Dissertation RFID and Real Time Supply Chain Visibility   Abstract [In the end]   Table of Contents Abstract 1 Introduction 3 Research Background 4 Research Problem 5 Research Aim 6 Research Objectives 6 Research Scope 7 Research Questions 8 Research Hypotheses 8 Summary 8 Research Methodology 9 References 11   Introduction The focus of this paper is to understand and investigate the relationship between RFID and the real time supply chain visibility. RFID refers to Radio Frequency Identification. Companies around the world are operating in fast changing environment and more stakeholders are engaging with each other on daily basis. The major challenge the companies are facing nowadays is to handle the increased amount of information (Christopher, 2000). The identification of right information and interpretation of them to make appropriate decisions has become challenging. However, if the organisations that are engaged in the supply chain activities gain and use information effectively and efficiently, then it is likely that the quality of the supply chain will improve along with the cost of conducting the supply chain activities. The supply chain visibility has been identified as one of the supply chain aspects that is being considered as the popular method to handle the challenge that is being faced by the organisations. The researchers have stated that the increased information visibility is likely to improve the supply chain management. The involvement of technology with the supply chain is one of the aspects that can help in improving the supply chain visibility. Technologies are constantly improving and the organisations are adopting these with faster pace than before. It has been identified that now the organisations are willing to adopt the technology in various functions whether it is managing the manufacturing of consumer products, handling the customers on daily basis or managing the employees within the organisation. The focus of this research paper will be to understand and analyse Radio Frequency Identification technology that is likely to assist in effectively managing the supply chain by improving the tracking ability. The RFID technology can be utilised in the tracking of product transportation, shipment tracking, and effective management of inventories (Michael &McCathie, 2005). This improved tracking ability directly converts to the efficient management of the supply chain aspects with the reduced chances of error. Moreover, it has been identified that the RFID technology is likely to enclose or supply comparatively large number of information than the previous techniques of product or shipment tracking. The current paper will assess the RFID technology in relation to the supply chain management. Along with that, the focus would be on understanding the assistance of RFID in improving the visibility of supply chain. The conduction of research will be based entirely on the secondary research method where various past research papers of the researchers will be picked to reach the research goal. Research Background The supply chain arena is continuously getting complex and the organisations can witness competition in the supply chain. Few of the researchers have stated that the competition that used to take between two organisations have shifted towards competition between two supply chain network (Christopher, 2000). The change in the orientation can be credited to the development of business environment that witnesses increase in the need of the consumers, decrease in the life cycle of the products, unlimited mushrooming of numerous products from every corner of the world, globalisation of supply chain activities, and constantly changing everything. Lee (2004) states that the environment has become complex than before and therefore if the companies are willing to stay ahead in the competition while meeting the needs of the consumers, then it is likely that they have to deliver quality goods to the consumer as fast as possible and in lowest cost possible. Along with that, the organisations should be able to supply the products through various channels with the same efficiency so that they can ensure the shortest and cheapest route possible in supplying the products to the consumers. The achievement of these supply chain objectives is important to ensure that the firm stays profitable and sustainable for longer period. Moreover, to achieve such efficiency, it is important that the firms have good amount of information that can be utilised to make effective decisions. Information within the supply chain can be of various forms and types and availability of all of them is sure way to make informed decisions. The flow of the information within the supply chain network should be form end to end and should be without any hurdle or challenges (McFarlane &Sheffi, 2003). The smoothness of information flow is important along with the availability of the information in the real time with the visibility to the different entities in a supply chain network for good decision making. The individuals engaged in the supply chain activities should be able to clearly visualise the entire supply chain network. Research Problem The limited presence of information in the supply chain management is likely to impact the decision making of the organisation in relation to supplying the products to the consumers in timely and cost effective manner. Moreover, the organisation will not be able to beat the ever increase challenge in the competitive market. Therefore, it has become an important aspect that the effective information should be available to the decision makers. The quality and the quantity of the information decide whether the organisation will be successful in the market. The current advancement in the technology has led to the assumption that the visibility in the supply chain can be improved due to the presence increase amount of information regarding product or shipment movement (Francis, 2008). The challenge that is being addressed in this paper is to understand whether the RFID, being a current technology in supply chain tracking mechanism, is appreciable enough to assist in the visibility of supply chain. The RFID technology is used to track movement of supplies by providing information of each product’s delivery from one location to another (Delen et al, 2007). Moreover, another aspect is to ascertain whether the improved visibility leads to the improvement in the overall performance. The inclusion of technology is not only constrained to the data shared by the RFID technology. There are various transactional data that are generated at each supply chain points such as order negotiation, order fulfilment, shipment, delivery, supplier information, providers, and others. Collectively, the vast amount of information can be used to make improved decisions. The current research paper is oriented towards understanding the same in detail in the further chapters. The next sub-section shows the aim of this research paper followed by the research objectives and scope. The research questions have been developed that are likely to guide in the conduction of this research. Research Aim The aim of this research paper is to understand the relationship between RFID technology and real time supply chain visibility, and the implecations. Research Objectives Based on the research aim above, the research objectives have been developed for this research paper. The research objectives are given below: - The first objective of this research paper is to understand the impact of RFID technology on the supply chain. The focus would also be on briefly understanding the RFID technology as it has been assumed that understanding the RFID technology will give greater understanding in its impact. - The second objective of this research paper is to understand the aspects of Supply Chain Visibility. There are various facets of Supply Chain Visibility and in this research paper, major ones will be assessed that are directly associated with the research aim. - The third objective of this research paper is to understand the utility of RFID technology in improving supply chain visibility. It is expected that the understanding of the various aspects of RFID technology and supply chain visibility while fulfilling the previous two research objectives will lead to understand the utility of RFID technology in improving the supply chain visibility. Research Scope The research scope refers to the premise within which the entire research will be conducted. The current research paper only considered the aspects that are directly related to the topic under study and the subjects that are vaguely related to the research topic has not been considered for discussion to keep the research paper brief and to the point. The research scope of this research paper has been developed to increase the feasibility for conducting the research. The research scopes are given below: - The first research scope of this research paper is to assess the research papers developed by other researchers or academicians in relation to the various aspects of the research topic. The focus here would be to analyse what has been written and said about the research area which might help in achieving the aims and objectives of this research paper. - The second research scope is to assess the suitable research methodology that will be employed in meeting the research aims and objectives. The availability of methodology is numerous from which suitable one will be picked for this paper. - The third research scope associated with the research paper is to come up with detail understanding of various facets of research topic and then recommend ways that can be adopted in the supply chain management that can aide in improving the visibility and better decision making by the stakeholders. These research scopes have defined the premise within which the research will be conducted and the research aims and objectives will be achieved. Research Questions The research questions developed will help the researcher in staying focused towards achieving the aim of this research paper. The research questions will be answered in the conclusion section of this research paper after the completion of the research. Given below are the research questions: - What is RFID technology? - What is the impact of RFID technology on the supply chain? - What are the aspects of Supply Chain Visibility? - What is the utility of RFID technology in improving supply chain visibility? - Does supply chain visibility support organisations in improving the supply chain management? Research Hypotheses The research hypotheses developed for this research paper will be either proved or disproved based on the studies conducted ahead. The research hypotheses are given below: - There exists relationship between the use of RFID technology and the visibility of supply chain. - The supply chain visibility is important for the organisations to make better supply chain management decisions. Summary Overall, it can be stated that the organisations in the contemporary period are highly dependent on the supply chain efficiency. The increasing competition has created an environment where it has become important that the companies should be able to reach their customers faster and in a cost efficient manner. Moreover, the needs of the customers are changing faster due to change in the product development and availability innovative products in the market. The companies around the world are in rush to fulfil the short term demand of these consumers and stay ahead of the competition. In such scenario, it has become important that the advanced technologies are adopted to ensure that the product deliveries are tracked effectively to ensure cost and time saving. The increase in the visibility in the supply chain has become an important aspect. Technologies such as RFID are used to track the product movement. It is expected that such technologies help in improved tracking of the products and better management of the entire supply chain system. The current paper is divided into various chapters. The second chapter discusses about the research methodology adopted to conduct this research. The focus in this chapter is on the discussion about the secondary research method which is the preferred method here. The subsequent chapters after that build on what has been discussed in the Research Methodology section. In the end, suitable recommendations are given along with conclusive remarks from the researcher. The conclusion chapter covers the answers to the research questions of this paper in brief.   Research Methodology This chapter is concerned with understanding of the methodology that has been adopted in the conduction of this research. The secondary research method has been considered for this research paper. The secondary research method is related to referring the secondary sources to conduct the research (Stewart &Kamins, 1993). This research method is also called as desk research as the entire research is conducted with the help of various articles and books developed by other researchers, academicians, and practitioners. The current paper will consider research papers written by other researchers covering the time period of around one decade. The secondary research method has been selected for the study as it is cost effective and requires minimum time for the study as there is no dependency on the respondents for any kind of data collection. Unlike primary research, the secondary research has been preferred for this research as it has been expected that the secondary research alone will fulfil the objective of this research. Moreover, considering the time band and resources available to conduct the research, the secondary research is the most suitable at present. RFID Technology is relatively new with not more than a decade old and there are various papers available that can be referred to understand this technology in detail (Want, 2006). Moreover, there are some of the research papers that have showcased case studies on RFID technology that can be used to fulfil the requirement of this research paper. Apart from that, the supply chain visibility is equally new to the supply chain management arena and there are limited numbers of papers available on this aspect. However, as per the topic of this research paper is concerned, it is expected that the existing number of research papers and books will fulfil the objectives. Some of the books have been used also to generate information relevant to this research paper. Books on RFID technology, supply chain visibility, and other related topics have been referred. The chapters ahead and their sub-sections have been developed considering the flow of the research and based on the level of importance. The goal of this paper is to understand what has been said about the various aspects of the topic under study and then reaching a conclusive remark. It is clearly visible that there are numerous research studies conducted in the field of RFID, Supply Chain Management, and Real Time Visibility. Therefore, the goal here is to refer to as much studies as possible through this research paper to ascertain any conclusion that can further aid in the researches. The focus would be to explore the research papers and understand what has been said in those papers. In general there are two types of research methods, namely, primary research method and the secondary research method. The primary research method is used to collect required data directly from the primary sources. There are various methods that are employed in particular primary research such as the use of observation, sending the questionnaire to the respondents. Primary research method carry a major benefit over the secondary research method that it allows the researcher to collect data from the original resource directly and thus gives enough freedom to collect data as required by the research subject (Glass, 1976). This is not the case with the secondary research methods. In the secondary research method, reliability is placed on secondary sources only. Along with merit of primary research, there is also some demerits in the secondary research. One of the major demerits in the primary research is that the primary research is time consuming and requires lots of investment for the data collection. Moreover, the primary research requires that the researcher have substantial amount of time at hand depending on the topic under study. However, comparatively, the secondary research is less time consuming as the researcher only need to bring in information and data from the resources that are already in existence and no ground work is required. The secondary research method allows the collection of information and data from the resources that are already in existence and have collected that information in their repository. The researcher who is engaging in the secondary research can use the information as per the requirement but it will require them to further make some changes as required. Unlike primary research, the researcher cannot expect tailored data that is directly suitable for the research study (Smith, 2015). However, it should be clearly understood that the use of particular research method depends on the topic under investigation. If the research topic is such that limited to no research has been done in that area and it is most likely that the researcher has to engage in the collection of information or data from the primary sources. However, if most of the studies have been conducted in the particular field, then the researcher will face limited challenge in collection of appropriate information and data. The same can be said about the current research topic. The current research topic is based on the areas that have been widely discussed by the researchers. However, the researcher has not encountered any research or study that can collate together all the perspectives and try to reach particular conclusion. This gap will be filled by considering this study. The current mode of study is secondary as the two factor economy and the presence of resources is in the play. The use of already collected information by someone else is a great way to save cost on reinvestment for that activity. This ensures that the researcher will be able to save resources required to conduct this part of study. Moreover, even it becomes necessary for the researcher to engage in the purchase of the secondary data sources then it will be less costly affair. The next chapter uses the secondary research method to review the various research papers that have been developed in relation to the research topic under consideration. The chapter on results will discuss the findings from the study of these research papers and in the final chapter a conclusive remark has been given.   Literature Review The current section is divided into several sections. The first section is about understanding the relationship among the RFID technology and the supply chain aspects. The second section of this chapter is focused towards understanding the aspects of supply chain visibility. The third section is focused towards understanding the utility of the RFID technology in the improvement of the supply chain visibility. These three sections are followed by the fourth section summarising all the studies conducted. RFID Technology and Supply Chain RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. This technology is used to track objects pre-embedded with tags. The objects that are to be scanned contain the tags which store information in the electronic form. There are generally two types of types of tags that are used in the businesses (Nath et al, 2006). One is passive tags and another is called active tags. The passive tags use the energy from the radio waves that is emitted from the RFID stations positioned in the close proximity to the tag. On the other hand, active tags contain individual power source and emit their own signal to be detected by RFID reader (Hahnel et al, 2004). The use of RFID tags can be observed in various industries around the world. The production or manufacturing houses use the RFID tags to track the movement of unfinished or semi-finished goods from one location to another (Chao et al, 2007). In the supply chain, RFID is used to track the level of inventory. The presence of RFID tags can help a particular individual in knowing where a good is in the supply chain network. The goods released from the manufacturer are passed through RFID reader which ascertains that the product has left the location and is in transit (Ngai et al, 2007). The way RFID helps in tracking the movement of goods from manufacturer to the customers, in similar fashion, it helps in keeping track of the products that returns from customers back to the manufacturer. Wisner et al (2009) asserts that the use of RFID technology in the supply chain has helped in increase the overall efficiency of the management of the goods inventory. Whitaker et al (2007) has asserted that the RFID has helped improve the way goods are being tracked and it will improve further in the days to come. This technology has allowed the businesses in staying informed of product flow. The emergence of Supply Chain Management can be traced to early period of 1950s. This was the time when the producers in the country were gradually orienting towards producing goods in bulk (Arndt, 2004). This was being done to bring the cost of production down and increment in the overall production efficiency. However, this period not witnessed any form of major effort toward developing any form of relationship with the suppliers or engaging in effort that can improve the quality of the products. The major reliance of production activities were on the internal resources as for example no technologies or capacity improvement were borrowed from the external parties (Handfield & Nichols, 1999). In addition to that, it has been identified that, this period was oblivious to the aspects of knowledge sharing in any form related to the production. There were no instances of businesses or manufacturing units combining together to form strategic partnerships (Wisner et al, 2009). However, during the period of 1960s, the above situation improved to some extent and the production units started implementing strategies to manage the resources and plan the needs on a regular basis. The effort led to understanding on the aspects related to managing the production materials and the relationship of the same with the inventory level and the costs associated with storing the high inventory (Mentzer et al, 2001). The identification of the incurring costs allowed the business units to ensure that the communication aspects within the organisation is improved to ensure that inventory costs are reduced by increasing overall efficiency. By the time 1980 reached, it was witnessed that the supply chain management had become an important aspect (Wisner et al, 2009). The major reason was the increment in the global competition. The increased competition allowed the customers to ask for products that were better in quality and less costly. This pushed the organisations to focus on producing goods of the same level while trying to cut costs on other business elements such as supply chain, labour management, and others. The elements of just in time production and the total quality management came into the picture during this period (Wisner et al, 2009). These tools helped the producers in significantly reducing the costs associated with manufacturing and thus they were able to face the global competition. In addition to the above, the aspects of business process reengineering came onto the horizon and the businesses started to improve the business design to make it more efficient. The focus shifted from just producing the goods to making the production more efficient (Wisner et al, 2009). The additional functions such as marketing, finance, human resources were also made efficient and effort was being made to ensure that less cost is incurred on any activity. The period of 1990s witnessed that the businesses started to rely on the third party to handle their supply chain activity. The on-boarding of third parties helped reduce the cost further. This also allowed emergence of new set of business units and specialised supply chain management companies (Wisner et al, 2009). This worked two ways. On one hand it allowed the businesses to focus on their key growth area that was, production of quality goods, and on the other hand it allowed third parties become more efficient in supply chain management. In the contemporary period, the new aspect has surfaced prominently and that is the ecommerce system. The ecommerce system, to some extent, has reduced the need of intermediaries and the companies are directly reaching to the consumers’ home with the use of large supply chain management companies or courier services (Simchi-Levi et al, 1999). Now the companies are connecting directly with the logistic companies and allowing them to cut the middle supply chain cost to a greater extent. Understanding the growth of the supply chain considering the historical context was important as it gives a clear picture on how things improved along with the time. The supply chain management is the key to the success of many businesses and there are organisations that are still making effort to further improve ways in the supply chain management (Lambert & Cooper, 2000). From discussion till now, it can be understood that the concepts of supply chain management is very old and it is likely that new things are going to come in the future. The increase in the global businesses, the need for more efficient supply chain has become the need of the hour. The global supply chain has increased reliance on third parties from different countries and it is important all of them work in right coordination to meet the customer demands on time (Seuring& Muller, 2008). The diagram below shows a typical supply chain process that has been traditionally in the picture: The focus of the supply chain has been on the customers as it has always tried to bring value to the customers. Value refers to bringing quality products and services to the customers at lowest cost possible. Here, it can be stated that the increased integration of the businesses with the supply chain management is likely to go a long way in improving the cost and timely delivery of the products to the end consumers. A completely integrated business system is likely to work appreciably well in the competitive environment than a system where limited communication exists (Ballou, 2007). In addition to that, it has been found that due to the advancement in the technology, the integration can be done easily. The improved technological elements have enabled the supply chain to become efficient to a greater extent. The technological elements can help the businesses in improving the tracking of the products from its point of origin to reaching the customers’ hand (Thomas & Griffin, 1996). Here, one thing should be kept in consideration that the technology should be used as the enabler but it should not entirely overpower the entire supply chain process. The reason is that most part of the supply chain is the customer service and the lack of it might give others competitive advantage. Therefore, ensuring human presence within the supply chain system is crucial (Chirstopher, 2005). After a brief understanding of the historical and contemporary aspect of supply chain, it would be important to dive into the technology that is being used to a greater extent in current SCM. Radio Frequency Identification allows the businesses to store product information on small chip and tag it to the particular product. The information can be read from the chip using the RFID readers without bringing the two elements, RFID reader and tag, in physical contact. RFID has been identified as the tool that reduces the human error to a greater extent (Pala &Inanc, 2007). Previously, bar codes were being used in large number. However, the challenge in using the bar code is the human error and also the damaged bar codes – due to rough transit – made it difficult to read. On the other hand, the information in the RFID is stored in the chip and therefore there exists minimal opportunities that can damage the stored information (Curtin et al, 2007). RFID has been an appreciable technology and there is no doubt that the technology has hugely impacted almost all the business sectors whether it is health care, production of consumer goods, defence or agriculture. The diagram given below shows an RFID system. Figure 1: Typical RFID System in Supply Chain ("STid RFID - Logistics", 2017) Here, it can be stated that RFID system for the supply chain consists of three aspects at the suppliers’ or manufacturers’ end, namely, creating the pallet and issuing the tag, establishing control mechanisms, and shipping the product under the established control system. Here, the tag is fixed for each of the products and a pallet tag is placed on the overall product package. In the next stage, the pallet is passed through a checkpoint embedded with RFID reader that reads both the tags. The use of RFID mechanism can be found during the Second World War when the aeroplanes were identified for whether it is of friends or that of the enemies. The RFID system is not only used for business use, but even for personal use (Bottani&Rizzi, 2008). As for example, tracking pets has become easier with this technology, toll payments and other such activities. The use of RFID is hugely associated with the reduction in the wastage of products, and reducing product theft. A particular RFID technology can be used in multiple ways and, therefore understanding the components of a typical RFID system would be an appreciable effort. A RFID system consists of tags (also called as Transponders), Readers, RFID Software, Communication Network, and the frequencies (Ahson&Ilyas, 2008). The transponders are placed on the product that is being tracked. There are basically three types of transponders available. They are active, passive and semi-passive. The active tags are those that store its own energy or power source and emit radio waves to send the information to the nearby RFID reader. Another form of transponder is passive tags that do not contain its own power source and works on the power source of the RFID. The electromagnetic field generated from the RFID reader acts as the power source for such transponders. These are cheapest of all the three forms of RFID. The third form of RFID is the one that has the ability to store energy to release the information and it can also use the external power source like passive transponders. A particular transponder can be used for once or can be used multiple times (Zhu et al, 2012). Single use refers to when a customer makes the purchase of the product and throws the tag out. On the other hand, the multiple uses can be referred to when the tag is placed on a vehicle that frequently crosses a toll. As per the RFID readers are concerned, there are two types of reader. One is fixed on the particular mounted area to scan the object passing by it and another is handheld which is used by person deputed at the area. As per the RFID software is concerned, it entirely depends on the utility of the organisation for which the software is being made (Wamba et al, 2008). The software can be organisation specific. The communication allows two organisations to interact when a particular product leaves a location. Therefore, it is a necessary aspect. As per the frequencies are concerned, there are four types of frequencies, namely, low (134 kHz), high (more than 135 kHz), ultra-high (megahertz), and microwave (gigahertz). After getting a clearer picture of mechanism of RFID system, the next aspect is to understand the studies associated with integrating this system with the supply chain. The supply chain management has been identified as fulfilling one objective which is to provide value to the customers using the right products and services (Angeles, 2005). The achievement of this objective can be completed if the organisations ensure that their internal communication and information sharing is appropriate. In addition to this, the better communication mechanism with the external parties is equally important. This is also referred as integrating the supply chain. It has been identified by some of the researchers that in the effort to integrate the system, the organisations orient towards the use RFID mechanism. The first step towards the use of RFID mechanism is to locate the partners in the play and then identifying the most important partner. The next step is to implement the RFID system between these two entities. Gradually, this integration can include other partners as per the need (Kärkkäinen, 2003). Furthermore, a constant review of the system is needed to ensure that the improvement is made along the way. As per Fish and Forrest (2006), there are seven key steps that should be considered by any organisation that is willing to implement the RFID system. The initial step is the development of organisational strategy that relates to the supply chain. It has been suggested that the use of SWOT elements can help in understanding the extent to which the RFID system can assist in the effective management of the supply chain. Instead of out-rightly implementing the RFID system, it has been suggested that the organisation engage in initial implementation and then move ahead with the implementation (Michael &McCathie, 2005). In the next step it has been suggested that the continued improvement should be made on the implemented system instead of getting passive after the implementation. The last three steps are referred to building trust with the partners in the supply chain network and collaborating with them to ensure that a cross-functional system can be built (Tajma, 2007). After that, expansion of the mechanism to the entire distribution system of the organisation is suggested. The method suggested by the researchers is appreciable as it considers phased implementation of the system which ensures that the risks in implementation are managed accordingly. In addition, it allows organisation and the entire supply chain network to gradually adopt and learn the new system. However, the issue in consideration of such process is that it takes longer than usual in implementing the new system which might allow enough time for the competition to move ahead. Also, it is less focused in comparison to all-at-once implementation and a continued longer change process might be disruptive instead of constructive. If the contemporary implementation of RFID is considered, then it can be stated that the use of RFID has gone rampant as it can be witnessed in almost every industry in existence today. The RFID mechanism has allowed the organisations of every format to become efficient in handling and managing the products (Asif, 2005). The industries such as banks, retail, logistics, airlines and even the government organisations are using this technology to keep track of things. The mechanism can be used by retailers in tracking the number of products they have in their inventory (Sarac et al, 2010). This allows them to ensure that no product is lost in warehouse or in transit. It also helps track theft and fraud. The product manufacturers successfully utilise this technology to track the movement of finished or unfinished product form one location to another within the production house. The information contained in the RFID can be used identify the manufacturer of the supplied part and is easy to resend the supplied product back to the supplier if any defect is identified. RFID in airline is used to track the luggage of the customers during the transit between the two locations. Banks can use this technology on bonds or cash bundle to ensure that it is tracked appropriately. If this technology is used in individual notes then the government agencies will save enough time in hunting down the counterfeit notes. In addition to these, there are numerous ways this mechanism can benefit the organisations, public and private. As has been discussed throughout, the RFID system has been identified as having profound impact on the supply chain management. It helps in better communication and increased automation. In nutshell, it can be stated that this technology help manage the inventory from the initial point to the end. It also helps in automating the processes and thus reduces the opportunity of human error which positively impacts the cost. It improves the level of partnership with the entities within the supply chain network. It helps make supply chain more visible. Moreover, the use of this technology can help in improving the service quality and cost savings. However, despite these positive impacts of this technology, there are some challenges that are associated with RFID. One of the challenges is the limited orientation of the management to some extent towards RFID. Another is bringing commitment from all the stakeholders on one table. In addition, implementing this system is a costly affair with less reuse option, if the products are reaching into the end users. Also, the selection of right combination of RFID components becomes challenging to some extent. The next section reviews the supply chain visibility aspects considering various past studies. Aspects of Supply Chain Visibility and Performance The researchers have used the terms, information sharing and visibility, conversely. However, few of the researchers have identified that both hold different meaning. The information sharing is considered as an act but the visibility is considered as result (Swaminathan&Tayur, 2003; Barratt &Oke, 2007). If considered in simple terms, visibility means seeing both ends. As stated earlier, the supply chain process starts when a transaction takes place. The placing of order leads to the generation of different information. Here, if the various stakeholders within a supply chain in connected to each other, then it is most likely that the information will be shared with all of them thus allowing them to stay on the same page. The sharing of such data can be considered as fundamental to the development of right planning for the supply chain. A study conducted by Bradley (2002) identified that around 80% of the participants had heterogeneous communication system and thus were facing challenge in engaging in effective coordination. In addition to this, most of the participants stated that the use different software which is not compatible with other partners in the supply chain most of the time created challenge in sharing business critical information when required. Lee et al (2000) asserted that if the production houses share information with other stakeholders, then it is most likely that they can be more response. As for instance, if a manufacturer has the knowledge about the available stock at the retailers’ end then it can take informed decision on number of products to produce. The manufacturer can only respond to the real demand if the information about actual sale is present. There are various researches that have led to the understanding that the presence of visibility is crucial for the improvement of the supply chain management (Simatupang&Sridharan, 2002; Kopczak, 1997). They have further asserted that the presence of appropriate information within the system, allows the components of the system to stay together. All the processes, from bringing in supplies to sending the product to the customers, stay intact if the good flow of information is maintained. The comparative assessment of the supply chain networks have led to the understanding that those networks that have access to the information are more efficient than others (Mason and Towill, 1988). Also, it has been found that the presence of real time information allows the organisations to become market or demand driven instead of forecast driven. In the absence of real time information, manufacturers rely on historical sales record and build forecast. However, the real time information allows them to understand the flow of the market and make production decisions accordingly (Fliedner, 2003). Holcombe et al (2004) asserts that organisations that are willing to increase the external visibility should first ensure that the internal visibility of the firm is already in good condition. An organisation that is of substantial size or is operating in various locations has faced challenge in sharing information and gaining real time information. Here, one aspect should not be missed and that is upper hand. If a particular organisation has upper hand over another, then the later sometime does not comply with the information sharing that challenges the objective of meeting visibility objective. As stated in the earlier section that the supply chain is more disconnected than connected due to the use of different systems. Fawcett &Magnan (2002) suggests that there are still lots of chances that can be utilised by firms in getting integrated on information sharing aspect. Holcomb et al. (2004), asserts that the organisations that have real time access to the supply chain information can give improved services to their consumers and also the operational activities will become more efficient. It has been identified that the increase in the orientation towards the supply chain management gave way to the development of various tools and techniques such EDI, SCM software, and others. The internet has been a major facilitator in communicating information between the long distance entities. The complexity has been managed effectively to a greater extent with the use of internet based methods (Gunasekaran& Ngai, 2004). Watson et al (2000) suggests that if the organisations are willing to increase the benefits they are reaping from the current information technology, then they have to adopt advanced system and replace the traditional form of supply chain management. It has been found that the organisations can use internet to a greater extent as it has helped in significantly reducing the communication distance between the organisations. Graham and Hardaker (2000) assert that if the organisations use internet enabled technology, then they can achieve competitive advantage. The reason is that the internet allows easy access to the information which further aids in instant decision making as and when required. Here, it has been identified that the internet allows increased connectivity. However, the challenge in the supply chain in the improvement of connectivity is faced by numerous hurdles. Srinivasan et al (1994) had identified that the EDI can help in increasing the supply chain connectivity. However, the use of EDI is not feasible for all kinds of organisations. The main reason is the amount of investment required to make the EDI fully functional. The researchers have noted that an ideal connected supply chain would be that where supply chain partners are functioning on an integrated single communication network instead of making an effort through multiple connections. Baratt&Oke (2007) has asserted that the presence information alone in the system is not likely to help in the improvement of the organisations’ performance or help in the increase of the visibility. It has been identified that there are two aspects that are important to be present in the particular information being shared. The first aspect is that the information being shared should be on time and should be as accurate as possible. Vague information or late information will add no benefit. In addition, the information should be of useful nature. This is where the presence of all these three elements within information helps in gaining visibility. The second aspect is on the decision makers’ side. The information being received by the other side should consider the information useful and should use that information to make informed decision. This is where the visibility is converted into right decisions which further improve the performance of the organisation. Research conducted by Mason and Towill (1999) has reached to the understanding that the supply chain that has abundance of information leads to increased performance. However, the organisations that lack such aspects face hard time in getting ahead of the competition. At the global or international level, this aspect becomes more critical. Christopher and Lee (2004) has asserted that in most of the instances it has been found that one organisation lack information from another organisation which leads to unnecessary chaotic situation and no fruitful or constructive progress. Therefore, the increased sharing of the information directly benefits the various stakeholders within a supply chain network. Holweg et al (2005) asserts that if particular supply chain does not contain enough information that can give required visibility, then in this case, only the real time information from the sales counter of the retailers would be enough to make right sales decisions instead of depending on the orders being received by retailers on monthly basis. More the information is being shared among the entities in timely manner and accurately, more will be the improvement in the visibility in the supply chain. One of the important aspects about the information is that it helps in reducing the level of uncertainty which helps making accurate decisions regarding the number of products to manufacture. In addition to that if the organisation is engaged in shipping products to the far off distance, then the lack of information might allow it to choose the route that is comparatively costlier. However, due to the presence of right amount of information, appropriate route will be chosen for the reduction of cost. The use of enterprise resource planning software within the organisation allows the firms to ensure that they have right data related to their supply network which they can use to make right decisions related to the inventory size or regarding continuing or discontinuing particular operation. The research conducted by Simatupang et al (2002) has asserted that there are three aspects that gain to a greater extent if there is visibility in the supply chain network. These three areas are, meeting the demand of the customers in timely manner, making appropriate plans for the resource utilisation, and knowing and managing the contract between various partners. As per the contracts are concerned, it has been identified that the manual management led to the missing of contract durations which used to impact the supplies. However, with the presence of information technology applications, the status of contract can be tracked very easily which can eventually lead to the better management. The use of advanced information technology can be facilitated to effectively monitor and fulfil the requirements as and when required. There are various technological products available in the market that can be utilised to facilitate this need. Some of them are warehouse management system, customer relationship management software, enterprise resource planning software, and others. Alexis and Feng (2004) has identified that the use of internet based technology can help in sharing the information between various organisations in real time. The paper considered assessment of four case studies and came to the conclusion that the internet based system can help in maintaining the relationship with various partners at the strategic level. The information sharing in the real time increases the visibility and brings more transparency. This also helps in building trust among the organisations. In addition to that, it has been identified that the use of visibility through the information can help in making decisions that are in conjunction with the partners. Here the researcher has stated their findings which in harmony of most of the previous discussed studies. It is clear that the lack of information leads to the decision making in isolation which impacts the relationship. Moreover, research conducted by Elini and Ilias (2004) has identified that in the supply chain management, the information technology helps in getting the opportunity to bring more flexibility and simplicity. The complex supply chain can be made simple and harmonious if the right technological tools and techniques are used by the organisation. The researchers further state that the visibility refers to the presence of the right information at the right place in the supply chain which can be enabled by the use of the advanced technology. The research conducted by Scott et al (2003) led to an interesting finding which discredits the mere presence of real time information. The researchers state that the presence of real time information in the channel is not the final solution to bring visibility. The visibility in the supply chain can only be brought through the sharing of the right information at the right place. This consideration of these researchers matches with that of Elini and Ilias (2004) above. Furthermore, the researchers reinforce the findings of the other researchers discussed earlier that at the global or international level, the presence of integrated communication system is the key method to bring visibility. This helps in reducing the inventory and improving the level of accuracy in the decision making regarding production. Another research was conducted by Grffiths and Margetts (2000) which identified that the achievement of the visibility can be done through exchanging the information among the players involved in the supply chain. These researchers have focused on one of the key element in the supply chain and that is the demand side of the information. They state the information regarding the demand of the product is the major driver of right decision making. The authors have again reinforced what has been identified earlier in the discussion. The researchers Jakki and Ravipreet (1995) conducted a literature study in which they tried to understand the importance of information sharing among the two entities and the flow of communication. The study led to the conclusion that the presence of right level of communication mechanism between two individual or the entities ensure that the information sharing is smooth and easy. The similar finding has been stated in the earlier aforementioned study that if an organisation has upper hand over another then it becomes difficult in flow of the adequate information from the former to the latter. In this case, it becomes necessary that both the entities understand the importance of communication flow. Another research conducted by Edward et al (2005) on the information regarding the customer demand and the management of inventory led to the understanding that the visibility is not simply the presence of information at all the angles. In essence, visibility is about getting the information regarding the demand for a particular product. The researchers state that with the use of information shared on the demand, the organisation can reduce the variance that mostly occurs due to the bullwhip effect. The research conducted by Edward et al (2003) on the supply chain and aspects of information visibility led to the conclusion that the visibility is closely associated with the performance of an organisation in the market. The timely and accurate delivery of the information ensures that the decisions are made well on time. The researcher also asserted that the information sharing within a supply chain can be a complex endeavour and, therefore the presence of right tools will be appreciated. Here, the findings of Chan further reinforce what has been identified by the other researchers. Another research conducted by Tang (2005) that was based on assessment of various quantity models led to the understanding that the visibility refers to the presence of the information throughout the supply chain. Tang also asserted that the presence of visibility in the supply chain is crucial in the reduction of risks associated with the lack of information in the supply chain network. Furthermore, the researcher suggests that prior to sharing of the information, it is important that the key areas should be identified for which information will be shared. This will ensure that the partners do not get lost in the collection of information that is unnecessary. Moreover, the use of technology should be facilitated to acquire the right information. A research conducted by Berry and Naim (1996) led to the understanding that the supply chain evolution has not been the way it should be. They asserted that the current evolution of the supply chain has evolved out of necessity and not for the excellence. They state that the each of the entities functioning in the supply chain considers other entities as the customers. This is the reason, the delivery of particular product or supply is considered as the end of the responsibility. However, the focus towards achievement of efficiency can led to the better results and appropriate information sharing. This will also ensure building trust and long term relationship and dependency. Another research conducted by James and Chelsea (2004) regarding the visibility of the asset and performance in the supply chain led to their understanding that the presence of asset visibility is not directly associated with the improvement in the supply chain aspects. However, the result identified cannot be further approved due to the limitations of the model developed. Another research conducted by Riikka and Helena (2006) regarding the benefits companies can receive with the visibility led to the conclusion that the level of visibility in the supply chain network gets impacted by the variation in the level of demand from the consumers. Furthermore, it has been stated that if the demand plans are improved then it can lead to the improvement in the visibility. In addition, the complete planning is necessary. Here, one of the finding of these researchers is questionable where they state that the preparation of demand plans lead to the improvement in the visibility. However, the other aforementioned studies have stated opposite of it that the improvement in the visibility leads to the better planning of production as better demand forecasting can be done. Here, it can be stated that the assessment of various perspectives led to the understanding that the presence of unhindered communication flow within a supply chain network is crucial to improve the visibility. Moreover, the increased visibility further ensures that the entities working within the supply chain network better informed decisions. The crucial aspect of the information is related to the demand of the market. If the manufacturers are receiving the sales information direct from the desk of the retailers, then they can make better demand forecast and can accordingly increase or decrease the production level. The information sharing ensures that the supply chain become more visible and efficient. It is important that the supply chain is improved as the success of an organisation depends on the success of its supply chain. The assessment of the recent literatures has led to the understanding that the information sharing is important not only from the retailers to the manufacturers, but from the manufacturers to the retailers. The both side communication strengthens the visibility and trust among the actors in the supply chain. There are multitudes of benefits that can be identified if the information is being shared in the supply chain. Some of these benefits are reduction in the lead times for the product manufacturing or supply or product supply, significant reduction in the cost associated with the inventory management and advanced supply storage, and improved decision making ability of the individuals managing the production and supply network. Moreover, the improved visibility ensures that the actors collaborate together at greater levels. It also brings flexibility and increases the problem solving ability. There are various other researches that have documented the benefits of information sharing and visibility in large numbers. As stated earlier, the manufacturers significantly improve the internal decision making and ability to improve any required changes improves. The current section has helped understand the aspects of visibility and the critical relationship between the visibility and the performance in the supply chain management. RFID Technology and Improvement in Supply Chain Visibility [To continue] Discussion and Result [To continue] Conclusion [To continue]   References Ahson, S. A., &Ilyas, M. (2008). RFID handbook: applications, technology, security, and privacy. CRC press. Alexis Barlow & Feng Li (2004). Online value network linkages: integration, information sharing and flexibility. A Division of Business Information Management, Caledonian Business School, Glasgow Caledonian University. Angeles, R. (2005). 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