International Journal of RF Technologies - Volume 5, issue 1-2

Authors: Mainetti, Luca | Mele, Francesca | Patrono, Luigi | Simone, Francesco | Stefanizzi, Maria Laura | Vergallo, Roberto

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This paper evaluates the impact of the EPCglobal international standard and some emerging Radio Frequency (RF) technologies, such as Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC), on the main processes of the fresh vegetables supply chain. Particular attention was focused on the first steps of the supply chain, which include cultivation in greenhouses and manufacturing of packaged vegetables, known as IV gamma products (i.e., goods ready to be consumed), because they represent crucial points of the considered supply chain. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the current business processes was performed exploiting the experience of a big Italian …company, with several locations and different brands. This analysis highlighted some critical aspects in the management of the whole supply chain, from the land to the table of the end-consumer, and allowed us to perform an efficient re-engineering of the main business processes. The re-engineered model was designed by exploiting the potentialities derived from the combined use of innovative technologies, including EPCglobal, RFID, NFC, and DataMatrix. Moreover, this work has led to the definition of important guidelines able to substantially improve both the culture techniques and the vegetables transformation procedures, based on strategic concepts such as precision agriculture, item-level traceability, and integration of heterogeneous Information Systems (IS). The proposed tracing and tracking system, based on EPCglobal standard, is able to guarantee to end-consumer the ability to know the entire history of the purchased product. Moreover, in order to evaluate the potential benefits of the re-engineered processes in a real supply chain, some metrics able to compare the current (AS IS) and reengineered (TO BE) models were considered. In particular, the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) method has been chosen to carry out this analysis on the pilot project implemented in the chosen company. Experimental results allowed us to derive a realistic estimate of the selected performance indicators for the re-engineered model. Show more

Keywords: RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), item-level tracing system, EPC (Electronic Product Code), food supply chain, NFC (Near Field Communication), key performance indicator, precision agriculture

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-130050

Citation: International Journal of RF Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1-2, pp. 1-40, 2013

Authors: Elia, V. | Gnoni, M.G.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: RFID technology is no longer an experimental technology but is now widely applied in business processes aiming to increase performance both in public and private sectors. Together with traditional sectors (e.g. logistics, retail), the large potentiality of this technology is supporting its adoption in completely new emerging sectors (e.g. entertainment, payment). Thus, several challenges are still open: one critical point is the application cost; furthermore, as several research studies have pointed out operational as well as strategic benefits, this is yet an open research topic. The aim of the proposed study is to “measure” the adoption level of RFID technology …by critically analyzing field study applications: a survey has been performed on case studies published by RFID Journal – a well-known media company – in two years (from January 2010 to January 2012). A specific taxonomy – based on main critical points characterizing RFID application – has been proposed in order to support potential RFID adopters in designing their own application. Results have showed as RFID technology is really pervasive in several sectors and geographical areas, even if the level of diffusion is quite different from one area to another. Show more

Keywords: RFID, field application, industry, benefits analysis

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-130049

Citation: International Journal of RF Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1-2, pp. 41-61, 2013

Authors: Catarinucci, Luca | Colella, Riccardo | Mainetti, Luca | Mighali, Vincenzo | Patrono, Luigi | Pieretti, Stefano | Sergi, Ilaria | Tarricone, Luciano

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Animal tracking and animal behavior analysis have a crucial impact in biomedical disciplines to study new pathologies and effects of new drugs. There are several solutions, based on different technologies such as GPS, radar, and vision, designed to obtain animals tracking systems, but they are effective mainly in presence of large size animals and outdoor environment. Unfortunately, they show poor performance when groups of small laboratory animals have to be monitored in indoor environments. In such a context, the adoption of passive Near Field (NF) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology seems to be a winning approach, …even though the straightforward use of commercial solutions does not guarantee satisfactory performance. Specifically, customized hardware and software solutions are then required. The main goal of this work is to present the development and then to validate a reliable and effective system for the automatic tracking of laboratory mice, based on suited NF UHF RFID hardware capturing system combined with an ad hoc software system able to guarantee hardware control, data processing, and reporting. In particular, the validation phase has been carried out by selecting the most appropriate RFID tags and by surgically implanting them into laboratory mice. Experimental results have demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed solution, which is able to gather data on the animal movements, allowing their subsequent processing for a satisfactory behavioral analysis. Show more

Keywords: Animal behavior, implantable biomedical devices, medical information systems, RFID tags, UHF antennas, natural environment

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-130048

Citation: International Journal of RF Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1-2, pp. 63-80, 2013

Authors: Busato, Davide | Fera, Marcello | Iannone, Raffaele | Mancini, Vincenzo | Schiraldi, Massimiliano M.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Current literature agrees that one of the main results obtained by adopting RFID lies in an improved efficiency increase in material handling operations, especially regarding reductions in the time required to perform certain procedural steps. However, by evaluating only the advantages that can be easily quantified and definitely achieved may lead to limited results. This paper presents a business case of a large European Consumer Packaged Goods (FMCG) company in the cosmetics and beauty sector. Eleven processes in receiving, handling, storage and delivery procedures in one of the main distribution centres of the company were analysed and modelled using a …detailed Business Process Modelling (BPM) approach. Since savings were evaluated only in terms of the reduction of resources used - achieved through process acceleration - despite the company dealing in huge volumes of high-margin products, the feasibility study turned out to be negative. Thus, the paper concludes with a brief discussion of how companies should take on this challenge if process timing benefits are insufficient. The detailed process analysis reported in this paper may be useful for operation practitioners or any manufacturing company or distribution centre about to start an as-is versus to-be comparison of their material handling procedures for RFID implementation. Show more

Keywords: RFID project, process streamlining, process analysis, business process modelling, material management, fast movers consumer goods

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-130047

Citation: International Journal of RF Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1-2, pp. 81-105, 2013

Authors: Bureau, Sylvain | Zhou, Wei | Piramuthu, Selwyn

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: When online retailing became prevalent more than a decade ago, there was a natural tendency for these retailers to mimic as many essential characteristics of the B&M (Brick & Mortar) retail stores as possible to facilitate smooth transfer of customer experience from B&M to the online shopping environment. Online stores have evolved over the years and have diverged enough from their B&M counterparts to lay claim to their own idiosyncratic characteristics. Given that enough online retailers have been successful, it may now be the B&M retailers' turn to learn from their online counterparts. With finer-granular experience from several decades of …customer online retail store shopping behavior and the fact that B&M stores are here to stay at least for the very near future, B&M retailers stand to benefit from transfer of appropriate knowledge from online stores. We provide an overview of this dynamic with the availability of RFID-generated item-level information in B&M stores. Show more

Keywords: RFID, B&M retailers, online retailers

DOI: 10.3233/RFT-130051

Citation: International Journal of RF Technologies, vol. 5, no. 1-2, pp. 107-122, 2013