Analyzing the RFID Tag Read Rate Issue

by Edmund W. Schuster, Tom A. Scharfeld, Pinaki Kar, David L. Brock, and Stuart J. Allen

In our recent Cutter IT Journal article titled "The Next Frontier: How Auto-ID Could Improve ERP Data Quality" ( September 2004), we put forth a general definition of data accuracy that focuses on obtaining the correct value for a measurement at the correct time. In dynamic systems, timeliness is very important for data input into enterprise resource planning (ERP) because measurements of inventory and other values for business processes are constantly changing. The use of cycle counting and bar codes are important in achieving improved data accuracy and have contributed a great deal to the early success of ERP.