Towards a Framework for Aligning Rfid Applications with Supply Chain Strategies

Supply chain management has two streams of strategies, namely lean and agile. However, current RFID applications tend to overlook supply chain strategies and are designed for obvious RFID applications, like simply replacing barcodes. However, the full potential of RFID might not be achieved when RFID applications are not aligned with the supply chain strategies. Therefore, this study analyzes the current literature to investigate whether RFID applications are indeed misaligned with their strategies. Results shows that RFID is still at its infancy and most RFID applications focus on cost reduction, a lean practice, and less attention has been paid on how RFID can satisfy customer demands, an agile practice. It is therefore suggested that management should ensure that RFID applications are aligned with their supply chain strategy, in order to gain the most benefits out of RFID.