How to avoid RFID mistakes

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/15/2005

“If we could track anything in any way we wanted, and use that data in any way we wanted, what would that system look like?”

According to Marlo Brooke, president of Avatar Partners (949-622-5557), that simple “what-if” scenario might be the single most important question a company can ask when investigating applications for RFID.

“Companies are being told about the perfectly synchronized, demand-driven networked supply chain that will allow them to track an individual item from the point of purchase all the way back to the point of origin,” says Brooke. “But there are so many processes and trading partners in any transaction that envisioning how that can happen is staggering.”

The challenge for companies confronting RFID is not to tackle the entire supply chain. Instead, it’s to tie investments in RFID to compliance with mandates to their own strategic objectives. That’s where asking “what-if” comes into play.

“The biggest mistake manufacturers are making today around RFID is to look at it through the eyes of the retailer,” says Brooke. “Instead, they have to look at RFID through their own eyes and find a return on investment in other areas.”

As an example, Brooke cites one large international consumer packaged goods company that used an RFID mandate to gain data synchronization improvements in its operations.

“Good information is the base foundation of supply chain improvement,” says Brooke. “The improvement they gained was enough to pay for the RFID initiative.”

How does that process begin? Brooke advises clients to gather their best thinkers together for a boardroom luncheon and write the “if we could track anything…” question on a whiteboard. What is really being asked is: “What do you want RFID to do for you?”

This question changes the company mindset. Instead of being forced to comply with a customer’s mandate, it creates a proactive mindset that allows the company to reap big benefits from technology.

“Optimally implementing RFID is challenging, and will require both creative vision and careful execution,” Brooke says. “But nothing worthwhile is not challenging-- in life and in business. And, when properly approached, that small RFID tag on your product just might be a catalyst that takes your company into a state of shareholder bliss.”