Achieving supply chain integration using RFID technology: The case of emerging intelligent B-to-B e-commerce processes in a living laboratory

Purpose: Despite the high operational and strategic potentials of RFID technology, very little studies have been conducted about its role as enabler of supply chain integration to achieve high-level operational efficiency. Therefore, this study is an initial effort towards bridging the existing knowledge gap in the literature. Design/methodology: This exploratory research was conducted in one retail supply chain. A multi-method approach combining a longitudinal real-life case study and a methodology integrating several steps, including a “Living Laboratory” strategy was used and involved all members of a product line to analyze in terms of their contributing activities and their interface with other supply chain members, the aim being to explore the impact of RFID technology on inter- and intra-organizational processes and information systems. Findings: Our results provide support to the role of RFID as enabler of better integration of timeliness and accuracy data flows into information systems, business process optimization through automation, better system-to-system communication and better inter- and-intra-organizational business process integration. Furthermore, they also validate the unique characteristics of RFID technology such as enabler of realtime multiple tags items data collection and exchange within the supply chain and the read-and-write capability that may help, for example, to reuse some RFID tags within the supply chain and therefore reduce the cost related to the purchase of the said RFID tags. Finally, the study also reveals the importance of business process renovation and complementary investments during the adoption of RFID technology in order to achieve high level of business value from the technology

RFID-enabled warehouse optimization: lessons from early adopters in the 3PL industry

This paper presents the impact of RFID technology on the picking and shipping processes of one RFID-enabled warehouse in the 3PL industry. The findings from our study confirm initial results from many studies where RFID implementation has been shown to enable business process redesign, improve data quality, real-time data collection and synchronization and enhance system integration. In this study we show that the full potential of RFID technology is dependent upon the involvement of all supply chain members involved in implementation. Moreover, firms considering implementing RFID technology need to take into account their investment in complementary assets such as employee training and knowledge development. The implication of this is that business process modeling and simulation is critical to ensure that stakeholders involved in a RFID project fully understand the impacts of integrating RFID technology on business processes

Achieving supply chain integration using RFID technology: The case of emerging intelligent B-to-B e-commerce processes in a living laboratory

Purpose: Despite the high operational and strategic potentials of RFID technology, very little studies have been conducted about its role as enabler of supply chain integration to achieve high-level operational efficiency. Therefore, this study is an initial effort towards bridging the existing knowledge gap in the literature. Design/methodology: This exploratory research was conducted in one retail supply chain. A multi-method approach combining a longitudinal real-life case study and a methodology integrating several steps, including a “Living Laboratory” strategy was used and involved all members of a product line to analyze in terms of their contributing activities and their interface with other supply chain members, the aim being to explore the impact of RFID technology on inter- and intra-organizational processes and information systems. Findings: Our results provide support to the role of RFID as enabler of better integration of timeliness and accuracy data flows into information systems, business process optimization through automation, better system-to-system communication and better inter- and-intra-organizational business process integration. Furthermore, they also validate the unique characteristics of RFID technology such as enabler of realtime multiple tags items data collection and exchange within the supply chain and the read-and-write capability that may help, for example, to reuse some RFID tags within the supply chain and therefore reduce the cost related to the purchase of the said RFID tags. Finally, the study also reveals the importance of business process renovation and complementary investments during the adoption of RFID technology in order to achieve high level of business value from the technology

RFID-enabled Warehouse Process Optimization in the TPL Industry

Using the value chain model and a longitudinal real-world case study of a third-party logistics (TPL) supply chain, this study provides support for the enabling role of RFID technology in effecting warehouse process optimization. Furthermore, the findings of our study reveal the RFID technology implementation costs as the key inhibitors factor of RFID widespread adoption and usage among suppliers

IT-enabled Process Innovation: A Literature Review

The importance of Information Technology (IT) is growing, and in a hypercompetitive market IT must be used as a strategic asset for companies to succeed. In order to gain strategic benefits from IT, companies need to be innovative when deploying IT. This can be achieved by reengineering business processes to take advantage of the possibilities IT provides. In 1993 Thomas H. Davenport presented a framework describing the role of IT in process innovation . Based on this framework, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a literature review to answer the following research question: What kind of opportunities does IT provide for process innovation? . Davenport\u27s framework is used as an analytical lens to review articles from the top 20 IS and management journals. The paper provides an overview and an in-depth analysis of the literature on IT-enabled process innovation and suggests avenues for future research as well as recommendations for practitioners. Our analyses reveal five distinct themes related to opportunities for IT-enabled process innovation, all of which offer guidance to practitioners and highlight gaps in our current knowledge about how to leverage IT for innovation purposes

Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view

Value of Information in Improving Daily Operations in High-Density Logistics

In this paper we investigate the value of shared information between chain actors for improving daily operations in high-density logistics processes at distribution warehouses. We first define a generic high-density logistics process at a distribution warehouse based on real-world cases. Utilizing daily shared information about inbound flow (i.e. truck-arrival time) and outbound flow (i.e. required timeframes), we then propose daily process redesign on changing process parameters and evaluate their impact on the process performance using a discrete-event simulation model of a floricultural supply chain. Additionally, the impact of different information characteristics (i.e. timeliness, accuracy and completeness) on the effectiveness of the redesign decision are studied through different scenarios. This work contributes to a better understanding of the value of information in supporting decision-making at the operational level, particularly in warehouse operations. It also helps to raise the awareness of industrial managers regarding the use of information for improving process performance as well as the importance of information characteristics

Construction informatics in Turkey: strategic role of ICT and future research directions

Construction Informatics deals with subjects ranging from strategic management of ICTs to interoperability and information integration in the construction industry. Studies on defining research directions for Construction Informatics have a history over 20 years. The recent studies in the area highlight the priority themes for Construction Informatics research as interoperability, collaboration support, intelligent sites and knowledge sharing. In parallel, today it is widely accepted in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry that ICT is becoming a strategic asset for any organisation to deliver business improvement and achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, traditionally the AEC industry has approached investing in ICT with a lack of strategic focus and low level of priority to the business. This paper presents a recent study from Turkey that is focused on two themes. The first theme investigates the strategic role of ICT implementations from an industrial perspective, and explores if organisations within the AEC industry view ICT as a strategic resource for their business practice. The second theme investigates the ‘perspective of academia’ in terms of future research directions of Construction Informatics. The results of the industrial study indicates that ICT is seen as a value-adding resource, but a shift towards the recognition of the importance of ICT in terms of value adding in winning work and achieving strategic competitive advantage is observed. On the other hand, ICT Training is found to be the theme of highest priority from the academia point of view