receive” from implementing RFID. Their answers showed
that respondents whose companies are piloting the technology have higher expectations of the potential benefits of
RFID than those who are in the process of implementing it
or have already implemented it. As the chart shows, expectations in all four categories decline once a company gets
past the pilot stage and moves into actual implementation.
BARRIERS TO ADOPTION
For all the benefits users have seen from tagging, it’s clear
that the RFID revolution is still in its early stages. What’s
holding companies back? According to the survey respondents, the primary barrier is cost (see Exhibit 2). This was
no surprise, considering the high initial investment
required to implement a comprehensive, cross-functional
RFID system and the continuing concerns about return on
investment (ROI). Other barriers included a lack of understanding of what RFID is (and is not), followed by technical issues and privacy/security concerns.
Once again, a respondent’s implementation status affects
his or her perception of the barriers’ significance. In general, the more experience companies have with RFID, the less
weight they’re inclined to give those barriers. The exception
is technical and privacy/security concerns in the piloting
phase. We surmise that as users begin to work directly with
RFID systems, they encounter unexpected technology problems, and data integrity issues become more important.
The good news is that as respondents moved from the
piloting stage to completed implementations, their attitude
toward the barriers began to change, with the obstacles taking on diminished significance. This indicates that organizations are able to overcome RFID-related problems and
resolve any issues that arise during the pilot phase.
TAKE IT SLOW
Perhaps the main takeaway from the study is that while
plenty of barriers remain, companies are still forging ahead
with RFID implementations and, perhaps more importantly, are finding these initiatives to be worthwhile. This is a
significant change in perception from what we saw in our
earlier studies, which found that respondents were unable
to determine a business case or an ROI for RFID.
Furthermore, our research indicates that there is significant optimism regarding RFID implementation.
Respondents who are already involved in RFID made it
clear that the benefits to be gained from implementing this
technology outweigh the obstacles and concerns. As an
organization gains experience with RFID and moves into
the pilot stage, the perception of benefits dramatically rises
and the barriers start to seem less significant.
The key to a successful RFID implementation, according
to many of our survey respondents, is to be selective about
where it’s used. While it may be tempting to jump in with
both feet and try to implement it across the board, they say,
companies would be better off identifying business process-
Thinking about implementing RFID in your own operations? Here’s some practical advice from respondents who’ve been through the process.
▪ “If you don’t understand your input and output, you
won’t get accurate measurements. Be careful not to
measure in too much detail. Step back from the problem and reconsider what information you really need.”
▪ “The important thing to understand is that RFID is not
merely a bar code substitute, but a way to transform
your products into wireless, identified objects. The benefits are just becoming known, and like the Internet,
we can’t predict how it will revolutionize our lives.”
▪ “Try to avoid one-off pilot projects and instead select
a small-scale initial implementation and characterize it
as such. ‘Initial implementation’ communicates commitment, whereas ‘pilot’ implies experimentation.”
▪ “Determine the greatest business needs that can be
addressed by using RFID before recommending it as
the solution to every problem. And be sure to consider the entire supply chain when calculating ROI.”
▪ “Implement RFID for the purpose of making a process
improvement—use it to implement change. Conduct
strategic communications and change management
both internally and externally. Consider employing a
trusted consulting firm that is ‘product agnostic’ to
help you decide what you need and to assist with communications and change management.”
▪ “Use an integrator for the first implementation,
then bring it in house. Beware of pure-play vendor-led RFID discussions (i.e., only talking to a reader vendor when you need tags, portals, PLC interfacing,
etc.). … To do them right, most jobs should be a
hybrid of many different technologies (active, passive, LF, HF, UHF, access control, mobile, etc.). The
focus should be on the business problem you are trying to solve. Find a partner that knows the ‘physics of
RFID’ and can perform implementations as well as
talk about operations and infrastructure.”
Advice from the trenches
es that affect customer satisfaction and starting there.
Editor’s note: John K. Visich is associate professor of
operations management at Bryant University, Pedro M.
Reyes is associate professor of operations management at
Baylor University, and Suhong Li is associate professor of
information systems at Bryant University.
