RFID : ROI opportunities after the sunk cost

Currently many alternative options exist to satisfy the RFID mandate by Wal-Mart--tag cases at the exit doors, tag all cases at the supplier's warehouse docks, tag a certain section of the warehouse, etc. The big question is how to prevent Wal-Mart suppliers from treating the cost of EPC standard-adoption from just becoming another one of those nagging costs of doing business with Wal-Mart and how the cost of RFID adoption can be leveraged to differentiate the company's products and service levels from that of the non-RFID-adopting/non-RFID-cost-incurring competition. In addition, it is worth exploring how can all of that translate into long-term comparative advantage for a consumer electronics manufacturer. By examining the different scenarios for a Consumer Electronics Manufacturer (CEM) supplier of Wal-Mart that will be RFID tagging small ticket items on a case level, this study proposes an ROI/ROA framework within which investments in RFID can be evaluated and validates through a simulated financial model that positive value exists for early adopters of RFID technology.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Simeonov, Teodor D., 1977-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Larry Lapide.

• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/29527

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/29527