Expert answer:Case Study 4 and 3 Part
Expert answer:There are 2 parts to this. Develop a Term Project Paper that is a detailed design of an implementation plan to incorporate RFID technology as part of a real-world business model of an organization of your choice. The timeframe is the current year and out to the next three years. Do not include any secure, confidential or private information in your plan. Your paper should include background about the organization, its products and services, markets, and RFID strategies. Support your paper with theories, concepts, and best practices from the course textbook and scholarly resources available from the APUS Library and other Internet sites provided in this course. Part 1 is the topic of your plan. This should be a minimum of 300 words. Also include title page, reference page, and use APA Style. Part 2 is a detailed outline of your plan. This is a minimum of 300 words per outline subheadings. Also include title page, reference page, and use APA Style. Part 3 is the detailed outline of your plan but with a minimum of facts and information from three peer reviewed or other journal sources from the APUS library or Internet sites provided in this course. This is a minimum 3 pages of written copy or content. Also include title page, reference page, and use APA Style. Case Study 4 Analyze Case Study 4. Follow the instructions within this Case Study in writing your answer. The links for the Case Study is below in Appendix B. •Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message. •APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA (6th edition) style and formatting. •Length of paper: typed, double-spaced pages with no less than 800 words. •Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
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Appendix B
Case studies
These case studies are designed to promote critical thinking of the topics within this text.
The cases are created from real examples, some fiction added, to help the reader in
solving similar real-world problems in implementing RFID technology.
These case studies are designed to be answered by undergraduates as well as
graduate students. The graduate student is expected to bring a little more statistical
analysis rigor to analyzing the case problem or problems.
These cases are in addition to and separate from the study questions in Appendix
A. Also, as the student or reader progresses through the chapters and lectures, so will the
answers to these case studies be expected, in some cases, to pull from the previous
chapter’s study. These cases will challenge some preconceived ideas about technology
insertion, specifically, the implementation of RFID technology to supply chain demands.
The author welcomes feedback and can be contacted at the University of Alaska
Anchorage web site, at afwoh@cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu, or through the publisher of this
book.
Case study 1
Smart pallets for Harman’s Repair Station, Inc.
Barry Benton walked into Harman’s Repair Station a very excited man. He had just
completed a class in how to use RFID for supply chains and he thought that RFID would
be a perfect fit to save time and money at their igloo repair shop. All he had to do was
convince the president, Don Harman, that RFlD was something he should jump on right
now.
Current situation
Today was Saturday, and Barry was the first to arrive, open the door to the repair
warehouse, and start the coffee. Today was to be a slow day, one filled with paperwork
from last week’s netting, pallets, and igloos for luggage storage repaired from several Air
Force and commercial cargo planes.
Barry walked around the warehouse inspecting everything to make sure the
week’s workspaces were clean and ready for Monday morning. The forklift was at the
dock door readied for moving in the next igloo or metal pallet after Monday’s pickup. He
thinks the Monday load will be from the Air Force; they have some metal pallets to be
sandblasted and cleaned. The bins for repair tickets were full of blank of blank forms;
there were a few boxes left over with some netting material in them and a packing slip to
check once more before mailing; the sewing machine and strapping material were
wrapped to protect them from dust. Everything looked spotless and clean.
The repair orders were coming in regularly now, but they still only used one shift, 5 days
a week. With their staff of college students, Harman was repairing from two to four cargo
nets and straps per day, performing sand blasting, cleaning, and minor repairs on two Air
Force metal pallets per day, and fixing about five igloos from commercial cargo carriers
every few months. The record keeping was simple; using a mixture of Excel spread
sheets to keep track of the different nets, pallets, and igloos repaired. They kept track of
brand name, the owner of the item (usually just the Air Force), and two to four air cargo
carriers. The bin of common replacement parts stayed full enough to cover a week’s
worth of work: metal fasteners, thread, all sorts of metal pins, and different toxic paints.
The hazmat drums were taken away about once every 3 months, filled mostly with old
paints and cleaning materials. Although the business seemed to be moving smoothly, and
cash was flowing in, there was a concern Barry had. He thought that he could double the
work they had with some new contracts, especially for the air cargo igloos. That was
what he wanted to sell to Don: how to increase repair sales to the major cargo carriers by
using RFID. Of course, one major problem was to find the right performance metric to
use to sell Don the idea, and then for Don to sell the airlines. Barry had told Don over the
last few months that RFID could be a way to improve business.
The sell
Don came in a few minutes later, a box of doughnuts in hand, ready to settle in, checking
over last week’s work orders, and hearing what Barry had to say. “So, what’s all this
about RFID, and how’s it going to change our business?” asked Don, as he sat down at
the former dining room table, now a conference table.
Barry said, “We have a good system at work, making money and doing a good job
for the Air Force and a little work on the commercial side. But we can double our
business if we just start using RFID tags to track the igloos we’re repairing.” Barry went
on to explain how he had heard about the airlines were investing in RFID tags to track
luggage, and the pilot studies would be completed very soon. Additionally, from his
friend in baggage handling, he had overheard three airline executives talking about
getting ready to invest several million to expand into RFID research in other areas. The
airlines, though, were not sure in which area to invest other than luggage. The summer
tourist season was ending, so he would give them time to get ready for next summer and
convince the airlines to invest some of that money into Don’s repair business. Barry said,
with a little checking, he found out that the airlines send their igloos to China for repair.
The few that come to Don’s were those that need instant repair, those that cannot wait for
shipment to China. “But there are over 500 igloos across the street at the airport at any
one day, and we get over 600 widebody jets in here weekly,” Barry said. Barry continued
that with the large amount of cargo movement at the airport, an opportunity was just there
for the picking, even if the air carriers thought they could get cheaper repairs in China
rather than here in Anchorage.
Don asked how using RFID tags could possibly make them money, because the
nets, pallets, and the few igloos that came in only had an order number to identify them
for repair. There were no bar codes, even. In fact the repair shop had no facility to use bar
codes, so why upgrade to some wireless tag technology, which was supposed to be the
future beyond codes? The manual method of tracking and tracing the pallets and igloos
inside the warehouse seemed to be working just fine.
Barry tried to explain that if they were to use RFID tags on the igloos, the minute
they came into the warehouse, they could code the repair order number, the airline that
owned the container, the type and make of the igloo, and the type or category of damage
to the igloo. As the igloo moved through the warehouse, they could also update the
passive RFID tags to their own database with the type of materials used to repair the
igloo. There would be an accurate time stamp for when the igloo entered the warehouse
from the receiving dock and the time it left by the shipping dock door. He said all they
would need is an antenna and reader at the two dock doors. Barry said, “While we move
the igloo around the warehouse for repair they do not need to do anything but update the
inventory items used for repair and record the workload time for the employees.” Don
replied, “I still don’t see the need for these RFID devices. I know all about then from
reading a magazine I picked up the other day, and I know how great they seem to be at
saving retail stores like Wal-Mart on inventory items, but we are a small shop. So, why
do we need RFID?” Don was interested, however, in the possibility of increasing the size
of the repair business with the addition of the igloos from the airlines. Moreover, yes, he
understood that the airlines were investigating passive RFID tags for luggage, because so
many hundreds of thousands of bags are lost each year. Stretching from lost luggage to
the luggage carriers, the igloos, was something else. He could see no connecting thread.
When the igloos are damaged, they put them aside and ship them to China. Some
few find their way to Don’s repair shop. Barry said that if the airlines were investing in
RFID technology, it would not be too far a stretch to track passengers, luggage, and the
luggage and cargo containers. They just needed to be sold on the idea. In addition, Don’s
repair facility was a perfect place to demonstrate this capability. The repair shop was
right across the road from the runways and hangers. The igloos would come in, get
tagged, and then leave with a permanent license plate of information that the airlines
could them track for themselves. “We would do the initial tagging of all their igloos, as
well offer to provide a history of types of igloos used ant that needed repair,” he said. The
airlines would reap a benefit in data mining on igloo conditions. Also if the airlines were
to RFID readers in all their airports, they could track and trace each igloo and cut down
lost igloos, which seems to be an industry wide problem. Therefore, Barry said, “All we
have to do is convince the airlines to let us tag their igloos.” Don still looked skeptical. “I
am still not convinced that we need RFID tags,” Don said.
Case analysis
What do you think the problem is for Don with the use of RFID for igloos?
What false assumptions, if any, did Barry make in trying to sell RFID to Don?
How could Barry have sold this idea any better to Don?
What advice would you give Don on his company’s investing in RFID?
Case study 2
Muddy boots and smart wood
There was no question that the weekend was starting out as one Taylor would rather not
be at work. However, she was the purchasing director of Vapid Lumber Industries (VLI),
and the inventory had to be counted, one stick of lumber after another. The day was gray,
the rain had started, and the workers would not show up today. This was the only time the
lumberyard was quiet, the saws were not running, the forklifts not racing around, the fans
not blowing, and the boss not screaming at some worker for not creating the door joints
fast enough. Taylor’s job was to walk the yard every 30 days, rain, sleet, hot, or cold.
Today, in the springtime, the yard had more than nearly twice the lumber as last month.
Bill, the sales representative, had been working very hard the last 2 months to stack
orders, because he wanted a large bonus for his summer vacation corning in a few
months. Then Taylor would do purchasing and sales and inventory together. Taylor went
into the trailer office to get her pad of paper and pen. The yard was already ankle-deep in
mud from the forklift and the flatbeds running around for the last month, and it seemed to
be raining for the last 30 days.
The week before, Bill had been complaining that it would make his job and her
job easier if they had a bar code system to read the inventory. Last year, the lumber
distributor had starting stapling bar codes on the ends of each long and short piece of
wood But that was doing them no good at VLI, where the boss, Bob, would not hear of it.
Bob was always trying to find ways to cut corners on the job. It took Taylor 2 years to
talk Bob into buying a computer and convincing him that the Internet and simple
spreadsheets could him with flow of products around the plant. That was enough
technology for him, although Bob did seem to appreciate the monthly spreadsheets of
how much wood was being delivered late from several distributors, and how the
inventory and waste wood was fluctuating. That caused a few men to lose their jobs at
first, but the use of the computer had not eased the inventory counting process or the
inventory sheet written by hand that had to be sent to the home office in Texas each
month. Taylor and Bill tried many times over the last year to convince the people at the
home office that having 230 inventory sheets faxed each month could be replaced by
sending the same information by Internet.
The big idea
The lumber waiting for cutting and shaping into door frames, window frames, and other
construction special orders was sitting outside in the mud. There were 12 rows of lumber,
each stacked about 10 feet high, and about four loads per row. As Taylor walked around,
drinking her morning coffee, she decided to simply walk the yard and see what could be
done with the use of bar code readers or RFID. Stuffing the pad and pencil into her jacket
pocket, she examined each of the bar code labels on the ends of the wood just delivered.
It was starting to rain again, and the ground fog was still around. The sky showed no
promise of today’s weather getting much better. As Taylor examined the bar codes, she
noticed some of them were clean and readable, but as she rounded the corner to those
stacks of lumber that had been in the yard for a week, she noticed some of the tags were
torn. Must be either the manhandling or forklift driver running into things again. Or could
it be the rain? She felt a few of the tags; they were definitely soggy and could easily be
torn or scraped as someone bumped into the ends. Taylor thought, if we could use a bar
code reader for each flatbed load as it arrives, she would have an instant count of what
was arriving, instead of having to count each one on the flatbed before she had it
offloaded. Also if she had a portable reader, she could probably be using one now as she
walked the yard. It looked like most of the lumber had bar codes on the ends; probably
about 10% seemed damaged or were just missing.
So why not tell Bob to buy a bar code reader? That way, he would only have to
pay for her time to walk quickly around the yard, rather than having to do it three times,
as the company demanded she do. Counting the same thing three times was boring, and it
was cold and wet, and it took all day, and sometimes most of Sunday.
As she was coming around the end of the lumber stack, she noticed a pickup
truck. It was Bob. He never came in on Saturday. As Bob came over, Taylor decided to
tell him her idea for using bar codes instead of hand counting the inventory.
Bob said, “You have what sounds like a good idea, Taylor, but the boys in Texas
want an eyeball count. They don’t trust technology. They trust you to see and count what
is really out here in the yard. And that’s what they want done at the other 229
lumberyards today, all over the United States.” Bob went on to say that the home office
had been burned in the past with computer technology. Also, he said, that this was a
hands-on operation, a very simple manufacturing job. You take rough wood, cut it down,
and make builder-grade door frames, window frames, door blocks and pallets. The
manufacturing process was simple, and simple cost less money. That was the theory, and
that was what Texas wanted and was what they would get. Bob then left Taylor to go into
the office to pick up some papers, and he was gone in a few minutes.
Taylor just stood there, in the rain, looking at her watch. It was 7:15 a.m. She
would be here until at least 5 p.m. How to convince the management here and at the
home office that technology could be useful was the question she pondered, as she
finished her coffee and began counting boards — one at a time.
Case analysis
What should Taylor do to convince Bob that the use of bar codes could be helpful?
Should Taylor and Bill go to Bob with an even more outlandish idea, such as RFID?
Case study 3
Alaska Supply Chain Integrators’ cost of goods
Alaska Supply Chain Integrators (ASCI) purchases goods for oil companies working on
the North Slope of Alaska. The North Slope is the oil production field where crude oil is
extracted and then transported to the shipping terminals in Valdez, AK. From Valdez, the
oil is shipped to other ports on its way to becoming refined petroleum products such as
gasoline.
ASCI purchases approximately 40,000 items per year for these oil companies.
The cost of goods (COG) purchasing, handling, and transportation process is subject to
many variables.
Background
To enhance ASCI’s supply chain capabilities, it has developed a state-of-the-art supply
chain management and electronic commerce tool – a software system. This system
facilitates control of the procurement process through a series of checks and balances.
The various software modules describe the business functions in their names:
SmartTracker, SmartCatalog, SmartMarkets, SmartMeasures, SmartBOM, SmartSpecs,
SrnartActions, SmartTagger, SmartBundler. Key to many of these e-commerce
capabilities are time-sensitive measurement metrics.
ASCI’s time measurement metrical units include weekly, monthly, and quarterly
timeframes for three tiers of vendors. These internal metrics are also linked to the
Balanced Scorecard method to track vendor delivery compliance agreements. Vendors
are held accountable to on time and accurate delivery for the items they provide. Through
the use of these metrics, ASCI’s 2005 performance measurement achieved 90.6% on time
and accurate delivery of goods to North Slope customers
The problem
ASCI’s e-commerce solution is intended to address the lack of visibility in tracking or
capturing the movement of goods from vendor to end user or client. This lack of
visibility has been identified as recurring supply chain management problem that, if
adequately addressed, would add value to the client.
To be fully inclusive and contribute the highest value, this visibility must provide
not only tracking of goods purchased but the handling and transportation activities, as
well. The logistics of moving the procured items provides a means to measure and
enhance added value to the product while assisting ASCI in lowering the final price paid.
As an example, one frequent event includes the misclassification of purchase price with
the total price of the goods purchased, which includes transportation costs. In this
situation, the cost of transportation is buried in the cost of the goods’ purchase price. The
indicated cost of material is inflated by the transportation cost which prevents or hinders
the supply chain management team from identifying the true cost and potentially
addressing root issues.
One key factor in providing the overall supply chain visibility is the capability to
track the product from receipt to final delivery. Currently tracking is achieved through a
combination of bar codes, visible inspection and person-to-person contact augmented by
manual computer entry.
The RFlD solution
At a recent meeting with representatives of MX Consulting, a proposal was presented to
show that RFID could save ASCI more time and money in tracking goods from the
vendors to the end customer’s warehouse. Meeting with ASCI manager, Scott Hawkins,
and several senior purchasers, Bob Tibmen, president of MX, explained, “With passive
RFID tags on high value items, like the generator, you could track and trace its
movement from the factory to the North Slope warehouse.” Scott and his staff listened as
Bob laid out how an RFlD system not only could provide visibility along the entire
supply chain, but could also be very useful in ASCI’s cross-docking facility. Bob
explained that when pallets of goods entered the facility they could instantly read what
the product was, where it had come from, the due date to get to the North Slope, and any
other related information. The key to successfully using RFID is that when boxes of
items come in on a pallet, ASCI no longer have to open each box and read each item by
bar code, or record any hand written information that might have been added to the bar
code label as often happens. Bob said, “The use of an RFID tagging system could cut
down on your labor cost; you could probably eliminate one or two positions in loading
and processing and checking of products as they enter your facility.”
Case analysis
What advice would you give Bob if you were one of Bob’s employees?
What advice would you give Scott if you were one of Scott’s managers or employees?
What is the basis for determining the price on the COG that could be changed by RFID?
What savings on the COG could be realized with an RFID system?
Case Study 4
Radio chips in credit cards
Gas station chip kill
Sara Wallace opened her mail and found her new company cr …
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