There are three major cost areas to consider when selecting an automated system for cataloging: purchase/one‐time costs; ongoing costs; and staff resource costs. Staff resource…
Abstract
There are three major cost areas to consider when selecting an automated system for cataloging: purchase/one‐time costs; ongoing costs; and staff resource costs. Staff resource costs are affected by such issues as hit rate, quality of records, ease of original cataloging input, the ease of transferring new records into the library's catalog, ease of ongoing catalog maintenance, system response time, and the related amount of downtime. Model worksheets are presented for calculating these costs for various bibliographic utilities and CD‐ROM‐based cataloging systems.
John K. Visich, Suhong Li, Basheer M. Khumawala and Pedro M. Reyes
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the actual benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) on supply chain performance through the empirical evidence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the actual benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) on supply chain performance through the empirical evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
The research reviews and classifies the existing quantitative empirical evidence of RFID on supply chain performance. The evidence is classified by process (operational or managerial) and for each process by effect (automational, informational, and transformational).
Findings
The empirical evidence shows that the major effects from the implementation of RFID are automational effects on operational processes followed by informational effects on managerial processes. The RFID implementation has not reached transformational level on either operational or managerial processes. RFID has an automational effect on operational processes through inventory control and efficiency improvements. An informational effect for managerial processes is observed for improved decision quality, production control and the effectiveness of retail sales and promotions coordination. In addition, a three‐stage model is proposed to explain the effects of RFID on the supply chain.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations of this research include the use of secondary sources and the lack of consistency in performance measure definitions. Future research could focus on detailed case studies that investigate cross‐functional applications across the organization and the supply chain.
Practical implications
For managers, the empirical evidence presented can help them identify implementation areas where RFID can have the greatest impact. The data can be used to build the business case for RFID and therefore better estimate ROI and the payback period.
Originality/value
This research fills a void in the literature by providing practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of the quantitative benefits of RFID in the supply chain.