Scope of RFID in Next Generation Apparel Supply Chain: A Dyadic Perspective

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to assess the uses and benefits of item-level RFID across the apparel supply chain, to explore the buyer, supplier & dyadic perspective of benefits in terms of relationship within the channel members and to understand how RFID affects the buyer-seller relationships within the supply chain & to identify challenges in RFID deployment with special reference to India.

Design/methodology/approach – The research design relied on two exploratory research methods: carrying out a multiple case study while building on the grounded theory approach.

Findings – Item-level RFID technology has emerged as a key tool to help provide a superior level of intelligence for managing the flow of items throughout the supply chain. When used by each party within the supply chain, benefits of item-level tagging are magnified as the intelligence derived from every partner can be leveraged to improve processes, reduce costs, and increase profit margins. The interplay between RFID and buyer-seller relationships in a supply chain is an intricate phenomenon & it’s observed that RFID improves this intricate relation. Technology prices will continue to decline as the use of RFID expands (tags, readers, antennae), thus reducing the overall cost of implementation.

Originality/value – Owing to the fact that a better management of supply chain is related to the full understanding of the technologies implemented and the system under consideration, the paper provides some background to the RFID technology and its benefits for apparel industry.

Keywords: RFID, technology, apparel, supply chain, buyer supplier relationship