Frédéric Thiesse

Extending the EPC network: the potential of RFID in anti-counterfeiting

The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that seven percent of the world trade is in counterfeit goods, with the counterfeit market being worth 500 billion USD in 2004. Many companies already use overt anti-counterfeiting measures like holograms to confine counterfeiting and product piracy. However, current techniques are not suited for automated tests of product authenticity as required in warehouses, or do not provide the required level of security. In this context, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a promising approach, providing an extensible, flexible and secure measure against counterfeiting. Unique product identification numbers together with an infrastructure to seamlessly share RFID-related data over the Internet are a basis of efficient Track & Trace applications. An emerging infrastructure is the EPC Network, which can be used to provide pedigree information of products and makes plausibility checks possible. In this paper, we propose a solution for products requiring authentication mechanisms that go beyond track & trace. Therefore, the evolving EPC Network should comprehend the functionality to handle tags which support strong cryptography. We suggest extending the upcoming EPC Network infrastructure with an EPC Product Authentication Service. Moreover, the development of cost-effective, dedicated authentication devices as well as the belonging standardization is motivated.

The Emergence of Counterfeit Trade: A Literature Review

Purpose – Trade in counterfeit goods is perceived as a substantial threat to various industries. No longer is the emergence of imitation products confined to branded luxury goods and final markets. Counterfeit articles are increasingly finding their way into other sectors, including the fast‐moving consumer goods, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries – with, in part, severe negative consequences for consumers, licit manufacturers, and brand owners alike. This paper seeks to shed light on the economic principles of counterfeit trade and the underlying illicit supply chains.Design/methodology/approach – An extensive literature review was conducted that comprised contributions from different strands of management research.Findings – Though governments as well as management have clearly identified the problem, very little is known – both in practice and theory – about the mechanisms and structure of the illicit market, the tactics of counterfeit producers, consumer behavior with respect to imitation prod...

Technology, Standards, and Real-World Deployments of the EPC Network

The EPC Network is a global RFID data sharing infrastructure based on standards that are built around the Electronic Product Code (EPC), an unambiguous numbering scheme for the designation of physical goods. The authors present the fundamental concepts and applications of the EPC Network, its integration with enterprise systems, and its functionality for data exchange between organizations in the supply chain.

RFID, privacy and the perception of risk: A strategic framework

Against the background of the first RFID-Rollouts by large retailers in North America and Europe, this paper concerns itself with the perception of RFID technology as a risk to privacy. The objective of our contribution is to identify, at a relatively early phase of the risk development, strategic options with which RFID suppliers and users can positively influence the public acceptance of the technology. We propose a strategic framework based on research findings on risk perception and technology acceptance as well as a set of options for coping with the public perception of RFID-related privacy risks.

Motivating energy-efficient behavior with Green Is: an investigation of goal setting and the role of defaults

This study investigates the role of information systems in stimulating energy-efficient behavior in private households. We present the example of Velix, a web portal designed to motivate customers of a utility company to reduce their electricity consumption. In particular, we consider the effectiveness of goal setting functionality and defaults in influencing energy conservation behavior. For this purpose, we use the web portal as a test of the theoretical propositions underlying its design. Based on data collected from a field experiment with 1,791 electricity consumers, we test hypotheses regarding the structural relations between defaults and goals, the impact of defaults and goals on consumption behavior, and the moderating role of feedback on goal choice. Our results confirm the positive impact of goal setting on energy conservation. We show that default goals lead to statistically significant savings by affecting goal choice. However, if the default goals are set too low or too high with respect to a self-set goal, the defaults will detrimentally affect behavior. We also show that feedback on goal attainment moderates the effect of default goals on goal choice. The results extend the knowledge on goal setting and defaults and have implications for the design of effective energy feedback systems. The studys approach, which combines hypothesis-driven work and design-oriented IS research, could serve as a blueprint for further research endeavors of this kind, particularly with regard to feedback systems based on future smart metering infrastructures.

Understanding the Value of Integrated RFID Systems: A Case Study from Apparel Retail

This contribution is concerned with the business value of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in retail. We present a case study of an RFID project at Galeria Kaufhof, a subsidiary of Metro Group and one of the largest department store chains in Europe. The project encompasses a variety of RFID applications at the intersection of store logistics and customer service. The contribution that our study makes to the literature is threefold. First, we describe an innovative large-scale trial that goes beyond what was done in earlier projects in several respects. The most fundamental difference from previous trials is the full integration of RFID event data with point-of-sale (POS) and master data, which for the first time offers the retailer the opportunity to directly observe and analyse physical in-store processes. Second, the heterogeneity of RFID applications implemented by Kaufhof allows us to theorise about the effects that RFID may have on business processes from an IT value perspective. We develop a conceptual model to explain the different cause-and-effect chains between RFID investments and their impact on firm performance, the role of complementary and contextual factors, and the difficulty of assessing these impacts using objective performance measures. Third, we compare the case to a prior trial conducted by Kaufhof about 5 years earlier. The differences between the lessons that the company learned in the two projects illustrate the impact of technological advances and standardisation efforts in recent years on managerial perceptions of RFID business value, which allows for the derivation of a number of useful implications for practice.

Pervasive RFID and Near Field Communication Technology

Today, RFID enjoys enormous interest as the first widely deployed pervasive technology, and Near Field Communication will be the first widely deployed technology enabling humans to communicate with physical objects. This article reports on the Pertec (Pervasive RFID/Near Field Communication Technology and Applications) workshop, which discussed the future evolution of RFID beyond goods identification, including sensor integration, localization, NFC applications, and emerging challenges.

Knowledge Enabled Customer Relationship Management

The redesign of business processes and the implementation of standard software for enterprise resource planning (ERP) in recent years has led to significant improvements in both process performance and service quality (cf. Chap. 2.3.1). Now that the classic reengineering trend is slowing down, companies have come to realize that efficiency in itself is no longer sufficient if they are to compete for customers in the 21st century. In many markets we are currently witnessing a major move away from market and product centricity towards a complete realignment of business processes in order to integrate with customer processes, which creates additional customer values and finally leads to lasting customer relations. The efforts directed at building and maintaining long-term relationships with customers are usually summarized as ‘customer relationship management (CRM)’. CRM represents one of the networking strategies in Business Networking (cf. Chap. 4.3.3) and is driven by both business and technology:

Sensor applications in the supply chain: the example of quality-based issuing of perishables

Miniaturization and price decline are increasingly allowing for the use of RFID tags and sensors in inter-organizational supply chain applications. This contribution aims at investigating the potential of sensor-based issuing policies on product quality in the perishables supply chain. We develop a simple simulation model that allows us to study the quality of perishable goods at a retailer under different issuing policies at the distributor. Our results show that policies that rely on automatically collected expiry dates and product quality bear the potential to improve the quality of items in stores with regard to mean quality and standard deviation.

The rise of the “next‐generation bar code”: an international RFID adoption study

Purpose – The present study is concerned with the determinants of RFID adoption among a group of early standards adopters. Despite the extensive discussion of the technological characteristics and expected benefits of RFID in the literature, only little is known about the drivers and barriers of RFID implementations in practice. This holds particularly for the later stages of the adoption process after an initial decision in favor of the technology was made. This paper aims to fill this gap by an analysis of a set of factors on the adoption of RFID, which have been shown to be relevant for the adoption of other forms of IT, such as ERP systems and EDI.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of prior works, this paper constructs and empirically tests a structural model including factors related to the technology, the organization, and its environment.Findings – The results suggest that top management support, perceived technology costs, and forces within the supply chain exert a significant influen...