Using RFID to Track and Trace High Value Products: The Case of City Healthcare

Abstract

Certain businesses call for a high level of traceability to track high value products. This case study of City Healthcare,1 New Zealand, focuses on the complex management issues related to the initial decisions to use radio frequency identification (RFID) technology on such a product, instead of a barcode. RFID devices are effectively tiny memory storage devices that can be read and sometimes written to from a distance using radio waves through an appropriate interrogation device. RFID devices have been touted as a replacement for barcodes in supply-chain applications. Issues and challenges investigated here include the ability of RFID to replace barcodes, business benefit from technology investment, technology adoption, and the role of external regulations in the adoption process.