Research On The Effects Of Radio Frequency Identification Technology On Supply Chain Performance

This paper proposes a research framework used to help the managers in telecom industry determine the appropriate supply chain environment and operational conditions under which investing in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is more beneficial. Based on the in-depth understanding of development and characteristics of China telecom industry, there is an analysis of supply chain optimization scheme of China Mobile Communications Corporation. By the research of advantages of the optimization model in the reliable supply chain operational process,this paper tries the best to explore the effects of RFID technology on supply chain performance.Taking this supply chain optimization scheme as the basis of the simulation model design, the simulation experiment is conducted under different supply chain conditions combined with performance evaluation indicators which were proposed from the Balanced Scorecard (BSC).The different supply chain conditions refer to the level of collaboration between the participants, the demand uncertainty, the lead time and supply’s capacity. Two evaluation indicators are the total cost of supply chain and the customer service level. Under different inventory strategies--(s, S) and (R, Q) and by applying the Crystal Ball software,the outputs from the simulation model show that applying RFID technology within a supply chain brings significantly greater benefits when the level of collaboration between the participants is more intensive. In addition, the same conclusion can be verified when demand uncertainty in customer is lower and when lead times in suppliers are longer.