From the beginning of the year, I was specifically booked in the media (Radio Frequency Identification, Radio Frequency Identification Technology), which naturally caused interest and attention of domestic users and I T suppliers. Through the "Computer World" reporter, it can be found that RFID will not first encounter the cost of cost, but also the problem of breakthrough in China before landing.
News Survey: Looking for RFID Application Paradise
This newspaper reporter He Jing Yu He Yuan
"By 2007, the existing RFID project will fail!" This is the pessimistic prediction of Gartner's recently made. There is news that the progress of the application of the RFID is not as good as the test of the application of the Global application. It is possible to affirm that there is a lot of problems in the technical still in terms of technology or in management, and it is more concerned that the loop-lasting test will be shaken in the customer confidence in watching.
"Do you have this thing?" Many supermarkets of CIO began to commit this. RFID seems to be a little lost in the way to the application.
In the confused, it still reveals the fire of hope, and the least lack of RFID is a firm supporter. Idc Deputy General Manager Wanning accepts the reporter reporter: "The prospect of RFID is very huge. But now, its development urgently needs a lighthouse; in other words, RFID must get applications in some industries and generate value, then go Illuminate some of the associated companies and ultimately promote comprehensive applications. "
RFID is currently relatively high production costs, which makes most domestic chain supermarkets.
Warp supermarket doubts
Improvement of RFID comes from the world's largest chain supermarket Wal-Mart, people will naturally break through the RFID app, naturally, in the specific circulation of circulation of chain supermarkets.
In January 2004, Wal-Mart decided to use the RFID label on the pallet in the pallet in January 2005. The largest supermarket in Europe also announced a similar plan, and Madon has conducted an experiment of RFID technology. Sensitive IT manufacturers have smell them, they have many well-known companies such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, HP, TI, Philips, and NEC, covering the IT industry such as chip, software middleware, database, supply chain management, overall solutions. Each link on the chain. Originally, there is no new technology, and it is a star sought after by the night.
However, it should not be ignored that the forerunners of these two RFID applications are the leaders of the chain supermarket industry. Its financial strength, scale, uniform, unaware of the general supermarket, and more importantly, technology application drivers are not technical, but to enhance the needs of enterprises to manage internal strength and competitiveness. For most powerful, large-scale companies, the application RFID seems to be a luxury in this stage.
In 1997, Huapu Ji'an Trading Co., Ltd., just established is also a department store and supermarket mixed store. This department store located outside Chaoyang has quickly felt the pressure of the Blue Island Building, how to build his own business characteristics and become the key to improving competitiveness. So in 1998, Warp Mall transformed into a simple supermarket, and in the same year, the second branch was opened.
After the operation direction is adjusted, the next key natural is to focus on improving management capabilities, and the construction of information systems for supermarket operation efficiency is put on the agenda. Initially, the POS machine of Warp Supermarket uses the management method of the trade department, which is to enter the department of the product, then enter the price of the product, as for the type and information of the goods, there is no corresponding information system to support. At that time, the only information of supermarket products was a printed price sign. Shen Quan, Director of Huapu Supermarket, told reporters that this is the initial extensive management of the supermarket. How many goods are still inventory, and the purchase record is a cargo. This is of course a cargo and natural damaged goods, but because the information system is not fine enough, it is not possible to manage the goods in each type of goods. At the same time, the competition between domestic supermarkets has intensified, and the original exact system is not equal. Warp quickly tried to run the "single product system" in March 2000. A significant application characteristic of the system is that all items must have barcodes. Single product systems based on bar code labels extend from the pilot new store in 2000 to all chains.
The information level of Huapu supermarket continues to increase, the number of chain stores has grown rapidly: September 2000, Huapu already has 9 chain stores in the country; in December of the same year, the chain has increased by 3. During the period, Warp's management information system is also simultaneously upgraded.
The application of bar code system is the first leap in Huapu supermarket informationization. Sunghaqiang summarizes the difference before and after the implementation of the "single product system": before, the supermarket chain is implemented "single store" management, that is, all information is mainly single store. After implementing the "single product system", the management of the goods broke the boundaries between the store and the store. The entire company realized the sharing of commodity information, and the conditions for unified supply were more mature. The most direct effect of chain supermarkets to achieve unified procurement is to strengthen the margination of supermarkets and suppliers, which greatly reduces the procurement cost. At the same time, due to the support of the information system, the supermarket operation system is separated from the procurement, so that the operation of the chain store is more professional, the operational efficiency of the entire company is significantly improved.
Establish a distribution system of the entire company, and realize the unified management of the group company is the second management informationization of Huapu supermarket. In different parts of the country, Huapu established a "district" unit in order to facilitate management. It turned out that Warp was managing each chain, just unifying information to the "district", and did not achieve the information sharing of the Group headquarters. From the end of the 2000 system, the system upgrade is completely broken, and the data sharing is implemented between several "districts". The Group not only achieved unified procurement, but also achieved unified settlement, unified distribution.
In the view of the general manager of Wei Shen Electronics, from the perspective of pure technology, it is a company that is synchronized with the international supermarket informational level, which has implemented the foundation of RFID. "Because of the supermarket industry, the successful implementation of bar code technology has passed the first level. Information system and the entire information ecological environment are the main points of RFID technology implementation, while RFID tags or barcodes are only implemented."
RFID will not completely replace barcod, which has become a consensus of many experts. Wankang, general manager of NCR Greater China, believes that the current POS machine equipment will still be based on the BB code infrared scanner, and with the popularity of RFID technology, NCR will gradually configure wireless read devices to POS, so Two read and write devices in RFID and barcodes will coexist within a period of time.
The popularity of RFID technology will greatly improve the original function of the barcode:
First, the barcode relies on the passive manual reading method, the staff needs a scan of the handheld read device, and the RFID read device utilizes radio waves, and can fully read a large number of labels information; second, barcodes belong to the fragile label, Due to physical and chemical reasons, it is torn, and RFID belongs to electronic products, which can be used in a harsh environment; third, barcodes are small, and the RFID tag is embedded with storage devices, the amount of information is huge; Of course, the problem with barcodes is that it will always be disposable, not changeable, and RFID can be written or modified. However, compared to RFID and barcode technology, there is indeed a significant advantage. Reading barcodes need to waste a lot of time because infrared scans requires up to several seconds of identification time, and for a wide range of warehouses and distribution centers, the waste of time means the improvement of human resources costs. This is also an important factor in the implementation of RFID in the US and European supermarket. After all, the cost of human resources is too high.
The real situation is that China's current human resources costs still have obvious comparative advantages. In this case, the cost of implementing the RFID project itself is very important. This is the current soft rib in RFID.
Currently, according to some chip manufacturers, RFID TAG can be controlled in 5 cents, while 5 cents are almost all gross profit of certain low-value products.
Shen Qiang said that the cost of barcodes is generally below RMB 2. If the cost of RFID can be at least close to the barcode, domestic supermarkets will be more easier. For Shen Qiang, it is not only the cost of label and readers, but also the risk of operators and maintenance personnel, and the risk of system upgrading is to assess.
Obviously, in the industry such a large-scale industry, a large-scale promotion of a new technique that needs to pay high costs, which can be understood as suicide action. "Moreover, every chain supermarket company has its own business model." Shen Qiang said. In addition, the RFID experiment of Wal-Mart even even succeeded, other supermarkets are not necessarily imitated or saved.
New technologies are always found in a variety of attempts to find the last application paradise.
The East does not bright the West?
From the perspective of the implementation range, the application of RFID can be explicitly divided into two categories of closed loop and open loop. The general manager of Wei-Shenzhen Technology is explained that the so-called closed loop application refers to the internal implementation of a relative enclosed system. In this application, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau belongs to a typical case (see related links).
Open loop applications are different. From raw material manufacturing, purchasing to semi-finished product processing, finished product manufacturing, wholesale, distribution to retail, RFID runs through every link in the supply chain of the whole society until the end consumers. Wal-Mart and Metro first requested the supplier to use the RFID tag, which breaks the isolation of the internal use of the system, and spreads RFID technology to the upper end of the supply chain.
The IBM Popularization / Wireless Data Solution Department Sales Manager believes that in China, the lead in achieving RFID will be the governments, medical, logistics, manufacturing and other fields, while logistics and asset tracking will be the main application direction. Obviously, the cost of RFID is still in front of the user, and there is also a certain demand in front of the user. However, in certain areas of security, health, cost may not be the biggest obstacle, and may even take the lead.
IBM and Weidian Technology are partners. Zhang Qijun said that they have been analyzing and analyzing the various business operation models in the logistics related industries.
Interestingly, there have been many scenes of closed-loop applications in foreign countries, such as many farms, have used RFID tags to monitor the basic status of its products (poultry animals) (such as growth, health, circulation process, etc.) . In the interview, the reporter found that the domestic breeding industry has begun a positive attempt. That is a large farm with 4,000 pigs, and they want to improve the work efficiency of each pig. This work is important for the meaning of farms, as these monitoring materials not only help to pork quality, but also closely related to pork management and consumer. Previously, the breeders generally distinguish the identity of pigs through the ear row. After each pig in the column, their ear is put on a steel ring, and this steel ring has a unique number. The breeders on duty have to patrol a pig bar every day, record the health of each pig, once found the symptoms of disease, but also isolate it. Generally, these records of pigs are manually recorded by the breeders on the notebook.
Zhang Qijun believes that the use of RFID bar code technology can improve the traditional working model, realize the full control and traceability of the product to the product, and develop a full industrial chain food safety control system. Realizing food safety is the core of the project, that is, the RFID bar code technology is always in the food safety (breeding - feeding - slaughter - segmentation - small packaging - transport - dining table), the whole process is strictly controlled by the industrial chain, formation The closed-loop production of the company guarantees high quality assured meat food to the market. For example, in the stage of pig breeding, use the RFID chip instead of the original ear row, and the pig is slaughtered, and the pork packaging uses bar code technology. Why is the pig use RFID instead of bar code? Because the pigs must be active every day, the barcodes may be removed. Moreover, RFID can be recovered after slaughter. Once the pork sold, once the quality problem occurs, full tracking and supervision can be achieved according to the barcodes of pork.
Another industry with special needs. According to Zhang Gongjun, a company that produces ceramic products, because the ceramic product needs to be firmed, the ordinary bar code is impossible to do high temperature, so the use of a production line of 300-degree high temperature RFID, this is special product Special requirements.
In fact, many automotive manufacturing companies have implemented RFID management on the production line, such as FAW Volkswagen. This is because the cost of auto parts itself is quite high, compared to the cost of RFID, can be ignored.
And for cost-effective assessments cannot be limited to the province of initial investment and surface profits. Since RFID has triggered the improvement of business processes, it will greatly improve the limitations of internal supply chain management of enterprises. These effects are difficult to purchase costs with simple equipment.
Watching, but not equal to doing some necessary preparations. Because for CIOs, once the timing is mature, they will be able to move when they are already in the heart.
always be ready
Although it is a visualist, many domestic CIOs still reveal the concern of the Detail of RFID: What major factors should be considered in implementing RFID? What are the key steps? How to implement risks in controlling projects?
The IBM Popularization / Wireless Data Solution Department sales manager answered these issues to Hong Yu with a specific project implementation.
In the first step, the company must first recognize the RFID before deciding whether to implement RFID, know if RFID is not compliant with the company's long-term development strategy, do not blindly. "RFID is not a panacea." For products that are relatively low value, the implementation RFID is a burden, of course, there is no need.
In addition to the factors, the specific technical feasibility is evaluated. The Zhang Revolution introduced that many industries cannot use RFID because of the absorption and interference of the radio signals on the liquid and metal. Tobacco industry as an example, the value of tobacco products is indeed high, and there is an urgent anti-counterfeiting demand, but because the cigarette case is packed, the RFID TAG is attached to the radio sensation into a problem. Because the transportation of the cigarette case is stacked, the RFID TAG attached to the outer packaging is considered to be tightly squeezed with tin foil, which is equal to the shielded state. Therefore, the tobacco anti-counterfeiting current can only use barcodes. The second step is to test. Introduced to Hongyu, once the company has a scientific assessment of RFID, you can consider implementation, this time the most important job is to choose a suitable partner for a small range of testing. In order to ensure stability during large-scale investment applications, this small range of tests are necessary. The implementation of RFID not only involves chip and readers, but also involves the adjustment of middleware, database, and ERP system. Since most IT companies are just beginning to explore in RFID technology, how to integrate all IT technology together It is also a complicated thing. A variety of questions may be encountered during the test. When encountering these problems, it is often difficult to determine which specific link appears in the fault, and can solve these problems in the test phase.
The third step is to implement it. Since most customers are still very concerned about risk, the RFID program will definitely be gradually expanded.
In the process of implementation, the necessary training, strict rules and regulations of the operator, the strict requirements of accuracy, and real-time, are important to various business processes. These links are important. Compared to these factors, RFID technology itself is just a tool. Therefore, after implementing RFID technology, human factors have a significant relationship to the system.
Taking into account the influence of RFID technology, the new management concept triggered with this RFID may be called "RFID Idea". However, the Zhang Experience has repeatedly emphasized that it is not a technology to bring change, but the management of the inherent motivation, the implementation of technology makes this improvement more reality.
Comments: Technical or spells
Lin Xuguang
The development to a certain extent is a spell. RFID is a typical example: a customer picks up goods full of purchase cars, when you go to the supermarket export, you don't need any bar code scan, a few seconds The total payment is clearly displayed on the screen clearly; when a customer wears "Nike" sneakers walk through a street LCD billboard, the originally played Coca-Cola advertisement suddenly switches into the tourist flames of the Alps, and draws the proud To this customer: "Go to such a wonderful place, or wear Nike shoes."
In fact, RFID itself is not a special advanced technology. The main core components of RFID are an electronic label with a diameter of only 2 mm, and through a radio wave transmitted by a few centimeters to a few meters, the information stored in the electronic tag can be read, and the items represented by the electronic tag can be identified. And the identity of the appliance.
The US military began researching RFID technology as early as the 20th century, and this technology has been widely used on weapons and logistics management systems. The United States uses RFID in "Iraq" to use RFID to prepare weapons and materials very accurately, ensuring accurate supply of frontline ammunition and materials. Unlike previous "adequate" supply, modern management emphasizes accurate supply, which is to provide much, because redundant supply will increase unnecessary management costs.
RFID technology can be widely used in the civilian field benefits from two driving power: the first is that the chip manufacturing cost is greatly reduced, from the initial tens of US dollars to a few cents, so that the RFID electronic label can be the manager of the supermarket Accept; second is a wide recognition of the role that users can play by RFID technology. Europe's largest supermarket Madon and the largest supermarket in the United States have accelerated the popularity of RFID technology in 2003 and 2004. In the final analysis, the driving force of RFID comes from the market. However, because ordinary consumers have no clear impression, the focus of supermarkets and management agencies have made the people have a mystery, and there are still many people who don't understand new technologies began to doubt RFID's violation of privacy rights. As RFID's veil is unveiled, its huge business value is also known by the public, and the US legislature is also considering protecting the privacy of the people through legal forms, and RFID's application prospects are gradually clear.
The advantage of RFID will far beyond the layers of labels. We only have the effect of RFID on the logistics industry as an example. Since the storage capacity of the RFID tag is 2, the logistics industry first discovered that they can represent every item in the world in the unique code. In the past, barcodes used, due to the limitations, the logistics industry can only define a category for each type of product, that is, a group of milk, no matter which day, they are the same in the mall, the mall cannot pass code Determine the exact inventory period of each product. RFID completely abandoned this limit, and now all products can enjoy a unique ID.
This is a revolutionary breakthrough for ERP and SCM systems. The past material numbers cannot achieve tracking of single components, and today, the accuracy management of materials will extend the tentacles to every part of each part, regardless of It is quality control, automation management, and product lifecycle management will face the past that cannot be imagined in the past. For example, an analysis of product probability can position a source of defective sources at a certain point, and a product in the warehouse will not be placed separately because of excessive number of products.
The effect of RFID is not only these. EPC Global is a non-profit organization, which plans to build a huge "Internet of Things" around the world, which is the coding network involved in circulating items. The Internet of Things consisting of numerous servers and current computer Internet and wireless communication networks constitute a new generation of network systems, people, computers, and goods to be accurately positioned on the network, and the concept of calculating will also change.
Meeting this era, companies need to be fully prepared. RFID will enter the real practical phase around 2006. When this phase arrives, everything will change. (Author is the IBM Global Service Department Greater China Consulting IT Architect)
Related Links:
RFID in US military
The earliest use of RFID technology is not Wal-Mart or Metro, but the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau (DLA, Defense Logistic Agency). Take your eyes only in the chain supermarket, which may hinder the application range of RFID technology.
The US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau is currently responsible for approximately 46 million items, these items from fruits, Coca-Cola to bulletproof vests, gasoline and X-rays, should have. Regardless of whether there is a war, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau undertakes a total of 87 million cargo transportation tasks worth up to $ 83.2 billion a year. It looks like Wal-Mart or Metro? However, Wal-Mart and Metro do not sell missile launches and steam turbines, and do not need to transport commodities to hostile military regions.
Whether in the Vietnamese battlefield or Iraq battlefield, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Board is always in the moment of purchase, sales, distribution, and dealing with various military items, so the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has been demanding the sensitivity of reactions . However, in the first bay war, the supply of the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has serious confusion, and the pressure from the military requires that they must reform, requiring the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau to become a person streamlined, service efficient Military support unit. "It is obvious that we must maintain a high competitiveness. In order to achieve this purpose, we must be more agile!" The US Navy Materials Company Director Keith W. Lippert interprets the power of change. For the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau, agile means to give the other party just need the materials, to ensure that the troops that need materials need to be used. Therefore, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau began to re-plan their operational processes, and they achieved dramatic breakthroughs - 2.80,000 parts of the arms of the weapons from October 2004 to March 2004 And the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau plans to drop to 275,000 this year and continue to fall in 2005. The US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau announced its operating costs - that is, the cost of cargo management - this year has reached the lowest point: 15.5%. In 1992, this cost was 35%.
In order to make the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau more efficient, they have streamlined large-scale institutions. When the "Desert Storm" in 1991, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau had nearly 65,000, and after the momentum The US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has dropped to the lowest - 21,500 people since 1963. They incorporate 23 warehouses to a set of systems for management, combining and restructuring the original 42 business and support processes, simplifying the current six major business processes, including logistics, finance, and human resources, etc. So far, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has put $ 1 billion in business process integration, but the benefits are significant - they save approximately $ 1.8 billion for the entire army.
Obviously, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau needs to make the employees as small as possible to do much more value. After the entire business process is optimized, the appropriate technical means to improve work efficiency has become their top priority, and the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau selected RFID technology.
Why choose RFID, Lippert's explanation is, "Our previous system is not good enough, we spend too long during material transportation, and spend huge." This explanation is too vague, and we need to understand the reason That is, how is RFID to improve material management and transportation.
The cause will also talk from the Gulf War. During the first Gulf War, the military officers who were responsible for the military in charge of the US military was "Tie Mountain". The meaning of this metaphor is that although the United States has invested 3 billion US dollars to meet more than 2 million material requests on the battlefield, because the original material supply information system is in a completely opaque state, the front line force can't know where the material needs it. . A military urgent program describes the status of the time: "I have to go to different ports every day to figure out that our ordering supplies are not." In this opaque "Tienshan" state, the troops have been transferred. In the position, the weapon often transported the original place, and the military's material supply of the US military has almost lost confidence.
The US supply chain management needs more transparent and agile. CIO de Vincentis, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau, the US Department of Defense, has served as a sub-CIO, and her existing information system for the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau. Although people from 1980 plans to update the information system of the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau, many problems hinder this process. De vincentis analyzes the reason for the failure of the system: the empty talk is better than practical action. It is very painful that the change is very painful. Like the enthusiasm of reform, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau is also used to develop program code. These factors make changes in change. DE Vincents launched a change because she got supported by all aspects, but it must be understood during reform. DE Vincentis analyzes the weaknesses of the original system, the original information system is an order-oriented, that is, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau only is responsible for orders, and it is not considered who is under orders. However, in the actual war, the military supply should be the guidance of the demand, that is, the supply department should serve the combat troops, not for orders. At this point, military supply has not been different from the business supply, and the combat troops are customers in the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau.
DE Vincentis decisively decides to use SAP AG's ERP system and the supply chain management software of Manugistics. The US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has begun to transform, which is not only reflected in the speed of delivery and cost reduction, but also reflects the logistics distribution has higher flexibility and accuracy, and through the information system, the officers can always understand their needs. Where is the transfer of supplies, when they receive the goods, they will find a small label on the goods, tearing open, you will see a circle of antennas and a small chip - This is the RFID TAG, allows the supply chain to manage the magic props that speeds up.
RFID technology and ERP and supply chain management systems have been truly inspected in the US invaded Iraq. At that time, the US Central Aerity Commander Tommy Franks issued a command on July 31, 2002, and any material that entered its area must have RFID TAG. De Vincentis believes that Tommy Franks decided to remove this opaque "Tienshan", he is going to get a panorama of the logistics, with the help of this panorama, the US military supply is more accurate.
The Pentagon has previously approved the RFID standard, and the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau in Pinnaphina improved its technical capabilities in RFID operations, more than 96% of the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau warehouse. Also attached to RFID TAG. In June of this year, the US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau has successfully dealt with 831,222 orders worth $ 1.2 billion, using RFID technology supply chain system to support the US military in Ferluja, US Department of Defense Military Supply Bureau Using the least historical manpower to handle the most complicated transactions in history. (Case Source: US IDG)
