Radio Frequency (Un)Identification : Results from a Proof-of-Concept Trial of the Use of RFID Technology to Measure Microenterprise Turnover in Sri Lanka
Accurate measurement of stock levels, turnover, and profitability in microenterprises in developing countries is difficult because the majority of these firms do not keep detailed records. This paper tests the use of radio frequency identification...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Publications & Research |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/10/20299285/radio-frequency-unidentification-results-proof-of-concept-trial-use-rfid-technology-measure-microenterprise-turnover-sri-lanka http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20496 |
| Summary: | Accurate measurement of stock levels,
turnover, and profitability in microenterprises in
developing countries is difficult because the majority of
these firms do not keep detailed records. This paper tests
the use of radio frequency identification tags as a means of
objectively measuring stock levels and stock flow in small
retail firms in Sri Lanka. In principle, the tags offer the
potential to track stock movements accurately. The paper
compares the stock counts obtained from RFID reads to
physical stock counts and to survey responses. There are
three main findings. First, current RFID-technology is more
difficult to use, and more time-consuming to employ, than
had been envisaged. Second, the technology works reasonably
well for paper products, but very poorly for most products
sold by microenterprises: on average only about one-quarter
of the products tagged could be read and there was
considerable day-to-day variation in read-efficiency. Third,
a comparison of survey responses and physical stock-takes
shows much higher accuracy for survey measures. As a result,
the study concludes that this technology is currently
unsuitable for improving stock measurement in
microenterprises, except perhaps for a few products. |
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