A study on the value of RFID based process of sales(POS2) system in SCM : insights from case study of apparel industry

Abstract

Various new technologies are introduced in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) in order to enhance operational efficiency, industrial productivity, and inventory controllability. While Barcode-based Point of Sales (POS) system is one of the most prevalent technologies for supporting SCM, POS system has fallen short of industries`` expectation, because POS data have some limitations. However, Process of Sales (POS2) data collected from RFID tag attached on sales item, can provide information on the behavioral process of purchasing, such as how customer behavior or how sales person react on customers`` action. The value of POS2 derived from POS2 data as an off-line log data for analyzing market trends, customer behavioral pattern, or efficiency of sales activity, giving more information to the supply chain participants. This paper uses four-step research framework to explore the value of POS2 data. First is the preliminary study with previous literatures to suggest the necessity of the research. Second is to propose the concept of POS2 data and system for a new information system. The next is to propose the value of POS2 in SCM. The final stage is to evaluate the POS2 information in SCM with a valuation model that has three sub research stages: (1) SCM problem recognition by SCOR model, (2) an expert interview to find out the demanded data types for POS2 data, and (3) a matrix evaluation of the effects of POS2 data on solving SCM problems. To evaluate the POS2 data, this paper conducted a case study of apparel industry.