Wesley
Greetings Class,
The intermodal industry has witnessed significant technological advancements over the years, with innovations such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), and the Internet transforming supply chains and benefiting retail customers using intermodal transportation to bring their products to market. RFID, initially hailed as a revolutionary technology in the early 2000s, faced unrealistic expectations of overnight supply chain transformation. Despite the initial hype fading, RFID has continued on a trajectory toward widespread adoption and impact. Its unique ability to provide absolute visibility and digitize physical assets has propelled its growth in the market. One of the key benefits of RFID in the intermodal industry is its capacity to provide meaningful Return on Investment (ROI) by offering visibility into the supply chain process. By tagging products at various stages, from manufacturing to shipment to the retail store, RFID enables efficient inventory management and reduces stock-outs. This not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances customer satisfaction by ensuring products are readily available. RFID facilitates rapid and accurate counting of inventory, even without line-of-sight, which is advantageous for cycle counting in warehouses and inventory management in stores. It addresses discrepancies between inventory systems and actual inventory, ensuring a more accurate representation of stock levels. EDI facilitates seamless data exchange among trading partners, expediting transactions and reducing administrative burdens. This efficiency is particularly advantageous for retail customers, as it accelerates order processing, enabling them to bring products to market more swiftly. The Internet serves as the backbone for communication and collaboration within the intermodal ecosystem. Through online platforms and portals, retail customers can access shipment data, communicate with carriers, and track their orders in real-time, ensuring timely delivery to market shelves. These technological advancements empower retail customers utilizing intermodal transportation by optimizing operations, enhancing visibility, and expediting the delivery of goods to meet market demands effectively.
-Wes
References
Bond, J. (2014, June 1). RFID and the supply chain: Measured progress. Logistics Management. https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/rfid_and_the_supply_chain_measured_progress
Innovations in intermodal transportation. FasterCapital. (2024). https://fastercapital.com/topics/innovations-in-intermodal-transportation.html
Tylen
In this weeks discussion on technologies available for intermodal transport, the use of RFID and EDI are two types that can not be over looked. EDI technology is, the technology used to track documents and erase the need for paper copies that would typically take up unnecessary time. This is used on the daily for many trucking companies to keep track of load information as well as details that will be relevant for the drivers themselves, thus eliminating a step in the process that used to be necessary. This has simplied the needs of companies and consolidated the process to the point that many compnaies strictly use this process.
When looking at RFID there is a wide variety of use for this system. From, warehouse monitoring, equipment monitoring and tracking the movement of goods within the company. As a tool, RFID has made its statement on why it is a must have, but that is still just the beginning of its functionality. Both companies and warehouses today depend on the simplified use of RFDI to track there ingoing and outgoing inventory, as well as the locations of crucial equipment. the reliability this bring to companies is nearly unquestionable, but like any technology there is always room for improvement.
Similar to the previously mentioned technologies the emergence of the internet was a major factor in the technological advances of today. without any doubt we would not have the use of RFID or EDI without the catalyst of the internet. it goes without saying the importance that it has brought to all manners or development.
Discussions
Please join the discussions each week. Students must post a response to weekly discussions and reply to other students for each Discussion (see rubric). Replies must be posted in the week due and replies after the end of the each week will not be graded. The Discussions are for student interaction and input should be submitted before the week ends in order to fully participate in the discussions. Students should demonstrate their own knowledge in the discussions and refrain from copying and pasting from web sites.
Guidelines:
Post the initial response to each discussion by 11:59pm, ET, Thursday.
Initial responses are to be original in content and demonstrate a thorough analysis of the topic.
Post discussion replies by 11:59pm, ET, Sunday.
Responses to classmates are significant to advance the discussion.
All discussions can be accessed in the Discussions section of the course.
Please review the discussion rubric for more instructions.
*Only during the first week of class are assignments not due until 11:59 p.m., ET, Sunday. After Week 1, all initial posts will be due Thursday, by 11:59 p.m. ET.
