Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In today's hyper-competitive business climate, organizations are always under pressure to adapt to new technological trends or "hot" business process models. Radio frequency identification (RFID) is one such trend that promises to revolutionize logistical systems and provide total-lifecycle tracking of products. However, blindly adopting RFID technology without thoroughly considering its impact is just as dangerous as not adopting it at all.

Based on the author's experience testing and implementing RFID technology in both industrial and military cases, RFID Metrics: Decision Making Tools for Today's Supply Chains explains how to evaluate the need for this technology. The author focuses on the problems RFID is meant to solve, if such problems exist in your organization, and the metrics you can use to make effective decisions. After establishing what RFID is and how it fits into the systems concept, the book discusses current RFID applications around the world, reveals key metrics for decision making as well as how to develop new metrics unique to RFID, demonstrates a war game for exploring RFID, and presents statistical methods for analyzing the data collected from the war games or gathered during implementation.

While other books focus on the nuts and bolts of the technology, RFID Metrics is the first book to outline a detailed method for analyzing and deciding if RFID is right for your organization.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• RFID Primer for Logistics and Supply Chains
• Introduction
• History of RFID
• RFID Compared to Bar Codes
• How Does an RFID System Work?
• Active versus Passive Tags
• Why the Interest in RFID?
• Current Applications for RFID
• RFID is but One Auto-ID System
• RFID is Not New
• Systems Concepts of Using RFID
• Systems
• Open Systems, Closed Systems
• Decision Making
• The Complexity of a System's Variety
• Emerging Complexity
• Decision Making and Industrial Dynamics
• Identifying the Problem
• Listening to the Customer
• Define the Problem
• Assemble the Data
• Formulate a View
• Develop a Model
• Exercise the Model
• Test the Model
• Develop an Implementation Plan
• Feedback
• Applications of RFID and How to View Them for Your Use
• Current Applications for RFID
• RFID Adoption in China
• The Most Important Issue for China
• RFID Adoption in the Russian Far East and Moscow
• Alaska Wild Harvest Seafood
• Traditional Metrics for Logistics and Supply Chains
• What is a Metric?
• Traditional Metrics
• Metrics Issues with Time and Temperature Tags
• Temperature Controlled Chain of Custody
• Metrics Illustration: Warehouse Record Accuracy
• Approach to Developing Metrics
• Developing a Few New Metrics for RFID Applications
• Supply Chains, Metrics, and Transportation
• Transport Supply and Demands
• The Metrics Trap Coming with RFID
• War Game Planning for RFID
• Assumption-Based Planning
• Business Transition War Game for RFID
• What is a War Game?
• War Game for Alaska and RFID
• War Game Learning Objectives for Alaska RFID Business Case
• War Game Design
• War Game Dynamics
• War Game Schedule
• Task to be Performed
• Assumptions for RFID
• RFID Forecasting Statistics for Decision Making
• Metrics for an RFID Pilot Program
• Problem Statement
• Scope
• Assumptions
• Research Design and Methodology
• Data to Measure
• Current System Evaluation and Data Model
• Statistical Analysis
• Capture Data Analysis
• Appendix A Study Questions
• Appendix B Case Studies
• Epilogue
• Index

Author notes provided by Syndetics