۳۰۵- SUPPLY CHAIN WASTE ZONES ANALYSIS BY RFID

            SUPPLY CHAIN WASTE ZONES ANALYSIS BY RFID

Alireza Feridooni

Renault car manufacturing Company, Renault IRAN supply manager

Key words: RFID, SC, SC intelligence, Lean, Agile, Leagile, Pull, push, Tag, reader 

Abstract:

Its people, its industry, its history and its products frame an organizations view of SCM. Today, the identification of SC waste zones has the most importance to have improvement from E-SC to SCI. Role of the new technologies like RFID has been high lighted by the advance companies as their experiences during current years.

In this paper, all shape of wastes SC zones will be introduced and after that we will have an advance application view about impact of RFID to change the SC status to SCI by waste zones reduction.

In this way, Lean, Agile and Leagile production models has been used as the RFID supply chain intelligence foundation. 

Some of these waste zones which are introduced in this paper are as below:

- INTRA-ORGANISATION WASTE ZONES

Design zone

            Information flow zone

Physical flow zone

Brink zone

- INTER-ORGANISATION WASTE ZONES

            Information zone

Strateragic decisions Zone

System variations zone.

Step by step, we will have analysis of RFID impacts on each waste zone by supply chain information system variations.

Finally, we will have compare in some cars manufacturing about RFID applications as a case study.  

1- Introduction:

Supply chain as new shape of production and services integration to manage financial, material and information transactions, can be the key of cost reduction by finding its waste zones inside each companies.

In this paper, we will show some advance kinds of production process and their related supply chains to have analysis on their waste zones which can be causes of time, cost… wastes.

We will started by some kind of supply chain, then the new technologies like RFID and impact of RFID to waste zone problem solving.

2-      Supply Chain Management

           2.1-Defining SCM

     Its people, its industry, its history and its products frame an organizations view of SCM. Dr.Longley which was at Pennsylvania stat University and the University of Tennessee, his view is that the supply chain is a “network of resources that supports fulfillment and satisfaction of    customers.”

    The concept of supply chain management (SCM) is perhaps the most critical management concept and practice shaping today’s business environment According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), SCM can be  defined as encompassing “the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement conversion and  all logistics management activities.….

It also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners who can be suppliers’ intermediaries’ third-party service providers and customers In essence supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and Across companies.”

The SCM concept has evolved with it through the five distinct stages shown in below:

Figure 1: Five Stages of Supply Chain Management

Stage 1 is the era of logistics decentralization

In Stage 2 logistics began the evolution from functional decentralization to organizational centralization driven by new attitudes associated with cost optimization and customer service Stage 3 represents The dramatic expansion of logistics from a narrow concern with internal cost management to new concepts calling for the linkage of internal operations with Analogous functions performed by trading partners As the concept of trading partner Collaboration grew the old logistics model gave way

in Stage 4 to full-blown SCM Today the application of lean concepts to closely integrated trading-partner networks is driving

Stage 5 lean SCM.

Figure 2: Conceptual set of supply chain

               2.2-Viewpoints toward SCM

Table 1: Viewpoints toward SCM

      2.3-Lean, Agile and Leagile supply chain:

                          2.3.1-Lean

Basically, the lean production designed for waste reduction in a company and several researchers had been tried to set this system in SCM till now

 Lean production is based on four principles: (1) minimize waste; (2) perfect first-time quality; (3) flexible production lines; (4) continuous improvement.

Minimize waste: All principles derive from the first – minimize waste. As explained above are include: (1) production of defective parts; (2) production of more than the needed number of items; (3) unnecessary inventories; (3) unnecessary processing steps; (4) unnecessary movement of people; (5) unnecessary transportation of materials; (6) waiting workers.

Perfect first-time quality: Quality control in mass production is defined in terms of an acceptable quality level (AQL), meaning that a certain level of fraction defects is sufficient even satisfactory. In lean production (LP), perfect quality is required.

The JIT delivery discipline used in LP necessitates a zero defects level in parts quality while a single defect draws attention to the quality problem, forcing corrective action and a permanent solution.

Table 2: Comparison of MP and LP attributes

.

                         2.3.2-Agile

Agility is a business-wide capability that embraces organizational structures, information Systems, logistics processes and, in particular, mindsets.

Agile manufacturing (AM) has emerged after lean production. It can be defined as: (1) enterprise level manufacturing strategy of introducing new products into rapidly changing markets; (2) organization ability to thrive in a competitive environment characterized by continuous and sometimes unforeseen change.

Studies have identified four principles of agility:

- Organize to master change

An agile company is organized in a way that allows it to thrive in conditions of change and uncertainty while the human and physical resources can be rapidly reconfigured to adapt to changing environment and market opportunities.

- Leverage impact of people and information

In an agile company, knowledge is valued, innovation is rewarded, and authority is distributed to the appropriate level of the organization. The management provides the resources that personnel need, the organization has entrepreneurial spirit, and there is a climate of mutual responsibility for joint success.

 - Cooperate to enhance competitiveness

Cooperation internally and with other companies is the top priority strategy of the agile companies. The objective is to bring products to market as rapidly as possible and the required resources and competencies are found and used, wherever they exist. This may involve partnering with other companies, even with competitors, to form “virtual enterprises”.

- Enrich the customer

The products of an agile company are perceived as solutions to customers’ problems. Pricing the product can be based on the value of the solution to the customer, rather than on manufacturing costs. AM involves more than just manufacturing. It involves the firm’s organizational structure, the way the firm treats the people, partnerships with other organizations, and relationships with customers.

The key enablers of AM include: (1) virtual enterprise formation tools/metrics; (2) physically distributed manufacturing architecture and teams; (3) rapid partnership formation tools/metrics; (4) concurrent engineering; (5) integrated product /production / business information systems; (6) rapid prototyping; (7) electronic commerce

Achieving agility from manufacturing strategies and technologies’ view point may require focusing on: (1) strategic planning; (2) product design; (3) virtual enterprise; (4) automation and IT.

                       2.3.3-Agility versus mass production

In mass production, companies produce large quantities of standardized products and ideally huge volumes of identical products are produced. Over the years, the technology of MP has been refined to allow for minor variations in the product (mixed-model production). In AM the products are customized.

Table 3: Comparison of MP and AM attributes

2.3.4-Agility versus Lean production

There are certain conditions where a lean approach makes sense. In particular where demand is predictable and the requirement for variety is low and volume is high. In fact the very conditions in which Toyota developed the lean philosophy. The problems arise when we attempt to implant that philosophy into situations where demand is less predictable, the requirement for variety is high and consequently volume at the individual stock keeping unit (SKU) level is low. a set of characteristics which is more typical of the Western automobile industry. In other words it could be argued that many firms have been misguided in their attempts to adopt a lean model in conditions to which is not suited.

     2.3.5-Leagile

Leagile is the combination of the lean and agile paradigms within a total supply chain strategy by positioning the decoupling point so as to best suit the need for responding to a volatile demand downstream yet providing level scheduling upstream from the marketplace.

Why call it Leagile? First, because in a Leagile supply chain, Lean material flow is upstream of Agile material flow. Secondly, because to succeed as an agile process it must be fully documented, understood and engineered. This is readily enabled by initially engineering a Lean process and then adapting it by removing specific constraints and capacity limitations, thus enabling Agility. Hence, Lean precedes Agile on two counts; geographically and temporally.

       2.3.6-The decoupling point

The decoupling point is the point in the material flow streams to which the customer’ s order penetrates. It is here where order-driven and the forecast driven activities meet. As a rule, the decoupling point coincides with an important stock point ± in control terms a main stock point ± from which the customer has to be supplied.

Table 4: Comparison of lean supply with agile supply: the distinguishing attributes

 2.4-Push-Pull strategy

By this strategy, push system will be used on upstream and pull system on downstream from supply chain. Its mean, the production and distribution decisions in primal SC process must be taken by long term predictions. Group technology is as example in this section. But in downstream that the parts will be assembled, the finish goods will be delivered to a special customer which defined or predicted before.

In a supply chain pull-push strategy the initial stages of the supply chain employs a push-based strategy while the end stages are operated in a pull-based manner. This implies that the manufacturing and distribution decisions at the initial stages of a supply chain are based on long-term forecasts. Batch production and inventory may be required at this part of the supply chain. At the final stages of the supply chain where product assembly takes place, production is in response to a specific customer demand.

A firm in the first stages of a supply chain deals with manufacturing of components. Aggregation of demand for a component used in the finished product is more accurate and less market sensitive. This is not the case with the final products where production depends on customer order. The two portions of the supply chain interact at the push-bull boundary where there is an adequate ‘buffer’ inventory that results from the coordination of the two parts of the supply chain.

Table 5: Differentiators of Push and Pull Business Models

3-Supply Chain Waste Zones

The waste reduction thinking has been presented in 1990 by lean production presentation. In lean production, based on waste reduction, there is a try to have suitable resource consumption; this kind of production system mostly can be use in each environment that the demand is predictable and without depending to other variable things after that in reason of unreliability and other variable things in demand forecasting, another kind of production system presented as agile production. Nearly, a new mixed production system presented in the name of “leagile production” which have all lean and agile systems properties together.

   3.1-INTRA-ORGANISATION WASTE ZONES:

Informatiganization split to four below section that each section consists of some another waste resource:

- Design zone

This waste zone is consisting of some kind of operations which create by unsuitable operations efficiency based on unsuitable operation design.

- Information flow zone

Some unsuitable and inefficient informational flows are reason to create this kind of wastes.

- Physical flow zone

This kind of wastes create by happen stop and delays in production which is referring to inefficiency of  facility design , material transportation, machine adjustments, current production system and unsuitable planning on maintenance of equipments.

- Brink zone

In reason of extra costs creation, which is refer to extra transportations and consume the unplanned energy sources.

As a summery:

- Work added by unnecessary design.

- Work added by inefficient methods of manufacturing.

- Work added by inefficient flow of material -including inefficient facility layout and inefficient material handling system.

- Work added by inefficient flow of information.

Figure 4: Inter-Organization Waste Zones

Figure 3: Waste Zones Associated With Manufacturing of a Product

The above classified zones investigated by Mr.Suzaki on 1987. He demonstrated a system which was without waste as a system which in that, the maximum production value has been created by the minimum of equipments, departments and workers working times.

         3.2-INTER-ORGANISATION WASTE ZONES

An agile supply chain requires smart application of push-pull strategy in which the push-pull boundary is shifted toward the front-end of the supply chain. Waste reduction and then cost optimization are the focus of the push-based portion of the push-pull supply chain strategy. The focus of the pull portion, high service level, cannot be achieved without looking to the cost issue and then to waste reduction. The link between waste reduction and agile supply chain is simple. While a waste reduction program does not need an agile supply chain to be successful, an agile supply chain can only be applicable where waste is drastically reduced. That is, waste reduction makes an agile supply chain possible.

Agility of a supply chain is driven by customer demand which is characterized by uncertainty. System variations and strategic supply chain decisions related to postponement and bullwhip effects affect considerably the inter-organizational supply chain waste. The inter-organization waste zones can be divided into three main interrelated zones:

- Information zone

Information zone which comprises the following wastes:

a. Work added by inefficient information sharing;

b. Work resulted from lack of coordination, and;

c. Work resulted from bullwhip effect.

- Strategic decisions Zone

Strategic decisions Zone including mainly waste resulted from:

a. Inefficient allocation of push-bull boundary and inefficient postponement decisions, and;

b. Inefficient buffer inventory decisions.

- System variations zone

This zone comprises various varieties of wastes including:

a. Work resulted from logistics variations;

b. Work added because of lack of standardization;

c. Work added by inefficient distribution policies, and;

d. Work added by inefficient outsourcing and procurements.

It can be noted that work added by uncertainty is not considered as a zone because the agile supply chain is mainly oriented to deal with demand uncertainty which becomes an acceptable reality.

Figure 4: Inter-Organization Waste Zones

3.3-Supply chain waste zones:

A supply chain comprises all activities within or between the supply chain entities. Accordingly, the range of a supply chain wastes zones includes both of the intra-organization and inter-organization waste zones. The interface between two types of zones is the information zones and precisely the flow of information elements.

Figure 5: Supply Chain Waste Zones

- Information zone

Inefficiency of setup time’s information planning, bullwhip effects, lack of corporation and lack of suitable division on information flow are causes of wasting via reworks creation

- Strategy’s decision zone

In this zone, some actions like wrong decision making about that products which must be produce by delay and unsuitable planning about safety stock and pull-push leveling are causes to have waste.

- System Variation zone

Waste in this zone is due to overtimes working via lack of suitable distribution systems, tasks without standard, unsuitable outsourcing planning, logistics changing and ordering setup time.

As a point, over timing which are due to unreliability on demands can not be consider as a waste zone because of agile supply chain that is create for solving the unreliability on demands,

3.4-Waste parameters

Customer satisfaction can be reach by service quality and quantity increasing. Based on this point, we need to have shorter setup time which is causes of waste reducing. The supply chain setup time is consisting of two following factors:

Ordering setup time, Information setup time

Reduction on above timing will be effective on waste reducing. In this purpose, ordering setup time can be reduce by distribution policies and informational setup time can be reduce by information sharing, from other side, incommensurate reducing of this two, can be causes of some other bad affections like bullwhip… .

 Table 6: Effective factors on wasting zones

The two essential tasks for supply chain management dealing with waste reduction are:

 a. Create clarity (reduce or prevent confusion)

 b. Accelerate the learning rate.

Clarity and learning rate are a powerful combination with which to measure the management of the agile supply chain at the personnel level.

As below suggests, the aim of maximizing clarity and learning rate is subject to two main sets of constraints. These are market constraints and capacity constraints. The third constraint is to ensure that both of clarity and learning rate need to have a positive value.

Figure 6: Clarity and Learning Rate Problem Formulation

   4-RFID definition

   Radio Frequency Identification is identification of physical items by radio waves.

The data will be transferred by suitable equipments such as tag and special recognition signals then the data will be received by the readers, finally in the exact time /location will be collected in the data bank by suitable method.

   RFID is approximately near to barcode in purpose of e="3">The cruising-range of this kind is till 10 meter.

*Active<0 byte but this number is around 125 Kilobyte or 1 Megabyte for RFID.  The frequency limitation of RFID technology is depended to the allocated frequency table of each country. Surely, Low frequency signals have the ability to cover more distance with good influence in the objects. The problem of this waves is the low capacity in use the bites.  In the high frequency the theorem is completely vise versa.

            4.1-RFID Ingredients

   Generally, a normal RFID label (tag) contained of Microchip, one macro strip antenna, and one printable surface (Figure 7).The microchip connected to antenna and the antenna installed on the printable surface. This microchip has the ability to save till 2 kilobytes information in itself. This information can be, date of sending the part, production date, Destination, Sales date, etc.

   Advance tags are capable to cryptography. About some customization ability in the tags we can write symmetric-key, public-key and      hashing.  In order to take this data from the label, we need to have a scanner or reader equipment. Normal reader equipment contains one or two antenna to send the waves and receives the signal from label. 

Figure 7: A RFID tag

- Tags

   The tags (also known as Transponders) connect on the goods like a label. Data capacity can range from 16 bits to as much as several thousand bits. Greater capacity is associated with higher price.

Form factor (size, shape, sensitivity etc.) of the tag and antenna structure vary and can either be self-contained or embedded as part of a traditional label structure and depend on the physical products and operational environment. In compare with barcode, the tags are capable to save more date and have a more safety in rubbing and pollution. 

With above explanations, the tags categorize as below:

* Passive

   This kind of tags, haven’t any local energy producer source. The energy will be provided from radio frequency signals that sent by reader equipment and received by tags antenna.

   In fact, this tags work by reflection system it means that the tag doesn’t send the waves independent by itself but as soon as receive the signals from the reader, tags will be active to send the data on time.

The cruising-range of this kind is till 3.3 meter.

            *Semi-Passive

   This kind of tags are similar to the passive with this deferent that it has a small battery to active local circuit in itself.

The cruising-range of this kind is till 10 meter.

*Active

   These tags have an energy provider source in themselves. It is capable to transfer the data in far distances.  The active tags duty is send the data automatic and continually to environment by an exact cruising-range.

Read ranges are generally much greater for active tags than passive tags (approximately 100 feet versus less than 15 feet for most passive tags or from 7 meter to 250 meter for actives). Active tags are more expensive than passive tags are currently more suited for applications where long read ranges are required and tag costs are low compared to items of high value.  

You can see the summarized data about these tags in below (Table 1):

                                          Table 1: A compare between tags

                   *Bilateral

   There is another kind of tags in the name of bilateral tags that have ability to connect with the other tags directly without help of reader equipments.

- Readers

   Normally, this Ingredient have connection with the computerize system and work like a barcode scanner. In fact, the duty of readers is connection establishment between tags and information systems. In compare with barcode scanners, tag readers have ability to receive the data without direct view and any physical connection.

The big benefit is: a tag reader is capable to read till 200 tags in a same time parallel.

*Fixed

This kind of equipments, installed by fixed format on the buildings, input-output gates…

            *Portable

   This kind of equipments is portable which are manual and for instance it can be useful in the warehouse. Generally, this kind has gun shape which is use by hand ,are lighter and cheaper than fixed kind, Will be useful in some situation that the operator are movable and the goods are fixed ( like stock-taking operation ).    

- Antenna

   Antenna is connected to the readers and categorize in several sizes, structures by relationships distance and related productivity.

   In fact, antenna is the factor of connection between reader and tag in the RFID tracking system. This equipment which has the role of sending-receiving the defined waves for the system, must set on the correct location and site. Location and angle in set up the antenna and the quantity of that to cover the expected space determine by complex mathematical relationships and by the special experts.

   Station is set of antenna and reader. The station can read the saved data in the tags and updating with the new data.

   According to the using situation in the system for all kind of HF and UHF waves, we need to the several antennas.

            4.2-Coding systems (EPC)

In this section you can see the EPC position in RFID connections as below:

 The coding system in the name of EPC, transfer the data from reader to a middle ware in the name of “savant”.

These codes prepared according to global standards by global system international organization (GSI) that is responsible to preparation of barcode systems. Each RFID tag have a special separate code and you can not find any two tags with the same code in the world (all the tag manufactures must register their tags under supervision of international association).

Generally, EPC categorize in 3 classes by 64, 96 and 256 bites.

4.3-Savant

   The main code will be extracted and summarized by savant then will be transferred to data bank in order to be have ability to transfer the data to the internet network.

   In fact, savant in RFID is invisible buffer software that is between RFID reader and a server (RFID frontend-IT backend) that the goods data saved by this server to give the ability of analysis the non-categorized data which is read by readers to the companies in purpose of conduct this companies to the suitable information system.

   Savants have ability to do several operations such as tag reader monitoring, manage the readers which have the problem, data mining and search in ONS.

4.4-PML

   In order to have connection between read codes and data bank in the total tracking system we need to software. Physical Mark up Language (PML) is kind of computer programming language in purpose of data interchanging between ingredients in a network.

   With this definition, the duty of PML in RFID is convert the read data (that was read by reader equipments) to useful data for other active systems in management information sections.

   All the connection in RFID system such as put the EPC codes on the tags, Readers, Managing by savant, middle ware and conducts them to the networks, use the data or distribute the data on internet network by object naming services (ONS) will be done by PML.

   This software must write for each system separately and you can not find it in a software package. So the related software of each company will be written by system needs, the data under tracking and available data bank.  

  4.5-ONS

   Now this technology is valid which is able to manage the expected amount of data in EPC system and conform the EPC code with some information about product in the internet by searching mechanism like DNS.

   The ONS servers, providing the internet protocol address in PML servers (that the EPC data saved on that). With use of this technology, supply chains won’t have environmental limitations and data rotation will be shared automatically and mandatory for other global chains as well.

   Tag reader read the tags and the data transfer from reader to savant (Middle ware) by EPC (coding system) then savant extract the main code and summarize it. By this way, data will be transferred to the network. This data will use in all sections of electronic supply chain.

    4.6-Strategy

   A RFID strategy won’t be finish only by short term settlement. Maybe a short term settlement be a successfully but in long term can be useless for operators. Generally, the primal set up of each new technology can face with some resistant which is causes of some disappointing in mentioned technology supporters. An organization can protect any resistant by use of a total strategy which simplifying decision making processes in top level.

   Briefly, you can see the basic factors to set up a RFID strategy in below:

1-Determine deferent effecting of RFID technology.

2-To have a confidence on primal concepts perception, then support it by top manager of organization.

3-Prepare a top level plan from business explaining, Development strategies and other policies which is affected by that.

4-To be sure about have support from effective staffs.

    4.7-Standards

   In 1973, Uniform code council (UCC); created a standard. In this standard, each supplier got a prefix and with registration of that in the name of themselves, assign serial number for all their productive-presented goods by added a 4 numerical serial to their special prefix. This code introduced in the name of Unique Product Code (UPC). 3 years after this subject, UCC gave a copy from standard of product coding in the name of European Article Number (EAN) to a European institute in Brussels. This institute has been allocated defined prefixes to European producers. These companies with added 4 serial numbers to that prefix serialized their entire product in the entire world.

   EAN in the title of an international institute has been started to reception of Member Organization from several countries. Now more than 100 countering centers which are jointed with EAN are active (in the name of MO) in the entire world.

   In 2004, the international EAN jointed with UCC of united state officially. This new institute was Global Standards 1 (GS1).

   GS1 prepared a plan for the tags. This plan had some basic point such as allocated numbers to each goods of each supplier in the entire world has been unique. This number must defined by a logic that this logical process done by EPC global. In fact, EPC global designed a process which by that, each productive good from each supplier in each where of world must have an Electronic Product Code (EPC) to save it in the RF tag by corporation of a tag manufacture.

The effective factors in use of RFID standards are good manufactures, technology presenters and consulters.

            4.8-RFID Benefits

As some RFID technology benefits, we can point to:

   Data saving more than the other systems, Increase the rate of productivity, precise accuracy, high speed, more flexibility, decrease the waste, Able to change the Tags data, able to read the tags in each angle between each objects, able to update the system with the new, able to sole identification of each product, on time tracking by satellite  and GPS1, reusability, decrease the rate of error, able to prepare several reports, able to do the automation warehousing, able to set the sensor on the tags and transfer the sensor’s data.

About identification ability it is nice to know that identification will be done in several condition like moving, station, dust environment, fog, humid, raining, shining… .

As a compare, you can see a compare table about RFID and barcode by their benefits and risks in below:

Table 2: A compare benefits table

             4.9-RFID Risks

Despite of above RFID benefits, this technology has some limitation as below:

- High cost

Despite of Scientific and technical improvements, the price of passive tags in high quantity is between 35 to 45 Cents and in low quantity is around 80 cents. This price is 85 cents for actives tags. Unfortunately, these prices are around 5 to 10 cents upper than the economical optimum level.

- Interfere

The interfering will be happened by 2 ways as below:

-Readers interfering:

It will be happen in some times that the signals which are sent by several readers have been interfered.

-Tags interfering:

It will be happen when a lot of tags are available in a small place that some when is cause of don’t tags reading.

 - Safety

Mostly the RFID tags are steel active after exit from the shops. Based on this point, their data can be read by reader’s equipments. Therefore risk of data robbery will be increased. Additionally, most of the seller has been add the customer data like credit card number, address, name… to the tags in order to have a data base from their customers which is cause for this kind of data to be in risk situation. This risk will be high light in medical’s RFID applications.

- Standards

There are several companies which are active in manufacturing of RFID equipments. But they don’t use from an unique global standard in their productions. Based on this subject, the RFID technology’s which designed by one company will be able to use only by mentioned company for example in some cases, the available tags of a company wont be able to read by other companies which is causes of several problem in connection.

- Efficiency

Mostly, the tags have low efficiency when they use behind the liquids and metals especially in high frequencies.

- Damageability

Damage by electricity, weather condition like snow and rain…

5- Impact of RFID in waste zones problem solving

              5.1-Outsourcing

   With automotive manufacturers having so many key operations to worry about, logistical issues are usually outsourced to logistic service providers. Outsourcing to other companies always increases the risks of miscommunications that can cause delays within the supply chain. If manufacturers are to trust their products moving through logistical service providers, they must be able to monitor their processes and performance. RFID technology would allow the necessary visibility and would help in controlling outsourced processes. Because processes are tracked automatically, RFID technology reduces the risks of outsourcing.

                5.2-Reduced bullwhip effect

   There are several possibilities to reduce this problem. One way is to speed up the whole supply chain. Research has shown that cutting the time-to-delivery by half will decrease the supply chain fluctuations by up to 80 percent Further, the supply chain process will become more efficient as inventory costs decline, for example.

Another approach is to provide all participants in the supply chain with more accurate and current data. By focusing on the customer demand and using the point of sale (POS) data throughout the supply chain, vendors and manufacturers can rely on solid numbers. The gathering and propagation of this data is also a very crucial point and should be taken into account seriously.

There are a number of technologies that can help in meeting theses requirements. The most prominent technology however is RFID.

Five approaches that may help businesses to achieve this goal:

1. Improve forecast accuracy

2. Reduce cycle times

3. Lower purchase order/setup costs

4. Improve inventory visibility

5. Lower inventory carrying costs

               5.3-Lead-time reduction

    Conventional systems limit tracking of items while being transported. RFID systems give a total visibility of product movement in the supply chain. This may help to make early decisions about inventory control in case there is any interruption in the supply. It partially or completely eliminates time and effort required for counting while loading/unloading the items. This results into reduction of total lead-time for arrival of an order. Pharmaceutical industry and perishable product industry could use RFID systems for reducing lead times that will help to increase the total useful shelf-life of items.

6-Conclusion

As shown in this paper, after do some analysis on all chains of supply process from upstream to down, the waste zone which can be different inside each company will be shown, in this step the priority must be defined just according to cost saving,

According to the mentioned priority, the problem solving process will be started as well, based on need to reliable, low cost and on-time data, the role of new technologies as RFID has been presented in the last section of this paper.

For sure, there are free potential to adopt the RFID system on this kinds of problem solving which can be subject of a lot of papers as well.

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