RFID adoption: framework and survey in large Brazilian companies
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570910982256 |
| Pages | 877-897 |
| Date | 21 August 2009 |
| Published date | 21 August 2009 |
| Author | Marcelo Caldeira Pedroso,Ronaldo Zwicker,Cesar Alexandre de Souza |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
RFID adoption: framework
and survey in large Brazilian
companies
Marcelo Caldeira Pedroso
Business School, Fundacao Instituto de Administracao,
Sao Paulo, Brazil, and
Ronaldo Zwicker and Cesar Alexandre de Souza
Faculdade de Economia, Administracao e Contabilidade,
University of Sao Paulo, Sa
˜o Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology adoption considering company size and five dimensions of analysis: RFID
applications, expected benefits business drivers or motivations barriers and inhibitors, and
organizational factors.
Design/methodology/approach – A framework for RFID adoption derived from literature and the
practical experience on the subject is developed. This framework provides a conceptual basis for
analyzing a survey conducted with 114 companies in Brazil.
Findings – Many companies have been developing RFID initiatives in order to identify potential
applications and map benefits associated with their implementation. The survey highlights the
importance business drivers in the RFID implementation stage, and that companies implement RFID
focusing on a few specific applications. However, there is a weak association between expected
benefits and business challenges with the current level of RFID technology adoption in Brazil.
Research limitations/implications – The paper is not exhaustive, since RFID adoption in Brazil
is at early stages during the survey timeline.
Originality/value – The main contribution of the paper is that it yields a framework for analyzing
RFID technology adoption. The authors use this framework to analyze RFID adoption in Brazil,
which proved to be a useful one for identifying key issues for technology adoption. The paper is
useful to any researchers or practitioners who are focused on technology adoption, in particular, RFID
technology.
Keywords Radiofrequencies, Identification,Communication technologies,Innovation,
Supply chain management, Brazil
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the last years radio frequency identification (RFID) has been a subject frequently
discussed in companies, in academia and in the media. One of the reasons for such
interest is the possible strategic value of this technology. In this sense, Cavinato (2005)
when analyzing implications of surveys on supply chain management initiatives,
views RFID technology as the most strategic and of highest impact for business,
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
The authors wish to thank IBM Brazil for the support given to the development of the current
survey.
RFID adoption:
framework
and survey
877
Received 24 March 2008
Revised 30 March 2009
Accepted 6 April 2009
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 109 No. 7, 2009
pp. 877-897
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635570910982256
in comparison with the remaining initiatives under study, according to interviews
conducted from 2003 to 2004.
Various companies hav e been developing initi atives seeking for pote ntial
applications for this technology and to map eventual benefits resulting from its
utilization. It is true also that some companies are at more advanced stages of
implementation than others. Indeed, some of the largest global retailers and the
American Defense Department are inducing their suppliers to adopt RFID. For
instance, the Metro retail chain (Collins, 2004a) and Tesco (RFID Journal, 2003a)
adopted a collaborative attitude, fostering development of capabilities for RFID by
their suppliers. Other companies of the retail segments, among them Wal-Mart (RFID
Journal, 2003b), Target (RFID Journal, 2004), the Albertsons chain (Collins, 2004b) and
Best Buy (Roberti, 2004a) have adopted a more incisive policy. These companies have
defined mandates, which are contractual instruments that set the rules and criteria for
supply of products whose delivery procedure must be based upon RFID technology.
The American Defense Department also adopted a mandate policy (Roberti, 2004b).
These may be effective instruments of inducement for suppliers’ improvement when
clients have a high bargaining power. This is the case of the American Defense
Department with the US$ 84 million budget allocated only to supply (US Government,
2006). Thus, definition of mandates may be a relevant motivator for dissemination of
RFID technology. Since the start of those mandates and collaborative initiatives
backed in 2003, RFID adoption has been evolving, as stated by different stories in
specialized and mainstream press (Roberti, 2007). For example, as of July 2007,
Wal-Mart has implemented RFID in 1,000 of its 6,500 stores and clubs, covering
200,000 items, manufactured by about 600 participating suppliers (Ault, 2007, p. 23).
Some requirements from regulatory agencies could also offer an important incentive
for RFID adoption. For example, US federal pharmaceutical pedigree requirements
established in the Food and Drug Administration, Prescription Drug Marketing Act
has been considered one of the “biggest supply chain topic” (Faber, 2008), which has
the potential to leverage RFID adoption in the healthcare industry, particularly in the
pharmaceutical value chain (Faber, 2007).
In Brazil, some companies are also developing RFID initiatives. For instance,
Unilever carried out a pilot project in the division of household and personal hygiene
products that considered utilization of RFID for monitoring product flow from the
Indaiatuba plant and the Louveira distribution center (Terzian, 2004a). In September
2004, Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao, a large retail chain, and Procter & Gamble
launched a pilot project to monitor product flow between their distribution centers
(Terzian, 2004b). In August 2004, Klabin, a large paper and cardboard manufacturer,
carried out a pilot project to monitor production flow of cardboard sheets in one of their
production lines (Terzian, 2004c). Daimler Chrysler used RFID to monitor assembly
stages of its Class a car models when they were produced in their Brazilian plant
(Malinverni, 2004).
This work reports the results of a survey on recent RFID initiatives in Brazil aiming
to analyze RFID applications, benefits, motivations, barriers, organization, and other
aspects involved in the adoption of this technology. First, a reference model for the
analysis of the initiatives involving this technology is present, and each one of its
dimensions are discussed. The model comprises five dimensions that can be associated
to the existence and stage of implementation of RFID application in companies, along
IMDS
109,7
878
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