RFID Best Practices. Timo Nurminen CEO Frontier Consulting FZ-LLC

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2 RFID Best Practices Timo Nurminen CEO Frontier Consulting FZ-LLC

3 Frontier Consulting We provide first class technology consulting and best practice expertise for companies looking to invest and implement new technologies Our mission is to safeguard our clients technology projects and provide cost savings Independent of software or hardware vendors, unique in the GCC area Based in Dubai Internet City freezone 8+ years experience of RFID technology as founder of one of Scandinavia s leading RFID software companies Trackway Delivered over 50 RFID consulting assignements, pilots and full implementations Author and evangelist of RFID Best Practices Participated in the EPC Global software action group standardisation work until 2007

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5 Yes, I know best practices can be boring but...

6 without best practice methods project risks increase significantly!

7 Wikipedia definition Best Practice is an idea that asserts that there is a technique, method or process that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other way. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. (least amount of effort) + (best results) = best practice

8 More practical definition What is best practice? Best practice means finding - and using - the best ways of working to achieve your business objectives. It involves keeping up to date with the ways that successful businesses operate - in your sector and others - and measuring your ways of working against those used by the market leaders. Best practice through benchmarking Applying best practice means learning from and through the experience of others. One way of doing this is through benchmarking, which allows you to compare your business with other successful businesses to highlight areas where your business could improve.

9 Best Practices in RFID industry Lack of best practice initiatives and thinking indicates RFID is still in relatively early in the technology adoption curve Almost complete lack of reported RFID project failures is suspicious and clear evidence of lack of best practice mindset Lack of correct methdology largest single cause of RFID project failures which stand at 20-30% by my estimate Available RFID best practice documentation tends to be more marketing ploy Most RFID best practice documents have price tag Voodoo Magic factor Some industries have created their own RFID best practice guidelines such as healthcare and NFC

10 Why best practices are important Reduce industry wide learning curve significantly Reduce likelihood of project disasters and errors Educate both system providers and end users Create transparency Reduce cost of deployments and thereby lower threshold to invest in RFID Increase skill sets of people working with RFID Encourage open debate and sharing of experiences Enhance confidence of RFID as technology

11 Initial phase best practices Start early Utilize experts Secure management support Make sure you have key processes mapped out Interdepartmental project team: IT to decide what HW to deploy and business lines to decide what process should be piloted Pre-pilot testing

12 Case study in lack of best practice thinking Scandinavia s leading pharmaceutical wholesaler piloted RFID in the supply chain management Against advice solution was integrated to production SAP without proper middleware In less than 48 hours following events had taken place: real inventory data was totally corrupted severe supply distruptions, 15% of routes cancelled and 10% delayed more than 3 hours emergency inventory commenced, 50+ workers counting goods during night time at extra cost of EUR IT manager fired, CIO received official warning 180 customer complaints, 65 reclamations Damaged reputation

13 Pilot phase best practices Create clear plan and adhere to it Define measurable and stringent KPI s Select right partners Watch out for the tail wagging the dog effect Test different tags and readers Do not not integrate Do not expect to get revenue Understand challenges Do not expect 100% read accuracy

14 Case study in lack of best practice thinking Sare Lee Plc had 800 reads from a single case of breakfast meals in one Wal-Mart store (in and out of the back room 800 times). This triggered automatic product order process to fulfil the inventory. New batch of 1000 products arrived next morning. Suddenly there was double the required inventory Clerk in the store was using RFID tagged box to carry other stuff out.

15 Implementation phase best practices Understand clearly all investment components and ROI Select one system vendor or integrator and follow one throat to choke policy Do not overpay for Middleware EPC standards Avoid technology risk and be aware of key standards Divide large implementation into number of smaller sub-projects Support

16 If you are not interested in best practices You will substantially increase risk of RFID project failure You will risk your project investment You will have slow learning curve You will repeat same mistakes others have done You are likely to be walked over by the IT vendor or system integrator every step of the way You are most likely to get less out of your project You are likely to spend more money than you should You are likely to meet me again to salvage your project

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