The Benefits of RFID for Slab- and Coil-Logistics - Falken Secure ...

sarily take into account the potentially
much greater „network effect,“ that is,
the impact of amortizing the initial
RFID platform costs across multiple
applications of using RFID along an
entire internal and / or external supply
chain. All scenarios are based on measurable
indicators and cautious estimates,
and do not take into account
potential positive effects or soft benefits
that might further improve Perfect
Steel’s success.
The most common mistake when
investigating RFID business cases is to
view RFID as a project. It is not. It is
crucial for decision makers to understand
RFID as a critical infrastructure
program made up of a growing number
of use cases that allow companies
to drive efficiency and better meet
customer needs.
Figure 3 – Estimated potential and effort of
RFID-technology along the supply chain by area
Asset Utilization
Operational Efficiency
Safety and Security
Quality Control and
Customer Service
Continuous Casting
m
m
m
The „network effect“ has a key role to
play in this discussion. In other words,
if a company implements a common
RFID platform that could be used by
many different RFID applications across
operations, that platform becomes
more valuable as more applications
leverage it.
A company’s RFID implementation will
divide into two types of investment:
1. A radio-frequency identification
platform, including middleware
licenses, servers, and operations
support considered a common service-cost
to the company—comparable
to general IT infrastructure and
support.
2.Multiple applications, including custom
software development, process
Hot-Rolling
m
Cold-Rolling
m
Finishing
9
m
Packaging and Shipping
m
Receiving
h
m h
integration, dedicated consulting,
RFID tags for developing specific
RFID solutions, that will be charged
to the business / the respective project
on a case-by-case basis.
In the following case studies we do not
account for general infrastructure
costs, only application-specific costs.
That said, we do include platform costs
in the comprehensive case study at the
end of this section. Please note that by
choosing to illustrate only three applications,
we do not mean to imply that
Perfect Steel could only ever use its
RFID platform in the three specific
application scenarios. Rather, once the
company’s RFID platform is established,
that company would be in the
enviable position of being able to
implement any number of applications
that add business value.
Production Use
l l l m h m
l
l
l
h
h
m
m
h
Benefit:
Very high
High
Medium
Low
Very low
Effort:
l: Low
m: medium
h: high