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Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a broad area that encompasses many strategic
issues such as number, location, and size of warehouses, and distribution
centers and facilities; partnerships with suppliers, distributors, and
customers; product design impact; and technology infrastructure. It also
encompasses tactical processes such as demand planning, forecasting, sourcing,
production, third-party logistics, scheduling, inventory and transportation.
Most applications of wireless technologies today involve the use of Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) devices for material handling in distribution
warehouses, moving inventory, cycle counting, shipping and receiving, and direct
store delivery programs.
Retail and consumer products companies with vast supplier and distribution
networks have led the charge. Mainstream manufacturing is still in the early
stage of adoption.
Typical requirements for wireless in supply chain logistics management are
mobile dispatch, mobile order tracking, package tracking, instant messaging,
on-the-spot mobile printers, exception alerts, virtual real-time vehicle
tracking, DoT reporting, fuel tax reporting, yard management, cross docking,
converged voice, data, GPS, route and vehicle information and integration to
various data collection devices, eg barcode, RFID, electronic signatures.
Value and Benefits
Improving efficiency and accuracy in logistics and material handling leads
to better demand management. AMR Research revealed that companies that excel at
demand forecasting have 15% less inventory, 17% stronger order fulfillment, and
35% shorter cash-to-cash cycle times than typical companies.
Back of the Envelope RoI
The best examples of verifiable RoI using RFID and wireless hand held
devices are from the retail sector. Wal-Mart could reportedly save $8.35 bn
annually with RFID: $600 mn through avoiding stock-outs; $575 mn by avoiding
theft, error and vendor fraud; $300 mn through better tracking of a billion
pallets and cases; $180 mn through reduced inventory; and $6.7 bn by eliminating
the need to scan barcodes.
Ravi Subramanyam
He is CEO of MobileOne, an enterprise mobile solution vendor
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