly, the clients are provided with the option of keeping a track of their goods that are being shipped or transported. In this regard, the concept of satellite transmission is identified to play an important role in the tracking operations. The satellite continuously monitors the signals of the RFID tags that are pasted on the goods transported (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). Accordingly, it transmits the location coordinates of the transportation vehicle to the disk antenna, which in turn remains connected with the servers of the logistics organizations. By accessing the stored information within the server components, clients can easily get the location of the current position of goods and its progress towards determined destination (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). This is how the RFID technology gradually works with the prime intention of providing benefit to customers along with helping organizations in systematically conducting their operations. The technology of RFID tags is quite simple and multiple variations in the type of tags are available. For instance, short range RFID tags generally use magmatic fields from receiving components for transmitting information regarding the goods to which the barcode are pasted. Short range tags do not possess any power source of their own and thus, activate by utilizing the energy signals emitted by the receiver (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). Working of a Near Field RFID Source: (Ahuja & Potti, 2010) The depicted picture provides adequate understanding about the working procedure of short range RFID Tag. The barcode tags are commonly peeled and pasted on goods in order to provide electronic identity. On coming into close proximity with the magnetic field produced by a receiver, the RFID tags reveal the data stored as presented in tag numbers (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). In the case of long range RFID tags, tags are used in the areas of goods transportation and logistics. These types of tags are self-powered and remain in constant touch with the satellite, which facilitate in transmitting the location and the information of goods to customers (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). Working of a Far Field RFID Device Source: (Ahuja & Potti, 2010) The above depicted diagram reveals long range RFID transponder. It can be understood from the provided diagram that long range RFID transponders are self-powered beeping machines, which are bolted or fitted to goods that are being transported from one geographic location to another. The machines keep on beeping within certain intervals releasing microwaves or radio frequency waves. The signals are received by the satellite, which in turn transmits it to the servers for storage (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). I.c.2 Goods Tagging Wal-Mart The Store Maintenance Staff Checking the Details of the Garment Products Using RFID Transceiver Source: (Now the End Begins, n.d.) The above depicted picture describes the usage of RFID technology in the areas of retail marketing. Often, it happens that the large retail stores find it very difficult to maintain and manage product related data in an effective manner. As a result of this kind of poor management, the retail stores often witness subsequent amount of losses. The effective implementation of the RFID tagging technology helps retail organizations such as Wal-Mart to collect and to maintain entire product related information within databases in a systematic manner. The information are stored in databases by simply bringing the transceiver in close proximity with the transponder tags pasted on products of retail stores and subsequently, associated data related to products are automatically uploaded to respective retail stores’ databases (Ahuja & Potti, 2010). III. Body III.a. RFID Systems Integration into Supply Chain Management The integration of RFID systems in Supply Chain Management (SCM) concept has helped in opening a new dimension for the logistics companies in terms of attaining profits and improvising their work efficiency to a large extent. In the present day scenario, multiple companies are making continuous efforts to cut down expenditure costs and improving as well as diversifying their services in order to attain higher reputation and market share. In this context, it has been observed that logistics companies with the assistance of RFID systems are facilitated in performing their operations with better competencies and competitive advantages (Blecker & Haung, 2008). RFID system has been effective in enhancing competitive positions of the companies due to the fact that sustainability and preference factor of the supply chain industry and the logistics industry mainly depends on quality and time of service deliverance. As a result, the effective implementation of RFID within the SCM of logistics companies facilitates in obtaining appreciable return on investment. In addition, the automation of the entire process subsequently helps in saving time, which further assists organizations to attain more business deals (Blecker & Haung, 2008). Apart from the automation factor, the implementation of RFID within SCM process also helps in perceiving various transportation related anomalies that might emerge suddenly and might adversely affect business performance. Based on the perceptions, organizations undertake precautionary strategies in order to minimize the negative impact on shipments. The precautionary strategies include identification of appropriate transportation routes, selection of the effective transportation vehicle, continuous monitoring of the traffic status and among others. Moreover, RFID also helps logistics organizations to track shipped goods. A majority of logistics companies provide the privilege of using their goods tracking feature as a valued service to their customers for tracking out their ordered goods in relation to its current position (Blecker & Haung, 2008). RFID technology also helps in streamlining goods related data maintenance process, which in turn facilitates in increasing the accuracy factor through effective elimination of possible manual errors. As a result, the cost of hiring additional labor forces gradually decreases and business operations are conducted in a time efficient manner. Moreover, the availability of real time information across each supply line through which products pass helps in bringing about efficiency within transaction process, thereby playing a critical role in supply chain management (Blecker & Haung, 2008). III.b. Advantages and Disadvantages of RFID Advantages of RFID. In the present contemporary world, RFID is an important tool of tracking as well as identifying tagged objects. It has got multiple advantages and certain disadvantages. Presently, RFID has completely modified the aspect of the preliminary bar code reader equipment. Moreover, the subsequent usage of the technology will gradually enable to eliminate the existence of the bar code technology in the coming days with better advanced tracking devises. The second advantage of the technology is regarding the necessity of almost no human intervention (Kaur et al., 2011). Contextually, RFID reduces the cost of hiring additional employees along with eliminating the possible chances of human errors. Thirdly, the process of tagging goods stocked or shipped requires less effort in comparison with manual listing process, which consumes considerable efforts in terms of enlisting goods details along with systematically managing stock level. Additionally, RFID has also got an edge over the regular barcode reader that requires to be brought in physical contact with the tagged goods in order to attain and store tagged objects’ information. In this regard, the use of the RFID systems provides the option of recording tagged objects’ information easily with the assistance of satellite or long range transceivers (Kaur et al., 2011). It has been also identified that the RFID tags possess the feature of being reprogrammed multiple times as compared to the barcode stickers which in turn aids in reducing the wastage percentage. Moreover, the data storing capacity of the long range RFID tags is much more as compared to the bar code stickers. The RFID tags are essentially used for the purpose of obtaining complete information about goods rather than just identifying goods. Durability against adverse environmental conditions forms another specific advantage of the RFID tags over barcode stickers as barcode stickers get easily damaged when subjected to harsh environmental conditions (Kaur et al., 2011). Disadvantages of RFID. There are certain limitations of using the RFID technology in the areas of supply chain and logistics. Issues with Standardization One specific issue with the RFID type of communication tags is the implementation of different types of communication protocols within them. In simple words, different organizations manufacture their RFID tags encoded with the types of communication protocols that will be familiar to them. As a result, the type of tags of an organization cannot be detected by RFID transceivers of other logistics organizations. Thus, on one hand it helps in retaining the product privacy of one organization from that of the other, While, On the other hand, it confines ineffective utilization of the technology (Kaur et al., 2011). Cost Factor Cost factor is another such issue that might hinder the profitability as well as the sustainability of logistics organizations. The effect can be more adversely witnessed during the period of economic crisis. This is due to the fact that the logistics organizations gradually depend on the fuel prices for carrying out their operations (Kaur et al., 2011). Moreover, the dependency on the utilization of the RFID tags for tracking their goods might appear like an extra expenditure for companies. In general sense, it can be comprehended that the active and the semi-active RFID tags are expensive as compared to the inactive tags and the bar code stickers. Thus, logistics companies will be required to spend more in activating the tags in order to continue with their operations (Kaur et al., 2011). Signal Collision The use of RFID technology provides the capability of accessing the stored data of multiple tags in a single instance. In this context, it has been determined that instances might occur where the receiver system gets overloaded or crashes resulting in bringing about a complete halt to the entire logistics operation process (Kaur et al., 2011). III.d. Transportation and Supply Chain Uses Walmart. Walmart is one of the world’s largest retailer business organizations, which has been significantly successful in terms of attracting customers by providing a long line and mix of affordably priced products (Bartles, 2008). During the year 2010, the retail organization had successfully tagged each and every product within its store in order to improve the product management process. A crucial factor that can be identified to have specifically contributed towards the success of the brand is the implementation of long range RFID tags within its logistics and supply chain operations (Bartles, 2008). The implementation of RFID systems has gradually helped the brand in terms of speeding up business operations along with bringing down expenses. As a result, the brand has contributed a specific part of its profits to the customers in terms of economically priced products. The technology has also helped the brand in terms of effectively maintaining its product inventory. In this regard, the brand has been facilitated with the opportunity of maintaining a balance between incoming products and stored level of inventory, which in turn has majorly benefitted it to minimize wastes (Bartles, 2008). Boeing. During the period of 2012, The Boeing Company made a stand towards the implementation of RFID technology with the prime intention of obtaining information about the status of airplanes in order to prevent mechanical failures, which might lead to catastrophic incidents. The aviation organization along with ‘Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’ has developed a specific type of RFID technology that will be fitted to every single part within the aircrafts (Swedberg, 2012). The fitted RFID tags are of active type and are also capable enough to store and transmit a large amount of data to the control terminals. These tags have helped the organization in enhancing their aircrafts level of safety, which in turn has enabled to attain the preference of the customers (Swedberg, 2012). III.d. Future of RFID It can be comprehended that the use of RFID technology in future will only augment to render multi-faceted benefits to different organizations. The technology has already proved its effectiveness in the areas of SCM and logistics by assisting businesses to perform their operations in a competitive manner. The technology can also be implemented in the field of defense in future for enhanced border security by tracking invaders. Multiple IT based organizations have also projected their views to utilize the technology in future for creating integrated data sharing virtual environment so that information is easily accessible from any part of the world and at any possible time (Deutsche Bank Research, 2006). IV. Conclusion By taking into consideration the above discussed facts, it can be ascertained that RFID technology has been of immense importance for business organizations operating in different fields to conduct their operations competitively and competently. Logistics and SCM companies with the aim of tracking as well as identifying tagged objects successfully have effectively used the RFID systems. The technology is predicted to be further developed in the future for improving monitoring as well as sharing functionality. Respectively, effective up-gradation of the technology will assist in performing multiple activities in an efficient manner. References Ahuja, S., & Potti, P. (2010). An introduction to RFID technology. Communications and Network, 2, 183-186. Bartles, C. (2008). Wal-Mart making first use of smart label technology. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2004-04-30-wallyworld-rfid_x.htm Blecker, T., & Haung, G. Q. (2008). RFID in operations and supply chain management. Operations and Technology Management, 1-18. Deutsche Bank Research. (2006). Future technology on everyone’s lips. RFID Chips, 1-8. Kaur, M., Sandhu, M., Mohan, N., & Sandhu, P. S. (2011). RFID technology principles, advantages, limitations & its applications. International Journal of Computer and Electrical Engineering, 151-157. Now the End Begins. (n.d.). The mark of the beast and the implantable RFID chip. Retrieved from http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/pages/mark_of_the_beast/markOF_theBEAST.htm Swedberg, C. (2012). Boeing to launch RFID program for airlines in February. Retrieved from http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?9107 Violino, B. (2005). The history of RFID technology. Retrieved from http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?1338 Read More