How RFID Technology Can Enhance Your Asset Management Program

Even though the technology has been around in some form since World War II, chances are that you think of Wal-Mart's supply chain initiative when you hear the words "radio frequency identification," or "RFID." Since January 2005, the retail giant has required suppliers to place RFID tags on pallets and cases. Wal-Mart is already seeing a return on their investment, such as gaining the ability to refill out-of-stock products three times faster than before. But does RFID technology make as much sense for asset management as it does for supply chain management? While senior executives may pay close attention to product inventory, they sometimes underestimate how the cost of purchasing, maintaining, and disposing of assets can affect the bottom line. Engineering directors, IT managers, and maintenance personnel understand the impact, but they typically have had ineffective tools - time-consuming, error-prone manual systems and spreadsheets - that prevent easily and quickly tracking, measuring, and reporting on the status and performance of these assets. For manufacturers alone, according to ARC Advisory Group, just improving asset performance by a few percentage points could be worth billions of dollars annually across the industry.