Search results

The purpose of this paper is to outline the research work of managing returnable assets such as pallets by radio frequency identification (RFID) methods on a national scale.

The project is an extension of an earlier project which tracks pallets and cartons through a fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain. This extension project investigates how RFID information can be applied for integrating business processes. The project team developed a national business information network with electronic product code (EPC) compliance devices and systems. To implement an effective pallet management business process, the project team carried out detailed process modelling study of the effect of RFID processes and measured the improvement in performance and efficiency.

The key to success in the extension project is the adoption of EPC compliance technology that enables efficient communication of business data across platforms and companies. The project found that there is an average 18 per cent improvement in system efficiency should an EPC compliance technology be adopted for supporting paperless proof of delivery. There are also additional administrative and unquantifiable savings in support systems and services.

The research is related to the FMCG industry sector. The business processes in this sector can vary significantly. The project is conducted under a controlled business environment on the condition that the changes would not affect main business activities of the partners. The system efficiency improvement and savings estimated from the project findings should be taken as reference figures only.

The combination of process modelling approach and validation of system performance data by simulation in this paper provide a basis for generalisation of the methodology in similar national scale research studies. The estimated data could be used as reference for preliminary feasibility studies of similar EPC applications.

EVEN for those who are unable to attend it, there is great interest in the Annual Meeting of the Library Association and, in some ways, the coming one in May at Scarborough has many features to justify it. It will follow the pattern that is now familiar and which, in a measure, is imposed upon an Association with so many sectional interests. Ours is a day of numbers and in a great congregation the difficult task of the programme‐builder is to find ways of catering both for the whole and for the individual groups. Those who attend ought to be selective; to appear at every meeting may be the duty of a reporter, even of the Editor of a journal such as this, but that is merely because a general record is necessary for their purposes. Members at large cannot, we suggest, do justice to more than two papers a day and find opportunity for those personal conversations which, after all, give practical value to these gatherings.