File Number: NPS-LM-06-062

Authors: Geraldo Ferrer, Uday Apte and Nick Dew

Title: What Is the Right RFID for Your Process?

Published: April 2006

Sponsored by: Acquisition Chair, Naval Postgraduate School 

Full Text URL: http://www.acquisitionresearch.net/_files/FY2006/NPS-LM-06-062.pdf

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Note: This paper is an except from the Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Acquisition Research Symposium.  

Abstract:

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has several applications in both military and civilian organizations. Numerous configurations are possible, and multiple new applications are envisioned in the near future.  This paper uses the case method to study several RFID applications in multiple industries and to evaluate how this technology can be used to strengthen the process capabilities of an organization.  The goals of this paper are to introduce RFID technology to a manager that is contemplating its adoption and to introduce conceptual frameworks that a manager can use to select and justify the right technology configuration among multiple alternatives.

Keywords: RFID; Operations Strategy; Technology Management; RFID Case Studies

About the Authors:

Geraldo Ferrer is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at the Naval Postgraduate School.  Prior to joining NPS, he was in the faculty of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina for seven years.  His areas of expertise include global operations, supply-chain management, sustainable technologies, product stewardship, reverse logistics and remanufacturing. He has also studied the reverse logistics required in recycling and remanufacturing operations, and inventory problems affecting products made in small batches for frequent deliveries.
He has published on these topics in European Management Journal, Management Science, Naval Research Logistics, IIE Transactions, Production and Operations Management, European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Production Economics, Ecological Economics, Business Horizons and Resources Conservation and Recycling.  He is a contributor in the Handbook of Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and Handbook of Industrial Ecology.
He has presented his research in national and international conferences on four continents and in invited seminars in various academic institutions.  Dr. Ferrer serves as reviewer in many academic journals and for the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.  He has also reviewed textbooks in the areas of operations management, inventory management and project management.  He has consulted for companies in the United States on waste reduction and reverse logistics issues.
He received his PhD in Technology Management from INSEAD, his MBA from Dartmouth College, a mechanical engineering degree from the Military Institute of Engineering in Rio de Janeiro and a BA in Business Administration from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Dr. Ferrer was founder and director of Superserv, Ltd., a company that promoted technology transfer ventures between North American and Brazilian business, introducing innovative technology products for the petroleum industry.

Uday Apte is Professor of Operations Management at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA.  Before joining NPS, Apte taught at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and at the Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.  He is experienced in teaching a range of operations management and management science courses in the Executive and Full-time MBA programs.
Areas of Apte’s research interests include managing service operations, supply-chain management, technology management, and globalization of information-intensive services.  He has published over 30 articles, five of which have won awards from professional societies.  His research articles have been published in prestigious journals including Management Science, Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences, IIE Transactions, Interfaces, and MIS Quarterly.  He has co-authored one book, Manufacturing Automation and has completed work on another co-authored book, Managing in the Information Economy.
Apte holds a PhD in Decision Sciences from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  His earlier academic background includes a MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines, and a Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India.
Prior to joining academia, Apte managed information technology and operations functions in the commercial banking, insurance and utility industries for over ten years.  He has also consulted with several major US corporations and international organizations including IBM, Texas Instruments, Nokia, Kinko’s, Nationwide Insurance, Nations Bank and The World Bank.

Nick Dew is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Dew has a PhD in Management from the University of Virginia, and a MBA from the Darden Business School, as well as a BA in history from the University of York in the UK.  Before joining academia, Dew worked in strategic management and sales & marketing for British Petroleum, Europe’s largest company, including a two-year assignment in BP headquarters and a three-year international assignment in Southeast Asia.
Dew joined the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School in 2003 where he teaches strategic management in the MBA program.  He researches the evolution of the RFID (radio frequency identification) industry and entrepreneurial decision making.  His work has appeared in the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, the Journal of Business Venturing, the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Scandinavian Journal of Management. For more information on entrepreneurial decision making, go to www.effectuation.org.

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The research presented in this report was supported by the Acquisition Chair of the Graduate School of Business & Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School.
 
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