Retailers face various issues like stock-outs, inventory management, product recalls, theft, shrinkage and product counterfeiting. RFID deployment may help them in solving such problems as supply chain partners will have the ability to foresee the movement of inventory, goods and customer demand, enabling them to plan ahead. The major strength of firms in current era of competitiveness lies in their ability to communicate in real-time with their trading partners. Firms must enhance visibility in supply chain by strengthening communication network and deploying RFID for checking movement of products. This article brings out the importance of RFID as a tool to enable real-time visibility in supply chain.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a broad topic that encompasses many strategic issues such as warehouse location, size of distribution centers; partnerships with suppliers, wholesalers, distributors and customers; product design impact; and technology infrastructure. It also encompasses strategic and tactical processes such as demand planning, forecasting, sourcing, production scheduling, inventory and transportation. Businesses are increasingly leveraging Information Technology (IT) to improve their operations and create a competitive advantage.

Never has the pressure been greater on the supply chain. The globalization of manufacturing and distribution, cutthroat competition, changing taste and preference of customers as well as falling bottom line, have greatly influenced performance of supply chain partners. Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) is an IT tool that enables real-time visibility in supply chain. RFID-enabled SCM systems can directly improve inventory management (decrease inventory levels, holding costs, and spoilage) resulting in huge cost savings. As per an estimate of the US Department of Transportation, the amount invested in logistics amounted to 11% of the US GDP in 2002. Looking to such huge investment in logistics and distribution, the benefit of deploying RFID to track item-level transactions between supply chain partners is enormous.

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