The EPC Technology Implications on Cross-Docking

Transcription

1 The EPC Technology Implications on Cross-Docking Neda Abdolvand Tarbiat Modares University Sherah Kurnia University of Melbourne ABSTRACT Supply chains are going to evolve by a new technology, which is called the Electronic Product Code (EPC) technology, based on radio frequency identification (RFID). This provides new opportunities in automatic identification that none of previous technologies offered. It also appears to have the potential to enhance Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), which is a grocery industry supply chain management initiative, by not only making ECR and its enablers more efficient but also facilitating their implementation. Through the use of a conceptual study, this paper explores how the EPC technology can further improve the efficiency of product replenishment employing crossdocking approach, which is a typical efficient replenishment strategy proposed by ECR. Besides enhancing the efficiency of cross docking operation, the study demonstrates that the EPC technology has the potential to improve the balance of the distribution of costs, benefits, and risks of cross-docking operation among supply chain participants. This in turn has the potential to remove one of the main barriers to ECR adoption. Keywords: Efficient Consumer Response, Cross-docking, Replenishment, Supply Chain Management, RFID, EPC INTRODUCTION The form of business in supply chains management has changed since the late 1980 s to reduce operational costs, simplify the business process, and enhance customer services (Hoffman & Mehra, 2000; Johnston, 1999; Skjoett-Larsen et al., 2003), while the nature of supply chains has changed from local to global businesses (Sparks & Wagner, 2003). As competition between businesses increases, supply chains management attempts to enhance business performance especially through focusing on customer service and satisfaction (Hoffman & Mehra, 2000). In the retail grocery industry, meeting customers needs quickly is a critical factor for the success of business (Hoffman & Mehra, 2000), (Johnston, 1999; Kotzab, 1999). Likewise, the grocery industry faces new challenges in innovating new strategies to reduce costs and enhance the service delivery (Hoffman & Mehra, 2000; Skjoett-Larsen et al., 2003). As a result, various strategies and concepts have been introduced to transform the retail landscape at different times (Sparks & Wagner, 2003; Svensson, 2002a). Such strategies and concepts include just in time (JIT), quick response (QR), and efficient consumer response (ECR) (Svensson, 2002a). ECR is a customer-driven strategy (Kotzab, 1999) that promotes efficiencies in four areas, namely product introduction, promotion, replenishment, and assortment (Harris et al., 1999). It emphasizes on the relationship and the trust between trading partners (Alvarado & Kotzab, 2001) in order to streamline the flow of information and product in the supply chain (Kotzab, 1999; Harris et al., 1999; Alvarado & Kotzab, 2001). However, ECR has not been successful in narrowing boundaries between participants in the supply chain (Svensson, 2002b; Frankel et al., 2002). In addition, it has not been as widely adopted as expected due to various barriers to its implementation (Svensson, 2002b; Frankel et al., 2002). One of the barriers identified in the literature is the unequal distribution of costs, benefits and risks among supply chain participants in implementing various initiatives proposed by ECR. For example, Kurnia and Johnston (2001) indicate that in the implementation of cross-docking method, which is one of the replenishment strategies proposed by ECR, manufacturers need to invest more on the infrastructure while they reap less benefit than retailers and distributors. This unequal distribution of costs and benefits makes it difficult for ECR to be adopted widely. Other problems include unwillingness of trading partners

2 to share information, inadequate technology capability of trading partners to allow for information sharing as well as lack of trust between trading partners. (Harris et al., 1999; Svensson, 2002b; Frankel et al., 2002). This study investigates how ECR adoption can be improved through the use of a new technology based on radio frequency identification (RFID). This technology is known as the Electronic Product Code (EPC) and is being developed by the EPCglobal Inc. For the purpose of this study, one ECR enabler in the replenishment area, the cross-docking operation, is selected to assess the impact of the EPC technology on the current operation. Relevant literature was reviewed in the area of the EPC technology as well as supply chain management to assist us in conceptualizing the potential changes this new technology would bring to the grocery industry. At the time this study was undertaken, it was impossible to collect empirical data in relation to this research topic, since the EPC technology was not used by the Australian grocery industry. The finding of this study demonstrates that the EPC technology can enhance the efficiency of crossdocking operation. It further shows that the EPC technology has the potential to facilitate information sharing and trust between trading partners, which are required in the implementation of cross-docking. In addition, it was discovered that this new technology has the potential to improve the balance of the distribution of costs, benefits, and risks among supply chain participants in cross-docking and, hence, it has the potential to reduce one of the main barriers to ECR adoption. The potential benefits and efficiencies of EPC technology has driven some organizations to explore and initiate a pilot study (Yankee Group 2004). However, the number of organizations exploring this technology is still very limited at this stage. One of the reasons is that it is still very difficult for organizations to estimate the Return on Investment (ROI) for the implementation of EPC and, therefore, many organizations are still reluctant to consider this technology (Roberti 2004a). Another reason is that there has been not an internationally accepted standard for the EPC technology and it is estimated that the process of obtaining a universal standard for this technology will take a long time (Roberti 2004b; 2004c). Because of the lack of pilot projects in exploring the potential of the EPC technology, this study contributes to the establishment of early understanding of the potential of the EPC technology for industries, particularly the grocery industry. This paper first introduces the EPC technology and its fundamental elements. Then the current crossdocking operation and how benefits, costs and risks are distributed among the participants in the supply chain are reviewed. Subsequently, the improved operation of cross docking to demonstrate how the EPC technology makes the operation more efficient and improves the balance of the distribution of benefits, costs and risks in the supply chain is illustrated. Finally, conclusions are drawn and some future research is outlined. THE ELECTRONIC PRODUCT CODE (EPC) TECHNOLOGY The EPC technology is based on automatic identification through radio frequencies. It comprises five critical elements, which are the Electronic Product Code (EPC), inexpensive tags and readers (based on RFID), the Object Naming Server (ONS), Product (Physical) Mark-up Language (PML), Savants software. EPC is an individual numbering standard, that unlike the Universal Product Code (UPC), assigns a unique number to individual items instead of assigning a unique number to a group of products(chang et al., 2002; Brock, 2001a, 2001b). The EPC tag consists of a set of microchips, antennas and readers (Sarma et al., 2001; EPCglobal, 2004a), which enables data transmission in a wireless manner through radio waves (Sarma et al., 2001; EPCglobal, 2004b; Zebra Technologies, 2004). The ONS is based on Domain Name System (Garcia et al., 2003), which is used for keeping information about a web domain (eretail Report, 2001). An ONS maps the EPC of an object / product to an address on the PML server where more information about the object is stored. PML is a new standard language based on extensible Markup Language (XML) (Garcia et al., 2003; EPCglobal, 2004c; Brock, 2001c; Chappell et al., 2003), which is used to structure the descriptions of various physical objects (Brock, 2001c; Kambil & Brooks, 2002). Savants, as the nervous system of the EPC technology (Garcia et al., 2003; EPCglobal, 2004d), are software technology solutions to manage and move the information in the EPC public

3 network (EPCglobal, 2004a, 2004d). Figure 1- Fundamental Elements of the EPC Technology The relation between the various components of the EPC technology is shown in the Figure 1. The EPC is embedded in the EPC tag. When a tag reader reads the EPC code of a product, a Savant, linked to the reader, refers to the ONS to get the address of the associated PML, and read or write some information about the product. According to EPCglobal (2004a), this technology is comprehensive and has the potential to evolve supply chains by providing new opportunities in automatic identification that none of the previous technologies including bar code scanning offered (Zebra Technologies, 2004; eretail Report, 2001; A.T. KEARNEY, 2004; RFID Journal, 2002a). It also appears to have the potential to enhance the ECR by not only making the ECR and its enablers more efficient, but also facilitating their implementation. CURRENT CROSS-DOCKING OPERATION To improve the overall operational efficiency in a supply chain, it is important to enhance the operations involved in warehousing, which are labor and cost intensive. Improving all functions of warehousing which include receiving, storing, picking, and shipping, can bring a higher le vel of efficiency in the supply chain (Schaffer, 2000). The ideal situation is not to keep any stock, but it is obviously very difficult to achieve (Luton, 2003). Cross-docking is a good alternative approach to product replenishment since it has the potential to decrease storage and carrying costs as well as improve customer services, increase the speed of operation and improve the operation of products distribution (Schaffer, 2000; Shanahan, 2004). Cross-docking means handling products from a manufacturer to a retailer without the need to warehouse products in the distribution center (Schaffer, 2000; Luton, 2003; Shanahan, 2004; Kinnear, 1997; Rohrer, 1995). With the cross-docking system, the distribution center receives products, which can be on mixed pallets from a manufacturer for several destinations, and then, consolidates them with products from other manufacturers (Schaffer, 2000). The operation of cross-docking is summarized in figure 2. In cross-docking operation, each manufacturer gets electronic customers orders for individual stores and delivers goods to the distribution center on the due date (arrow 1 in Figure 1). Then the manufacturer sends an advance shipping notice (ASN) to the distributor, which is an electronic document describing what is being shipped before products arrive (2). With the ASNs information, distributor s warehouse management system (WMS) makes a decision about what to do with the incoming products (3). Products can be directed to the outbound door in order to ship to the retailer or can be kept temporarily to be delivered together with the next group of trailers from other manufacturers. Another possibility is that products may need to be temporarily stored due to a lack of distribution center s trailer.

4 Figure 2 Summary of Current Cross-Docking Operation Adapted from Kurnia and Johnston (2001), and Rohrer (1995) Upon receiving products at the distribution centre, products are unloaded from trailers, depalletized, and then checked manually or automatically through scanning the barcodes and verify them against the ASNs information (4). Then pallets received are sorted based on their destination (5). Manual sorting is a labor-intensive process, which has a high error rate. An automatic sorter is normally used at distribution centers, which reads the barcodes one each pallet that indicates the destination and then directs it to shortterm storage or outbound trailer. Since the reader can scan barcodes from one direction, operators should ensure that each case has a correct position on the conveyor belt. At the end of sort line, sorted items are palletized and loaded to trailers, or stored temporarily (6). CROSS-DOCKING REQUIREMENTS Cross-docking has different requirements for and various impacts on manufacturers, distributors and retailers (Schaffer, 2000; Specter, 2004; Kurnia & Johnston, 2001). For manufactures, it enables them to have high visibility of individual store demands, since they get the individual store requirements. This allows them to have more stable production planning and lower inventory level, and to perform more efficient promotion. Dealing with individual store orders, however, may put manufacturers at risks of reducing the quantity of batch production, depending on stores demands. In addition, implementing crossdocking requires manufacturers to have electronic commerce infrastructure to enable information sharing with distributor and retailer, allowing accurate replenishment to be done in a timely manner. Manufacturers need to be capable of receiving and sending business documents electronically in EDI format, as well as producing a bar coded Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) to identify shipments with EDI messages. Furthermore, manufacturers need to possess more complex order processing infrastructure to deal efficiently with small individual store orders. For distributors, the cross-docking operation is very efficient, since it does not require a large distribution centre area, complex computer systems, and reduces non-value added handling activities. Thus, it involves low overhead costs in handling cartons, low IT infrastructure requirements and reduced risk of overloading warehouse capacity. Other cost savings can be attained from reduced damaged products as a result of reduced double handling and reduced expired products since warehousing is eliminated. In addition, with 100% compliance to Advance Shipping Notices using Serial Shipping Container Codes and scan-packing by suppliers, random checking would be simplified and, thus, costs could be further reduced. Random checking could be practically eliminated with increased trust between the distribution centre and supplier.

5 For retailers, since most products are not stored in the warehouse, they will have longer shelf life, which is beneficial for retailers. Lower logistics costs as the result of higher efficiency operation at the distribution centre can be obtained only if cost savings obtained by the distributor (distribution centre) are passed on to the retailer (individual stores) through reduced service charged in delivering products to the stores. In addition, cross-docking requires retailers to have IT infrastructure to automate the replenishment process, through the implementation of computer-aided ordering and EDI for sending purchase orders. The risk of cross-docking for retailer is that if suppliers fail to deliver on time, stock-outs may occur. Table 1 summarizes the distribution of benefits, costs and risks of cross docking among supply chain participants. Such an unbalanced distribution of costs, benefits and risks has proved to be one of the major obstacles in the adoption of ECR and its elements (Kurnia & Johnston, 2001). Manufacturers Distributors Retailers Benefits Low High Medium Costs High Low Medium Risks Medium Low High Table 1- Summary of Benefits,Costs, and Risks Distribution (Kurnia & Johnston, 2001) CROSS-DOCKING OPERATION WITH THE EPC TECHNOLOGY The improved operation of cross-docking with the EPC technology is illustrated in Figure 3. By assuming that the EPC technology has been established within the grocery industry, retailers can systematically access more accurate and timely information of products stored in the inventory and on the shelves. For example, when the quantity of products on the store s shelves is lower than the predetermined minimum quantity, the system will trigger replenishment. Thus, it enables retailers to automate decision-making process in ordering products. Likewise, correct and timely information about retailers orders can be made available at the computer systems of manufacturers through the EPC network. Thus, manufacturers will be automatically prompted to send specified goods to retailers according to the retailer orders on the due date (arrow 1 in Figure 3). A Savant, which is a multi-task software technology, should be installed at the out-bound door of manufacturers. It checks products being read by a tag reader against the actual order received as products are packed for delivery and prompts if any errors are found. The Savant also generates the associated document (ASN) to notify the distributors about products being shipped (2). The Savant then updates the location of products to be delivered in PML files (3). Figure 3- Cross-docking Operation with the EPC Technology Likewise, the distributor will also be automatically prompted about products that are being shipped and their information will be stored in the WMS that automatically makes decisions about which products

6 should be stored or shipped (4). When products are received, the tag reader, installed at the front door, reads the tags on the pallets and cases, checks them against the information provided by the manufacturer through the ASN, and updates the location of products in their PML files (5). If it is necessary to check more attributes of products including weight and size, this can be done easily by accessing the PML file via a Savant. An automatic sorter will then direct products to the correct place for temporary storage or out-bound yard for shipping (6). Tag readers can read tags in any direction and there is no need to depalletize pallets or cases for checking products. Then, items, which should be shipped, are palletized and loaded to containers (7). When products are carried to the out-bound yard, a Savant can control if products are going to be shipped to the correct retailer. Finally, the Savant will update the location of products in their PML files (8), and hence, retailers can be prompted when they should expect to receive the specified products. THE IMPACTS OF THE EPC TECHNOLOGY ON CROSS-DOCKING The introduction of the EPC technology will bring significant impacts on the current cross-docking operation. As illustrated above, the EPC technology elements potentially facilitate information exchange in the supply chain since all products information will be available globally. Product attributes will be stored in a PML file on the server and the address of the PML file is available at the ONS. In addition, various Savants can interact with each other or with other specified application systems to control or trigger automation of operations. Moreover, the Internet as the main infrastructure is available to all participants in the supply chain easily and cheaply. Therefore, accurate and timely information, which is synchronized with the product flow, can be obtained by all supply chain parties without any significant barriers. As described in the previous section, the EPC technology also has the potential to increase the accuracy of the operation by automating various processes and prompting any errors. This will, in turn, improve trust and collaboration between trading partners. The benefits of the EPC technology that can be obtained by each participant of the supply chain are summarized in Table 2. A further analysis reveals that the introduction of the EPC technology also has the potential to improve the balance of the distribution of benefits, costs and risks involved in cross-docking, as summarized in Table 3. For manufacturers, the EPC technology enhances the operation of manufacturing by providing visibility of the supply chain. The visibility of the product flow provides the possibility of tracking products, which in turn enables manufacturers to palletize mixed products efficiently depending on individual orders. In addition, being able to track products increases manufacturers confidence in timely product flow from distributors to retailers and to consumers. This leads to increase the reliability of manufacturers and distributors in delivering products to retailers and enables manufacturers to know the time it takes to ship products to retailers. With this capability, manufacturers can improve the production strategy by considering the lead-time of products. This can decrease the inventory level, while ensuring retailers needs are met in a timely and accurate manner. Therefore, manufacturer products will be available on the shelves, and hence sales will be increased. In addition, automating processes lead to accurate and improved operations. For example, upon the due date of products, manufacturers are automatically prompted to deliver products. Upon delivering products, tags of products are read and checked automatically against the customer order, and then electronic documents about the shipment are automatically sent to the distribution center. This decreases labor work and improves the process of product distribution by manufacturers. These improved operations potentially decrease the possibility of forgetting to deliver products, or delivering wrong products, and therefore it could be effective in decreasing out-of-stock situations. Furthermore, the EPC technology has the potential to stream the standardized information in the supply chain without problems of incompatibility between the participants. Besides automated processes, this information flow ensures that manufacturers receive retailer orders in a faster and more accurate manner. This helps them to improve production strategy and decrease inventory levels. In addition, it enables manufacturers to obtain accurate information about consumer demands, which again lead to more accurate production plans. It also enables manufacturers to forecast production based on accurate consumer demands. This improves and speeds up the production processes and ensures that manufacturers can produce the right quantity of

7 products at the right time based on accurate information of demands. Moreover, the accurate information flow enables manufacturers to create accurate production planning and hence reduce inventory levels while minimizing out-of-stock situations. Therefore, as illustrated in Table 3, the benefit for manufacturers is medium, as opposed to low, without the EPC technology (See Table 1). Area of Improvement Visibility Manufacturers Distributors Retailers - able to track products - able to deliver products for various orders on mixed pallets efficiently - increase reliability of replenishment - makes it possible to check products without depalletizing - increase reliability - better utilization of trailers - increase reliability - better shelves refilling - decrease out -of-stock situation Automated Process Information Flow - accurate checking - accurate control - increase trust - speed the operation - guarantee information exchange - decrease labor work - accurate ordering - decrease inventory level - decrease incompatibility between trading partners - reduce out -of-stock situation which increase sale - accurate checking - accurate control - increase trust - speed the operation - guarantees information exchanging - accurate orders filling - decrease labor works - being informed about incoming products - decision making based on information - better inventory planning - improved WMS through accurate information flow - decrease delivery cycle time - reduce inventory level - decrease incompatibility between trading partners - accurate checking - accurate control - increase trust - guarantees information exchange - accurate and timely ordering - decrease labor works - decrease out -of-stock situation - informed of products being shipped - accurate ordering - better inventory planning - reduce inventory level - decrease out -of-stock situation - reduce incompatibility between trading partners Table 2- Summary of Benefits of the EPC Network for Cross-Docking Operation Although it still appears that manufacturers bear more costs than distrib utors and retailers because of installing tags on individual products and other system requirements, the extra costs are estimated not to be significant for several reasons. Firstly, the cost of tagging is likely to reduce over time, and is envisioned to be 1-cent per tag by 2007 (RFID Journal, 2003, 2002b). Next, the EPC technology relies on the Internet as the infrastructure for the information exchange and standardized elements including ONS, PML, and Savants. Therefore, costs of its establishment are potentially less than previous technologies implementation using EDI and other infrastructure. Furthermore, the significant benefits of the EPC technology as described above can justify these costs in a long run. As shown in Table 3, the cost for manufacturers is high/medium, as opposed to high without the EPC technology. Manufacturers Distributors Retailers Benefits Medium High High Costs High/Medium Medium /Low Medium/Low Risks Low Low Low Table 3- Summary of the Distribution of Costs, Benefits, and Risks of Cross-Docking with the EPC Technology The risk of the cross-docking operation for manufacturers can also be reduced through the use of EPC technology. The automated process in reordering by retailers ensures that manufacturers will obtain timely and accurate order. The ability of Savants to automatically prompt manufacturers to deliver products on due date as well as to prompt manufacturers when wrong products are picked will further reduce the risk. In addition, accessible PML files by all parties of the supply chain decrease the risk of a lack of collaboration of the supply chain parties in sharing information. Then, automatic and enhanced

8 checking decreases the risk of storing wrong products in distribution center. All this will lead to a decrease in out-of-stock situations and hence an increase in sales. The risk for manufacturers is therefore low as illustrated in Table 3, which is opposed to medium without the EPC technology (Table 1). For distributors, like the current cross-docking operation, the enhanced operation involves less risk and more benefits than manufactures and retailers. With this approach, distributors get the visibility of products, which enable them to check and control products without the need to depalletize packages. In addition, automated process brings more benefits including reduced costs, improved accuracy, and decreased risks. In addition, since distributors will have the required communication infrastructure, they can be ensured that they will get ASNs before products arrivals and that they can fill the retailer orders efficiently. The ASNs will in turn enable distributors to improve trailer and storage utilization and planning accuracy. Accurate and better planning of products delivery also decreases the need of temporarily storing. In addition, less complex system to handle products will be experienced by distributors, because the EPC technology involves the use of standardized data, and procedures. For example, upon receiving the products, products tags are automatically read and accurately checked against the ASN. This eliminates the need for manual checking of products. Moreover, it facilitates the process of sorting by eliminating the need for controlling the direction of products in the conveyor belt of the sorter. As products are to be shipped to the retailers, the EPC tags are read and checked against the current order being processed. This approach significantly decreases labor costs and improves order fillings. Improved visibility of products and automated processes also enable distributors to sort and ship products in a faster and more accurate manner. This improves the performance of the fulfillment of retailer orders. Therefore, as shown in Table 3, the benefit of the operation is high for distributors. However, it appears that costs will be likely to increase initially because of installing tag readers in various locations of distribution centers as well as other system requirements. However, by considering the decrease in labor expenses, the initial costs would be easily justified. Furthermore, it is expected that the cost of required technology is likely to reduce over time. Therefore, as illustrates in Table 3, the cost of the operation for distributors is medium/low, compared to other parties. For retailers, the EPC technology makes them confident that the shelves are replenished with the right products in the right quantity, and at the right time and location. The use of EPC technology brings various benefits to retailers through automating processes, increasing visibility, and streaming accurate and timely information. Retailers will be able to know exactly when and what products are being shipped. This increases the reliability of replenishment, and hence, decreases the needs for having a large buffer stock. Then, upon receiving products, they can check and control products in a facilitated manner. In addition, retailers can install tag readers in various locations of the inventory (backroom) and store including the shelves to have more control over the available products. When some products are required from the backroom, the EPC technology can control and ensure that right products are picked in the right quantity. Retailers can also be prompted about the expiry date of products that are picked. This leads to a better and accurate visibility of the inventory and store shelves, which can improve inventory management, order accuracy and shelves replenishment, while reducing or otherwise eliminating manual work and labor costs. Therefore, the benefit of the operation for retailer will be high as illustrated in Table 3, which is opposed to low without the use of EPC technology in Table 1. The EPC technology, however, requires retailers to bear some initial costs to install tag readers and upgrade existing retail systems. Nevertheless, the use of standardized elements including ONSs, PMLs, and Savants and the Internet as the infrastructure of information exchange can minimize these initial costs. In addition, reduction in labor costs and increase in sale over time will lead to long-term cost reduction for retailers. Based on this, the cost of the operation for the retailers is considered as low/medium (Table 3). As discussed above, one of the significant benefits of the EPC technology is the improvement in the products availability. With this improved approach, the risk of cross-docking operation decreases for retailers, as well as for manufacturers. Retailers will be able place orders at the right time and likewise, manufacturers and distributors will be able to deliver the right products in the right quantity and at the right time. Therefore, improved operation decreases the risk of out-of-stock situation in the cross-docking

9 operation. In this way, the risk of the operation for the retailers can be considered low as it is illustrated in Table 3, which is opposed to high without the EPC technology in Table 1. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH This study demonstrates how the EPC technology can enhance ECR implementation through assessing the impact of the ECP technology on cross-docking. Since the development of the EPC technology is still in its infancy, this study has to rely on a conceptual study without the possibility of investigating a real case. Nevertheless, some useful findings in relation to ECR adoption, particularly cross-docking adoption, have been obtained from this study. It has revealed that the EPC technology not only guarantees accurate information flow but also synchronizes it with the product flow within the supply chains. It automates main processes and the flow of the accurate information, and hence increases the collaboration and trust between trading partners, which are the main requirements in the crossdocking operation. The overall performance of the operation is therefore improved, benefits are increased, costs are decreased, and risks of the operation are reduced. It also has demonstrated how costs, benefits, and risks between the partners can become more balance and hence may decrease one of the barriers to its adoption. As the EPC technology and the required standards are becoming more mature in the near future, an increasing number of organizations are expected to adopt the technology to improve their supply chain management. At the moment, a number of companies from various industries including retailing, airline, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and government (military) are experimenting with the EPC technology to better handle goods and track shipments and most of them have seen the benefits. Thus, consistent with what has been demonstrated in this study, the EPC technology is clearly a promising technology that can re-engineer supply chains of various industries and with the mutual benefits that it offers to all parties in the supply chain, it is expected that its adoption process can be smoother than that of many existing supply chain management initiatives including ECR. To complement this study, further study could be carried out to investigate the EPC technology implications on other ECR initiatives and their enablers. For example, it would be interesting to investigate the EPC technology implications on the traditional pick and pack operation and then examine if cross-docking with the EPC technology is still superior than pick and pack with the EPC technology. It is expected that with the EPC technology, problems associated with the pick and pack approach such as high inventory level and double handling operations, could be eliminated or otherwise reduced. Moreover, similar studies about the EPC technology implications on other replenishment approaches including VMI, and DSD could be conducted. Finally, further study to assess the EPC technology implications in real cases would be useful to complement the findings of this study. REFERENCES 1. Hoffman, J. M., & Mehra, S. "Efficient consumer response as a supply chain strategy for grocery industry". International Journal of Service Industry Management, (11:4), 2000, Johnston, R. B. "Principles of Digitally Mediated Replenishment of Goods: Electronic Commerce and Supply Chain Reform". In S. M. Rahman & M. Raisinghani (Eds.), Electronic Commerce:Opportunities and Challenges (pp ). Hershey (USA): Idea Group Publishing Skjoett-Larsen, T., Thernoe, C., & Andresen, C. "Supply Chain Collaboration: Theoretical Perspective and Empirical Evidence". International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, (33:6), 2003, Sparks, L., & Wagner, B. A. "Retail Exchanges: a research agenda". Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, (8:1), 2003, Kotzab, H. "Improving supply chain performance by efficient consumer response? A critical comparison of existing ECR approaches". Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, (14:5/6), 1999,

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