RFID-enabled warehouse optimization: lessons from early adopters in the 3PL industry

This paper presents the impact of RFID technology on the picking and shipping processes of one RFID-enabled warehouse in the 3PL industry. The findings from our study confirm initial results from many studies where RFID implementation has been shown to enable business process redesign, improve data quality, real-time data collection and synchronization and enhance system integration. In this study we show that the full potential of RFID technology is dependent upon the involvement of all supply chain members involved in implementation. Moreover, firms considering implementing RFID technology need to take into account their investment in complementary assets such as employee training and knowledge development. The implication of this is that business process modeling and simulation is critical to ensure that stakeholders involved in a RFID project fully understand the impacts of integrating RFID technology on business processes.