Tracking smart cards chemicals through the manufacturing and distribution process is a critical dependence on Dow Chemical, for the utmost safety and operational efficiency. In 2004, identification technologies for example had gained significant buzz due to initiatives by the US Defence Department and Wal-Mart to mandate their use within logistics and inventory management applications. So CIO Dave Kepler periodically asked his IT staff whether Dow could make the most of these technologies. The repeated answer: RFID had not been mature enough.
But Kepler wasn't sure the scepticism was warranted. So at the end of 2005, he asked his staff to take into account differently. His request: Define the problems first, then see which technologies could possibly be helpful to address them - viewing RFID technology as a possible tactic from the larger product tracking strategy. "He didn't want technology for technology's sake, but he did want tight alignment to the corporate strategy," recalls Dave Asiala, a shared services IT director at Dow, who served as a member of the process development committee and assumed leadership with the implementation efforts.
Today, Dow has several pilot projects in place to test RFID and other location-oriented technologies like GPS, two-way radios and traditional barcodes. Early projects have demostrated that typically - for example when it's followed by a sensor log for you environmental readings during shipments - the use of makes sense. But sometimes barcodes still prove contactless cards cheaper and easier.
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