The latter point represents one of the most
promising bene?¬?ts from RFID applications and is the focus of this chapter.
Over the last four years, RFID technology has received a great deal of attention which
was initially triggered by mandatory requirements from major organizations in the U.S.
(e.g., Wal-Mart and U.S. Department of Defense) and in Europe (e.g., Metro AG and Tesco).
Since then, the motivations for RFID adoption have moved from mandatory compliance to
voluntary undertakings as companies are increasingly exploring the true potential of the
279
technology, especially in the context of supply chains. As stated by Pisello (2006, p. 1), ??????the
network effects of a synchronized supply chain will result in numerous bene?¬?ts, including
improved scan reliability, process automation, and real-time information access.??™??™
Recent key developments in technology with respect to hardware (i.e., integrated circuits,
readers, antennas, printers) and software (i.e., ?¬?rmware, middleware) have permitted
to overcome some technical limitations of RFID applications. However, if the ability for
automatic capture of data has improved substantially, the capacity to ef?¬?ciently manage
this data, and transform it into business intelligence is still limited. As the marketing
director of an RFID solution provider involved in our project mentioned ??????Today, second
generation tags are revolutionizing the way data is captured.
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