The Data Center

ARTICLES RELATING TO AUTO-ID

This is an informal list of a variety of articles in various formats that deal with Auto-ID Technology. Though The Data Center does not conduct formal research involving Auto-ID, it is a closely related technology to the problem of interoperability. Members of The Data Center, along with their co-authors, have published a number of relevant articles.

Chandrasekhar, Chaitra and Edmund W. Schuster, 2005. "Design of User Interfaces for Computing Systems." This article will be published by the Cutter Consortium.

Poorly designed user interfaces that ignore human factors account for significant productivity loss with organizations. This introductory article examines some of the factors that should be considered in user interface design.

Dinning, Mark and Edmund W. Schuster, 2004. "Building a Business Case for Auto-ID at Dell, Inc." This article appeared in APICS - The Performance Advantage.

As Auto-ID moves from the laboratory to practical implementation, firms are looking for methods to justify investment in the technology. This article is a general case study of the methods used by Dell to build a business case for Auto-ID technology. The lead author was actively involved in leading the effort.

Dinning, Mark and Edmund W. Schuster, 2003. "Fighting Friction." Parts published in APICS - The Performance Advantage.

This is a feature article that provides details concerning Auto-ID infrastructure and applications within warehousing.

Engels, Daniel W., Robin Koh, Elaine Lai, and Edmund W. Schuster, 2004. "An Introductory Analysis of Auto-ID Applications in the Department of Defense Supply Chains." Parts appeared in Army Logistics.

Recently, the DOD has mandated the use of Auto-ID as a means of improving the supply chain efficiency for military operations. An initial project involves inventory control of meals ready to eat (MRE).

Inaba, Tatsuya and Edmund W. Schuster, 2005. "Meeting the FDA's Initiative for Protecting the US Drug Supply." Submitted for publication in American Pharmaceutical Outsourcing Journal.

In February 2004, the FDA announced a new initiative to use RFID, Auto-ID, and other technologies to reduce counterfeit drugs in the US pharmaceutical Supply Chain. Meeting this initiative will require a number of implementation issues to be overcome. This article gives some details about some of these important issues.

Kar, Pinaki, Ming Li, and Edmund W. Schuster, 2003. "A Case Study of Computer Service Parts Inventory Management." This article appeared in the 2nd edition of the Proceedings of the Remanufacturing SIG published by APICS.

In many cases, service providers have no idea of the installed base. Based on a case study of a Boston firm, this article analyzes typical problems encountered in the computer service parts industry, and some solutions that might involve Auto-ID.

Koh, Robin, Edmund W. Schuster, Indy Chackrabarti, and Attilio Bellman, 2003. "Securing the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain." This article was published by the MIT Auto-ID Center on September 1.

The FDA is currently studying alternatives to defeat pharmaceutical counterfeiters.

Koh, Robin, Edmund W. Schuster, Nhat-So Lam, and Mark Dinning, 2003. "Prediction, Detection and Proof: An Integrated Auto-ID Solution to Retail Theft." This article was published by the MIT Auto-ID Center on September 1.

Sponsors of the MIT Auto-ID Center named theft prevention as a top priority. This article puts forth an framework to evaluate theft.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2005. "Auto-ID Technology: Creating an Intelligent Infrastructure for Business." This article will be published by the Cutter Consortium.

This 10,000 word article explores the basics of Auto-ID Technology along with a brief appraisal of future developments within EPCGlobal. The article also includes an analysis of applications within ERP systems and a case study involving cost justification of the technology.

Schuster, Edmund W., David L. Brock, Stuart J. Allen, Pinaki Kar and Mark Dinning, 2005. "Enabling ERP through Auto-ID Technology." This will appear as chapter in a book about ERP to be published by Stanford University Press.

An important aspect of ERP involves the input of data. As a result of new ways to capture data, the next generation of ERP systems will have different features enabled by Auto-ID technology. This article explores some of the potential impacts of Auto-ID on the design of ERP, including the introduction of the Transactional Bill of Material.

Schuster, Edmund W., Tom A. Scharfeld, Pinaki Kar, David L. Brock, and Stuart J. Allen, 2004. "Analyzing the RFID Tag Read Rate Issue." Parts of this article were published as part of the Cutter IT E-Mail Advisor, December.

This is a summary of some of the major issues affecting read rates for RFID tags. Though achieving near 100% read rates is a complex matter, we believe that industry will meet this goal within the next three years. Currently read rates and cost are several important factors that are limiting the widespread use of Auto-ID in practice. In some situations, near 100% read rate is critical. Until the read rate issue is overcome, there will not be widespread advance of practical applications of Auto-ID.

Schuster, Edmund W., Tom A. Scharfeld, Pinaki Kar, David L. Brock and Stuart J. Allen, 2004. "The Prospects for Improving ERP Data Quality Using Auto-ID." by This article was published by the Cutter IT Journal.

This article gives a comprehensive appraisal of how Auto-ID might accomplish improved data quality for ERP. The article also examines the changes to ERP from having greater amounts of data along with improved accuracy and timeliness.

Schuster, Edmund W. and David L. Brock, 2004. "Creating an Intelligent Infrastructure for ERP: The Role of RFID Technology." This was posted on the APICS home page.

At its essence, ERP is a large database. Increasing the amount and timeliness of data will have an impact on ERP systems of the future. This article explores just a few of the important issues concerning how Auto-ID will impact ERP.

Schuster, Edmund W. and Robin Koh, 2004. "Who Handles Your Medicine." This article appeared in APICS eNews, Vol. 4, No. 1.

Every day that we take any type of medicine, we assume that it has been handled properly and is authentic. This article explores a few issues relating to medical safety.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2004. "Tracking and Tracing in the Agricultural Supply Chain." by E.W. Schuster. This article appeared in APICS eNews, Vol. 4, No. 1.

This article gives a brief overview of the implications of Auto-ID for agriculture. With the increasing chances of epidemics such as Mad Cow Disease spreading through agricultural supply chains, it is more important then ever to have end to end track and trace capabilities.

Schuster, Edmund W, Daniel W. Engels, and Robin Koh, 2004. "RFID vs Auto-ID." This article appeared in APICS eNews, Vol. 4, No. 1.

Within industry there has been a great deal of confusion between the meaning of RFID and Auto-ID. This short article attempts to articulate the differences between the two terms.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2004. "The Case for APICS Involvement with Auto-ID." Published as the Article of the Day.

During the 1970's, APICS was not active in the initial development of bar code technology. Consequently, the society missed out on a source of growth. Now we face a similar situation with Auto-ID. This time APICS should make a strong effort to take advantage of this new technology in promoting growth in programs and membership.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2004. "FDA, Counterfeit and RFID Technology." Published as the Article of the Day.

The FDA has announced its plans to explore the implementation of Auto-ID to enhance pharmaceutical supply chains.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2004. "Searching for Models." Published as the Article of the Day.

Often we overlook the search cost for finding mathematical models. This article introduces the importance of understanding search costs.

Schuster, Edmund W., 2004. "RFID Developments." Published as Article of the Day.

Several developments noted in the business news.

Wang, Ping and Edmund W. Schuster, 2003. "Chinese Home Appliance Manufacturing: A Case Study of TCL Corporation." Parts of this article were published under the title of "China's Challenge" in the May edition of APICS - The Performance Advantage.

This study presents some little known facts about the Chinese supply chain.

Watanabe, Kazunari and Edmund W. Schuster, 2003. "The Impact of e-Commerce on the Japanese Raw Fish Supply Chain." This article was published in the Proceedings of the 2003 Logistics Educators Conference.

In this study, we conducted primary research to determine the state of e-commerce in Japan. Two groups of internet retailers selling fish were identified. The first group, small e-commerce companies, failed to meet consumer expectations because of channel conflict, logistics issues, and lack of resources. The second group, established retailers with e-commerce operations, had few incentives to increase Internet sales. Although Japanese consumers, businesses, and the government expected huge benefits from e-commerce, no evidence exists to support this supposition.

All APICS articles are distributed with permission of APICS—The Association for Operations Management, Alexandria, Virginia.