IP-Mapping a RFID-Integrated Shelf Replenishment Information System for the Retail Industry to Assess Information Quality

Motivated by the problem of out-of-shelf (OOS) in retail industry and the emergence of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, this paper investigates the impact that the adoption of RFID has on the quality of information utilized during the shelf replenishment process. A RFID-integrated information system (IS) with three alternative implementation scenarios is proposed to enhance the shelf replenishment process. The impact of the three alternative solutions on the quality of the IS information input and output is examined in terms of accuracy, timeliness and completeness. The quality of the IS information input and output will be assessed by developing the Information Product Maps (Ballou et al. 1998, Shankaranarayan et al. 2003) of the alternative implementations of the RFID-integrated shelf replenishment IS and utilizing the methodology introduced by the fundamental study of Ballou, Wang, Pazer and Tayi (1998). The contribution of this study is reflected on the research approach of using this methodology, not applied until now, based on the available literature.