RFID technology and applications in production and supply chain management

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is becoming increasingly important and is used in production, manufacturing, and supply chain management. Many RFID applications are close-loop scenarios devised to solve particular problems in industry when alternative solutions are not feasible. RFID tools have assumed an important role in supporting assembly lines, logistics, and supply chain management processes. RFID tools can identify, categorise, and manage the flow of goods and information throughout the supply chain; give greater visibility to business processes; and ensure the necessary data transfer to reach optimal supply chain conditions. However, the deployment of RFID technology has been slower than expected, for several reasons. For example, the global financial crisis that hit many national economies slowed the implementation of RFID systems in many companies due to high costs of adoption and lack of required expertise. Nevertheless, we should not underestimate the potential and great impact of RFID technology that will eventually become part of our daily lives. This special issue presents 12 articles that cover a range of issues concerning RFID technologies and applications. The aim is to publish original work that focuses on the design, development, and implementation of RFID systems that makes a significant contribution to the field. The issue begins with a literature review by Irani et al. Their paper, ‘Radio frequency identification (RFID): research trends and framework’, presents a comprehensive and systematic survey of the literature on RFID-related research issues to ascertain the current ‘state of play’ in the field along different dimensions. The literature review covers 666 articles on RFID-related issues published between 1984 and 2007, analysing the distribution or trends of RFID research, determining the most frequently published authors and the most productive institutions conducting RFID-related research, identifying the trends of topics/research issues and utilised methods, and integrating the existing research to develop a model reflecting the current status of and trends in RFID research. The article by Wang et al., ‘An RFID-based digital warehouse management system in the tobacco industry: a case study’ presents a digital warehouse management system based on radio frequency identification technology, with the aim of understanding how the advantages of RFID can be utilised to improve inventory management and operations in a plane warehouse. A case in the tobacco industry is studied to illustrate the feasibility and rationality of the proposed system. The results of the case study illustrate that RFID-based digital warehouse management system can help a plane warehouse in improving operation efficiency, utilisation of warehouse capacity, and inventory accuracy, reducing manpower and loading time significantly. Ustundag’s paper on ‘Evaluating RFID investment on a supply chain using tagging cost sharing factor’, proposes a simulation model to investigate the effects of sharing the tagging cost between retailer, distributor and manufacturer on the net present values (NPV) at the echelon level. Two simulation cases are used to examine the effects of a