INtrODUctION
Efficient supply chain management relies on
knowing where products in the supply chain are
located. The ability to track items from manufacturing
plant to warehouse to distribution center
to wholesaler to retailer is currently provided by
RFID, radio frequency identification (Weinstein,
2005). Case examples of commercial applications
of RFID in supply chain management are evaluated
by Jones et al. (2004). A recent development,
low power wireless personal area networking,
WPAN, can offer advantages over RFID in certain
circumstances. It is the purpose of this article to
evaluate RFID and wireless personal area networks
with respect to each other and to identify
the features that give one an advantage over the
other. We first describe the two technologies.
cONcLUsION
RFID is a mature technology that is currently
seeing widespread deployment to provide information
for supply chain management. WPAN is
a more recent development which could provide
similar and, in the case of perishable products,
improved functionality. As WPAN technology
is commercialized and unit prices drop, we can
expect cost advantages compared to RFID, since
the cost of multiple upload devices can be eliminated
in the case of WPANs. In addition WPAN
is a more reliable technology