Business
Introduction
The Radio Frequency Identification Technology or RFID is one of the leading and approaching technologies that can, however, be expected to exert vast impact on the lives of individuals. The ability of the RFID in order to extend the networking from the computer to any object is seen as the coming revolution in the daily life. the waste management is, however, a major environmental concern today. The E-waste is a leading concern due to its quickly increasing amount and the special composition of the precious as well as hazardous substances. The new e-laws are the proof of this fact. However, one major global leader is Europe having the directive for waste of Electric and Electronic Equipment. Furthermore, there are several studies that explain the application of the RFID to the stream of waste, for example the use of RFID to glass bottles. The higher amount of the hazardous and valuable substances included in the electronic devices that are combined with the increasing and sheer amount of WEE enable the possibilities of the RFID.
European Companies USING RFID with WEEE Management
Since RFID is an emerging technology, it has the potential yo transform the manufacturing process, the service sector and retail, and has capability to cataloge the operations. This can be analyzed from the fact that Wal-Mart in Germany is using RFID technology to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) supply chain management. The use of RFID has enabled the company to improve its efficiency at a global level I(Krotov, and Junglas, 2008). The Just in Time or JIT has enabled the company to reduce the cost that is associated with the ineffcient handling and decisions of inventory. This has helped in the reduction of the electric as well as electronic waste equipments. The company is implementing the RFID in order to ensure improvement in self replenishment and reduction of the store stockout. Further, Wal-Mart has adopted the tagging system for the management of the waste of electric and electronic equipment. Furthermore, with the help of RFID, it becomes easy to access the codes of the product (Salim, and Nawale, 2010), and to find the product when the customers place an online order to buy a product from Wal-Mart. They can even provide the information related to the product and can avoid waste of electric and electronic equipment.
Moreover, Tesco in UK is also using RFID in WEEE supply chain management. the use of RFID has enabled the company to share the demand and the data related to the electric and electronic inventory inexpensively as well as quickly (Bhattacharya, Petrick, and Kvasny, 2011). For example, the EDI i.e., Electronic Data Interchange, the web-based technologies and DBMS i.e., database management systems have been considered and used for supporting the sharing of inter-organizational information at several stages of the supply chain, and ultimately it enhance the performance of the supply chain through the optimization of the business process.
Furthermore, the Zaragoza Logistics Centre in Spain, which is a distribution and transportation hub for the southwestern Europe, is also using RFID in WEEE management, and is also focusing on the training as well as development of the RFID for effectual management of logistics. The RFID in the distribution processes helps in the acceleration of the delivery process, as everything can be accessed easily with the help of RFID tags. It helps in the improvement of the efficiency by reducing the wastes, enhances accuracy, and helps in the distribution of the costs (Rushton, 2010). The use of RFID in WEEE management has enabled that the right good is available at the right place and at right time. it has helped the company in the prevention of errors and discrepancies because the RFID tags have the potential to store the information. Keeping the track of numerous cartons is very difficult for the company, as it is a labor and time consuming process. But, RFID has made the task easier, RFID can, however, be implemented in order to ease the entire situation, and for improving the information management regarding the flow of cargo. Generally, read-write apparatus and equipments are installed at entry to the warehouse. Each unit is equipped with the RFID tags, and all the information of tags is , however, stored in the warehouse’s central computer. Further, when the cargo move in and out of the warehouse, the read-write apparatus register it and then forward the entire data to the backend system. This will help the management centre to manage a large number of products that are going in and leaving storage, helps in the recognition of cargo, and cargo placement in the warehouse.
Furthermore, The Hospital Gregorio Maranon located in Madrid, is also using RFID in WEEE management in order to trace the medicines that are delivered to the patients. Since, RFID tags has allowed the storage of information possible, so it becomes easy to investigate the patients that are facilitated with the proper medication and the remaining patients so that they can also be equipped with the medicines and proper treatment. Furthermore, in the hospital RFID is also used in the blood bank, and for the provision of several other services. RFID, however, functions properly in coordination with the software, and it provides authentication, tracking and traceability features that are not available in the previous system. Further, in the donation process, RFID plays a significant role. When the donor approaches the pre-screening technician who us present at the donation centre utilizes the ID card that is equipped with RFID in order to obtain clearance from the software, and to stamp the donor screening task. The donor provide the basic information, and the donor consent form is signed electronically. The Donor is then issued an a wristband equipped with RFID that recognizes the donor and then provide further clearance for the next stage of a donation. The Technician concerned with bioscreening then uses the RFID equipped ID card in order to obtain the clearance from software, and stamp as well as time and date the task of the measurement of the hemoglobin level of a donor. The wristband of the donor provide the required clearance, and then unlock the windows in software. The bio screening technicians, however, determine the suitability of a donor on-site. The donor technicians then obtain the blood bag equipped with RFID, and transmit the information of the donor and handle the record obtained on the system memory.teh portable labels on the printer, however, creates label of the blood donation that are readable, and contain information about the blood donation process, for example, the centre number of donor, collection date, etc.
The donation technician then obtain the RFID equipped pilot test tube samples, and collect the blood of donor for testing, and they it convey the relevant information of the donor to the test tubes for linking the blood bags to samples. The technician uses their RFID-equipped ID cards in order to verify that blood unit collection and the pilot samples have proceeded through the established protocols. The technician then uses the RFID equipped identification card of the donor for updating the history of a donation, and for recording the successful donation (Rashvnd, and Calero, 2012).
References
Krotiv, Vlad., and Junglas, Iris., 2008. RFID as a Disruptive Innovation. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 3(2), pp. 44-59
Salim, Shaik., and Nawale, Shankar., 2012. Secure Access of RFID System, Lambert Academic Publishing: Germany
Bhattacharya, Mithu., Petrick, Irene., Mullen, Tracy., and Kvasny, Lynette., 2011. A Delphi Study of RFID Applicable Business Processes and Value Chain Activities in Retail. Journal of TechnologyManagement & Innovation, 6(3): 63-81
Ruston, Alan., 2010. The Handbook of Logistics and Distribution Management. Kogan Page Publishers: Philadephia
Rashvand, Habib F., and Calero, Jose M Alcaraz., 2010. Distributed Sensor Systems: Practice and Applications. John Wiley and Sons, Ltd: Unites Kingdom
