This exact requirement may be identi?¬?ed from the importance of
global logistics linking multiple manufacturing sites, warehouses, and customer locations.
The ubiquitous requirement to locate and identify product, irrespective of packaging and
distribution process underpins the revolution in automated identi?¬?cation techniques and
technologies. The value propositions sought by business, as appropriate to this complex set
of real-time interactions between suppliers and customers, may be generalized as
. Total visibility of product and logistics across the (global) supply chain
. Effective contingency plans for supply interruptions, including where possible,
automated advice to customers of goods locations and revised delivery schedules
. Optimal sourcing of business partners able to guarantee performance in a global
process management context
. Reliable automation and near-real-time information updates
Given these demanding requirements, automated identi?¬?cation of product movement
without human intervention is essential to maximize ?¬?nancial performance. The role of
RFID, supported by effective information and communication systems, is consequently
increasing due to the limitations of visual inspection systems, albeit with machine-readable
bar codes, or optical character recognition.
6.7 Electronic Data Interchange Scenarios
In the 1990s, a business communications revolution occurred using EDI standards for
the computer-to-computer exchange and processing of transaction data.
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