Decision making for determining the implementation level of RFID projects

Each physical item is given an identity and tracked in the supply chain in an automated and timely manner via RFID technology. Tracking physical assets, inventory, and personnel with automated systems improve performance of the system in terms of cost and process flow. It is an important decision for a company to invest RFID technology. Consecutively, it should be decided at which level RFID technology will be implemented in business processes. The aim of this chapter is to select the most appropriate RFID implementation level. The related decision is made among the alternatives of item, box, and pallet levels. Three main criteria are determined to evaluate the alternatives, namely cost, benefit, and implementation aspect. The related criteria are situated in hierarchical structure. Meanwhile, the alternatives are assessed for each criterion with verbal rating categories which have equivalent numerical values. Therefore, Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) rating model is developed for determining the implementation level of RFID Projects. The results indicate that the model is practical and validated for real life decision-making problems. The results indicate that item level outperforms other alternatives with respect to the judgements of an information technology expert.