Tatsuya Inaba

Realization of SCM and CRM by Using RFID-captured Consumer Behavior Information

Physical store retailers are facing a tougher situation than ever. In order to tackle this tough situation, they need not only to reduce cost by effectively executing SCM but also to introduce measures to increase profit like CRM. They are effective by themselves, but if they are combined the retailers can enjoy more benefits from these practices. However, there is no good application that realize both two business practices together. In this study, assuming that RFID system captures consumer behavior information on the sales floor, we propose an application, in which discount prices are offered to FSP member customers based on their loyalty level and the discount prices are computed to achieve a target inventory turnover rate. To realize this application, we also propose two algorithms that effectively control an inventory turnover rate at the same time reward FSP customers based on their loyalty status. For evaluation, we develop a prototype system of the application for a proof of concept and run a numerical study to show the validity of the proposed algorithms.

Improving the Safety and Security of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

This paper discusses various techniques that may be used to combat counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical supply chain. These include the use of electronic pedigrees (to ensure the integrity of the supply chain), together with mass-serialization (to provide for a unique lifecycle history of each individual package) and authentication of the product (to check for any discrepancies in the various attributes of the product and its packaging are as intended for that individual package). Management of the pedigree process and product authentication is discussed in some detail, together with various other learnings from the Drug Security Network, including identification of some remaining vulnerabilities and suggestions for tightening these loopholes.

Enabling globally unique sensor ID with dual-interface RF tag

In any sensor information system, unique identification (ID) of each sensor is indispensable. Usual practices to secure uniqueness of sensor ID is to use MAC or network address or to use a proprietary ID in application layer. In pervasive computing era, it is desirable to uniquely identify a sensor with a URN regardless of types of network to which the sensor is connected. This paper proposes to embed a dual interface RF tag, which records a globally unique ID, EPC (Electronic Product Code), used in business transactions, to sensor microcontroller(MCU). The dual interface RF tag allows us to access its tag data either via RF interface and a baseband interface. This enables a sensor MCU to use EPC to uniquely identify the sensor for its whole product lifecycle. Since EPC have been only accessed through the RF interface, we developed a modified UPnP to automatically discover EPC enabled sensors through the baseband interface for various access networks. Taking advantage of the existing network RFID architecture, we can search services related to an EPC in a form of URL and also can publish and subscribe sensor data service with a standardized web service interface. This paper reports a hardware implementation of dual interface RF tag with a ZigBee transceiver. Timing requirement of RFID protocol to access RF tags memory can be met by a software control of off-the-shelf MCU GPIO. A 96 bits EPC stored in an dual interface RF tag can be retrieved in 12.3 msec. For the automatic device discovery of an EPC enabled sensor attached to a ZigBee network, a modified UPnP is also developed. The proposal is implemented in a working prototype with 49 sensors which geographically dispersed in 3 locations which can continuously collect 181 sensor data for various applications. We also evaluated the minimum time interval to publish sensor data to find 300 msec is the shortest interval in our implementation. This interval is dominated by the communications capacity between sensor MCU and on-board transceiver chip.

Value of Sparse RFID Traceability Information in Asset Tracking during Migration Period

We present a model to infer the location of assets in a supply chain network by using sparse traceability information. We also evaluate the model by a numerical study and get a result that the model successfully differentiate the probability of the location of the lost asset. The sparseness of the traceability information is a typical problem when an existing supply chain is migrating to an RFID-enabled one, and the lack of models that quantitatively show the value of sparse information delays this migration process. Our model is a solution to this situation. The target industry we focus on in this study is the returnable transport item rental service industry, in which RFID deployment has been already started. This model in conjunction with a simulator used to evaluate the model will be used as a tool to accelerate the deployment.

Inference of product quality by using RFID-enabled traceability information a study on the US pharmaceutical supply chain

We present a stochastic model to infer a product quality index by using product traceability information. We propose a model by using Bayesian Network and apply it to the US pharmaceutical supply chain where regulations to mandate exchanging of traceability information for individual prescription drugs are being studied. In supply chains where traceability information of only a few products is available, consumers simply take the quality of products with traceability information is higher than those without traceability information. But when traceability information of many products becomes available, consumers need to understand the difference and choose the products that have a suitable quality for them. Our model can be used in this situation. We show that our model successfully differentiate product quality indices by using a numerical study with a hypothetical scenario.

EPC System for a Safe & Secure Supply Chain and How it is Applied

Threats in supply chains, such as counterfeiting, product piracy and product recall, are ubiquitous, and Japan is no exception to this trend. In addition, these threats are not limited to industrial products; supply chains of agricultural products are also under threat. In order to eliminate these threats, various efforts have been made, some of which are the applications enabled by the EPC System, a technology that connects the physical world with the information world. In this paper, we first analyze safe and secure supply chain issues in Japan and identify the fundamental issues through abstracting these issues. Then, we analyze how the EPC System works effectively to deal with these issues and propose potential research topics that can enhance the security level of supply chains. Although this study starts from issues in Japan, since those issues can be generalized, the analyses and proposals are applicable to issues in other countries/regions.

A proposal on RFID data analytics methods

This study proposes RFID data analytics methods using consumer purchase behavior data as well as sales data. Consumer purchase behavior data, how consumers select or not select items at stores, has not been available, but with the progress of the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, it becomes feasible to use it in a commercial basis. The proposed data analytics methods are two: one is to infer items that are compared to each other while customers select items at stores, and the other is to infer good combination items that can be used to stimulate sales of each other. We evaluate our proposal using real consumer purchase behavior data and sales data captured in an RFID pilot experiment. We confirm that the methods successfully infer the items that are useful to the retailer.

Impact Analysis of RFID on Financial Supply Chain Management

This paper proposes SCM financial applications using RFID and shows the benefit of them by simulation. RFID is getting more attentions, and not only field trials but also commercial implementations are reported recently. Although the number of RFID implementations is increasing, many of current RFID implementations focus on SCM logistics application, and this single purpose implementation does not always make positive return on investment. The approach we propose is a multi-application approach, with which SCM financial applications utilize location data of corporate assets captured originally for SCM logistics applications. By sharing the same RFID system and utilizing the captured data with multiple applications, returns from the system will be amplified. We propose five SCM financial applications in three categories, evaluate the benefit of a proposed application by simulation with a hypothetical scenario, and show the feasibility of the proposed approach by developing a demo system.

Customer Loyalty Based Dynamic Pricing by Using RFID-Enabled Floor Level Sales Information

Physical store retailers are facing tougher situation than ever, and some of the effective strategies to tackle this situation are to achieve a high inventory turnover rate to make most use of their store space and to keep a good relationship with their loyal customers. This study proposes a mechanism to make it possible to reward loyal customers as a result of adjusting an inventory turnover rate by assuming RFID information captured on the store floor. The proposal consists of an application and algorithms used in the application. The application is implemented as a proof of concept and validity of the algorithms are shown by numerical study