High expectations for RFID investment
High expectations for RFID investment
Oct 5th, 2004: A new survey conducted by Accenture has revealed that almost half of retail and manufacturing executives expect a high return on RFID investment in Australia, China, Japan and South Korea.
Out of 100 executives who were questioned, 45 percent of those who responded said that they expected a high return on RFID implementations with South Korea the most optimistic.
72 percent of South Koreans expected high returns, whereas 16 percent of Japanese respondents thought so. 56 percent of the Chinese were hopeful and just 36 percent of Australians thought that the results would be good.
Lyle Ginsburg, the managing partner for technology innovation in Accenture's products operating group said: "The emphasis on the extended supply chain, while not universal, is prevalent and promises to enable a new level of visibility and collaboration for manufacturers, distributors and retailers."
Josef Mueller, a partner in Accenture's products operating group in Asia-Pacific added: "There is a feeling that RFID implementation is inevitable, even when not driven by mandates, so executives in each country are examining how it can improve their businesses and their ability to compete.
"We'll continue to see distinct regional differences but the focus on the supply chain as the priority area for maximising benefits is a common theme within Asia and globally."
Overall, respondents said that visibility and inventory visibility were the main benefits of using RFID. Over half of the executives said they expected RFID to provide benefits in shipping and receiving productivity (57 percent), order accuracy (52 percent) and returns processing (52 percent).
Two thirds (64 percent) said RFID will bring strong benefits to inventory management and 56 percent thought it would improve accuracy of raw materials.
The survey discovered that the barriers to RFID implementation included the costs and lack of standards. Over two/thirds said that the overall cost of implementation was a strong barrier, followed by the same amount, 67 percent who cited the cost of tags and readers, and slightly fewer (62 percent) who cited lack of standards.
Respondents in China and Australia were evenly concerned about the cost of implementation and standards, with 68 and 64 percent, respectively, naming each a strong barrier.
Related Article: