Introduction
RFID systems do have a range of advantages in contrast to traditional bar code reading systems for large retail and manufacturing companies (Laudon, 2022). Moreover, the systems provide an advantage to companies of any size, even small ones.
Discussion
I totally agree with the fact that the RFID system makes it easier to track goods between production and the point of sale. Product tracking is challenging for most organizations, especially multi-channel distributors or manufacturing companies. The number of SKUs (stock-keeping units) in some companies may reach tens and hundreds of millions. For example, Walmart has 75 million unique types of products, and Amazon has 350 million (Walmart Inc, 2021). And it is necessary to track all these goods, to know in which warehouse and quantity they are located. These are vast amounts of information, so I agree with the author that RFID is useful in inventory monitoring. This system also helps to automatically identify items that are out of stock or need to be ordered. Hundreds of employees are involved in the implementation of these processes, which increases the company’s expenses in terms of salaries. For this reason, I agree entirely with the fact that the RFID system reduces the labor cost for the company.
In addition to the advantages of the RFID system mentioned by the author, some companies may even make a marketing campaign out of RFIDs. An example is Amazon with its Amazon Go project. They took the use of RFID to a new level. All the customer needs to purchase a product is to enter the Amazon store via an RFID Amazon app, take the product, and walk out (Weiler, 2021).
Conclusion
As the author noted, RFID continues to demonstrate its innovativeness, which can improve the company’s efficiency, reduce costs, and even increase brand recognition. In particular, in supply chains, asset tracking, and access control programs. RFID provides essential data and helps the organization all along the way. Therefore, I fully agree that all the companies operating in the retail industry should switch to RFID.
References
Laudon C. K., Laudon J. P. (2022). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm. Pearson.
Walmart. (2021). Jefferies Virtual Consumer Conference. Corporate Walmart. Web.
Weiler A. (2021). Your one-stop guide to amazon SKU numbers. Sunken Stone. Web.