A post‐retail consumer application of RFID in medical supply chains

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to investigate the feasibility of using radio frequency identification (RFID) total asset visibility technologies for post‐consumer monitoring and ordering of medical supplies.Design/methodology/approachA laboratory experiment in a consumer context was designed. This involved the application of RFID tag technology for glucose monitoring and supply management.FindingsIt was found that embedded RFID monitoring of blood glucose levels can be used to effectively monitor and help manage patient care. An integrated system of monitoring and management with an effective medical supply chain information system is presented.Research limitations/implicationsThe laboratory study provides initial validation of the merits of the approach. Extensive human field‐testing would still be required prior to any strong inference about the viability of the technology in this application.Practical implicationsThe findings provide a directly relevant system design template for home managed patient care settings where self‐administered medication protocols are required. The findings may also be extended into consumable consumer products like food and beverages where the management of home‐based supplies are a critical component of supply chain effectiveness and consumer satisfaction.Originality/valueThe results extend the use of RFID as a total asset visibility tool for enterprise resource planning in a supply chain. Post‐consumer consumption monitoring, tracking, and automated re‐ordering have not been extensively addressed in the literature.

RFID and the Internet of Things: Technology, Applications, and Security Challenges

“…Supply chain performance metrics and time savings by adopting RFID are presented in [25]. Benefits on the consumer-facing end of the supply chain are the topic of [72], whereas Veronneau and Roy [105] focus on the cruise-ship supply chain, and Swartz et al [95] focus on medical supply chains.…”