RFID Technology for Optimum Business Innovation

Although efficiency and optimization are a key focus, at every stage of this transformation, new business opportunities may arise. Better information and process improvements often are part of the process of developing a deeper understanding of a business and can easily lead to new offers to customers or different ways of pricing. But the most dramatic form of transformation is that intelligent automated parts of the system can lead to dramatic new levels of efficiency, coordination and collaboration in an adaptive business network.

In retailing, Metro Group has pioneered the introduction of RFID into stores to change the shopping experience to make it more dynamic. Products with RFID tags can interact with shelves, shopping carts, information displays, cash registers, and scales all equipped with readers that can sense the products and react. Proctor & Gamble is using RFID technology to pursue its vision of a consumer-driven supply network, in which timely information is used to pull, in effect, products through the supply chain rather than use planning algorithms to push products to where forecasts say they might be needed. In aircraft maintenance, sensors on jet engines are being used to sense the operation of the engines and predict when they need maintenance or replacement of parts.

Although better information and process improvements can bring great value, business innovation based on the power of RFID technology is the path to the largest benefits. The above instances are only a sample of how more information, advanced analysis and intelligent components can change the paradigm for a business.