Email this article 
IT applications in logistics and their influence on the competitiveness of enterprises/supply chains
Abstract
This paper aims to study the influence of Information Technologies on the competitiveness of companies/supply chains. That is, it intends to analyze if the adoption of Information Technologies contributes to improve costs, time and customer service.
To attain this objective a case study and content analysis methodology is used.
Results indicate that there is a positive relation between the adoption of technologies, namely RFID, A.R. and the competitiveness of companies/supply chains. By the use of these technologies it is possible to improve several processes across the supply chain, as well as the reduction of costs related to labor, improvement in inventories and management of transport channels as well as an improvement on customer service. The improvement of these indicators has as consequence a gain in competitiveness allowing the companies to respond to the market needs in a differentiated way increasing by this way the customers’ satisfaction.
As the information technologies have been considered very important for businesses it is crucial to improve our understanding on the main advantages associates with them and their contribution for competitiveness improvement of companies and supply chains, so this paper represents an important contribution for academics and professionals in this field.
Full text: PDF
Keyword(s)
JEL Codes
References
A.T. Kearney, 2004. RFID/EPC: Managing the transition.
Air Liquide, 2013. Annual Reports 2013. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.airliquide.com/file/otherelement/pj/57/e4/04/ac/air-liquide-2013-annual-report-web-gb-523697970720862583.pdf
Air Liquide, 2014. Air Liquide Services. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.airliquide.com/en/our-offer/air-liquide-services/traceability.html
Alavi, M., and Leidner, D., 2001. Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues. M/S quarterly, 107-136.
Albertin, A., 2000. Comércio eletrónico: modelo, aspetos e contribuições de sua aplicação (2nd ed.). São Paulo: Atlas.
Amitava, D., Hau, L., and Seungjin, W., 2007. RFID and Operations Management: Technology Value and Incentives. Production and Operations Management, 16(5), 646-655.
Angeles, R., 2006. RFID technologies: supply-chain applications and implementation issues. Information Systems Management, 22(1), 51–65.
Atali, A., and Lee, H., 2006. If the inventory manager knew: Value of RFID under imperfect inventory information. (Working Paper), Standford University.
Atkinson, W., 2004. Tagged: The risks and rewards of RFID technology. Journal of Risk Management, 7, 12-19.
Attaran, M., 2007. RFID: an enabler of supply chain operations. Supply Chain Management, 14(4), 249–257.
Azuma, R., 1997. A Survey of Augmented Reality. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 6(4), 355-385.
Ballou, R., 2004. Gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos Logística Empresarial (5th ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.
Bardin, L., 1991. Análise de Conteúdo. Lisbon: Edições 70.
Beamon, B., 1998. Supply chain design and analysis: Models and methods. International Journal of Production Economics, 55, 281-294.
Beig, M., Pourhasomi, M., and Ghorbanzar, Y., 2012. The role of information technology and customer relation management in the supply chain. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4(8), 570-578.
Benbasat, I., Goldstein, D., and Mead, M., 1987. The case research strategy in studies of information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11(3), 369-387.
Benjamin, K., 2009. Augmented Reality – Battle of the Brands. Revolution Magazine, 41-43.
Booth-Thomas, C., 2003. The see-it-all chip. Time Magazine(September 14).
Boud, A., Haniff, J., Baber, C., and Steiner, J., 1999. Virtual reality and augmented reality as a training tool for assembly tasks. IEEE International Conference on Information Visualization, 32-36.
Bowersox, D., and Closs, D., 1996. Logistical Managemet – The Integrated Supply Chain Process. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bowersox, D., and Daugherty, P., 1995. Logistics paradigms: the impact of information technology. Journal of Business Logistics, 16(1), 65-80.
Brady, M., and Cronin, J., 2001. Customer Orientation: Effects on Customer Service Perceptions and Outcome Behaviors. Journal of Service Research, 3(3), 241-252.
Bulearca, M., and Tamarjan, D., 2010. Augmented Reality: A Sustainable Marketing Tool? Global Business and Management, 2(3), 237-252.
Carvalho, J., 1999. Logística (2nd ed.): Edições Sílabo.
Carvalho, J., 2004. A lógica da logística: Edições Sílabo.
Chin, H., Kang, S., and Wang, X., 2013. Research trends and opportunities of augmented reality applications in architecture engineering, and construction. Automation in construction, 33, 116-122.
Chou, H., 2009. The effect of experiential and relationship marketing on customer value: A case study of international American casual dining chains in Taiwan. Social Behaviour and Personality, 37(7), 993-1008.
Christopher, M., 2005. Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Creating Value-Adding Networks (3rd ed.): Prentice Hall.
Cirulis, A., and Ginters, E., 2013. Augmented reality in logistics. Procedia Computer Science, 26, 14–20.
Curtin, J., Kauffman, R., and Riggins, F., 2007. Making the 'MOST' out of RFID Technology: A Research Agenda for the Study of the Adoption, Usage, and Impact of RFID. Information Technology Management, 8(2), 87-110.
Deutsche Post DHL, 2012. Annual Report 2012. Retrieved September, 2014, from http://annualreport2012.dp-dhl.com/dpdhl_gb2012/static/export/docs/DPDHL_Annual_Report_2012.pdf
Devaraj, S., and Kohli, R., 2000. Information technology payoff in the health-care industry: a longitudinal study. Journal of Management Information Systems, 76(4), 41-67.
Devaraj, S., and Kohli, R., 2003. Performance impacts of information technology: is actual usage the missing link? Management Science, 49(3), 273-289.
DHL, 2014. Augmented Reality in Logistics: Changing the way see logistics – a DHL perspective. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.dhl.com/content/dam/downloads/g0/about_us/logistics_insights/csi_augmented_reality_report_290414.pdf
Eisenhardt, K., 1989. Building Theories From Case Study Research. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532-550.
Fill, C., 2009. Marketing Communications: Interactivity. Communities and Content (5th ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Fisher, M., 1997. What is the right supply chain for your product? Harvard Business Review, 75(2), 105-116.
Floerkemeier, C., and Sarma, S., 2009. RFID – a machine simulation of physical and logical layer for passive RFID. IEEE – Daily transactions on automation science and engineering, 6(1), 33-43.
Fornell, C., 1992. A national customer satisfaction barometer: The Swedish experience. Journal of Marketing, 56(1), 6-21.
Fornell, C., Johnson, M., Anderson, E., Cha, J., and Bryant, B., 1996. The American Customer Satisfaction Index: Nature, purpose and findings. Journal of Marketing, 60(4), 7-18.
Fox, S., Ehlen, P., and Purver, M., 2011. Enabling distributed communication of manual skills. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(1), 49-63.
Gilchrist, R., and Gruber, J., 1984. Psychomotor domains. Motor Skills: Theory into Practice, 7(1/2), 57-70.
Ginters, E., Cirulis, A., and Blums, G., 2013. Markerless outdoor AR-RFID solution for logistics. Procedia Computer Science, 25, 80-90.
Ginters, E., and Martin-Gutierrez, J., 2013. Low cost augmented reality and RFID application for logistics items visualization. Procedia Computer Science, 26, 3-13.
Halinen, A., and Törnroos, A., 2005. Using Case Methods in the Study of Contemporary Business Networks. Journal of Business Research, 58(9), 1285-1297.
Hassan, T., and Chatterjee, S., 2006. A taxonomy for RFID. Paper presented at the Protocols of the 39th International Conference on IEEE, Hawaii.
Heese, S., 2007. Inventory Record Inaccuracy, Double Marginalization and RFID Adoption. Production and Operations Management, 16(5), 542-553.
Huang, S., Kwan, I., and Hung, Y., 2001. Planning enterprise resources by use of a reengineering approach to build a global logistics management system. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 101(9), 483–491.
IDTECHEX, 2013. The RFID Knowledgebase: Sample Case Studies. Retrieved July, 2014, from http://www.idtechex.com/research/reports/rfid_knowledgebase_case_studies_000009.asp
Inditex, 2013. Annual Reports 2013. Retrieved July, 2014, from http://www.inditex.com/investors/investors_relations/annual_report
Inditex, 2014. RFID project. Retrieved July, 2014, from http://www.inditex.com/documents/10279/32381/RFID_eng_low.pdf/79ae6492-752c-4f51-803b-ddb0de92d7cb
Janvier-James, M. A., 2012. A new introduction to supply chain and supply chain management: Definitions and theories perspective. International Business Research, 5(1), 194-207.
Jilovec, N., 2004. RFID – Sincronizando a cadeia de provisão. Colorado: 29ª Imprensa de Rua.
Johnson, D., Herrmann, A., and Gustafsson, A., 2002. Comparing customer satisfaction across industries and countries. Journal of Economic Psychology, 23(6), 749-769.
Jones, P., Clarke-Hill, C., Shears, P., Hillier, D., and Comfort, D., 2004. Radio frequency identification and privacy and public policy issues. Management Research News, 27(8/9), 46–56.
Kalkofen, D., Mendez, E., and Schmalstieg, D., 2009. Comprehensible Visualization for Augmented Reality. IEEE transactions on visualization and computer graphics, 15(2), 193–204.
Katz, J., 2008. Engineering jobs top US skills shortage list. Industry Week.
Kinsella, B., 2003. The Wal-Mart factor. Industrial Engineer, 35(11), 32–36.
Kohli, A., and Jaworski, B., 1990. Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications. Journal of Marketing, 54(2), 1-18.
Kok, A., and Shang, K., 2005. Inspection and replenishment policies for systems with inventory record inaccuracy. (Working Paper), Duke University.
Krevelen, D., and Poelman, R., 2010. A survey of Augmented Reality Technologies, Applications and Limitations. The International Journal of Virtual Reality, 9(2), 1-20.
Krippendorff, D., 2003. Content Analysis: An introduction its methodology (2nd ed.): Sage Publications.
Kumar, S., Anselmo, M., and Berndt, K., 2009. Transforming the Retail Industry: Potential and Challenges with RFID Technology. Transportation Journal, 48(4), 61-71.
Kwang, S., Koh, C., and Kyungdoo, T., 2010. Perceptions of RFID technology: a cross-national study. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 110(5), 682–700.
Laudon, K., and Laudon, J., 2004. Management Information Systems: managing the digital firm (8th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Lee, H., and Özalp, Ö., 2007. Unlocking the value of RFID. Production and Operations Management, 16(1), 40-64.
Leitão, J., Ferreira, J., and Azevedo, S., 2008. Dimensões competitivas de Portugal: Contributos dos territórios, setores, empresas e logística: Sociedade da informação, Centro Atlântico.
Lord, T., 2013. The Mitsubishi Electric MeView. AugmentedWorldExpo. . Retrieved August, 2014, from http://augmentedworldexpo.com/tag/mitsubishi-electric/
Lu, S., Shpitalni, M., and Gadh, R., 1999. Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies for Product Realization. Annals of the CIRP, 48(2), 471-495.
Lummus, R., and Vokurka, R., 1999. Defining supply chain management: a historical perspective and practical guidelines. Industrial Management & Data Systems(1), 11-17.
McFarlane, D., and Sheffi, Y., 2003. The impact of automatic identification on supply chain operations. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 14(1), 1-17.
Menezes, J., 2000. O Serviço de Cadeias Logísticas Marítimas em Portugal: Avaliação de Desempenho Tese de Doutoramento em Organização e Gestão de Empresas (Vol. 1/2). Lisbon: Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa.
Metaio, 2013. Augmented Marketing: Webinars. Retrieved August, 2014, from https://dev.metaio.com/fileadmin/user_upload/19-_Marketing_7.18.pdf
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 2014. Annual Report 2014. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/company/ir/library/annual_report/pdf/ar2014.pdf
Modrak, V., Knuth, P., and Novak-Marc, J., 2010. Advantages and risks of RFID in business applications. International Business Management, 4(1), 28-34.
Moon, K., 2008. The adoption of RFID in fashion retailing: a business value-added framework. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 108(5), 596-612.
Morash, E., Droge, C., and Vickery, S., 1996. Strategic Logistics Capabilities for Competitive Advantage and Firm Success. Journal of Business Logistics, 17(1), 1-22.
Moura, B., 2006. Logística: conceitos e tendências: Coleção Desafios.
Mukhopadhyay, T., Kekre, S., and Kalathur, S., 1995. Business value of information technology: a study of electronic data interchange. MIS Quarterly, 19(2), 137–156.
Mukhopadhyay, T., Rajiv, S., and Srinivasan, K., 1997. Information technology impact on process output and quality. Management Science, 43(12), 1645-1659.
Naghi, R., and I., P., 2013. The effects of globalization on marketing. GSTF Business Review, 2(3), 168-173.
Newell, F., 2000. Fidelidade.com. São Paulo: Makron Books.
Ngai, T., Cheng, T., Au, S., and Lai, K., 2007. Mobile commerce. Decision support system, 43(62-76).
Novak-Marcincin, J., Barna, J., Janak, M., and P., N.-M., 2013. Augmented Reality Aided Manufacturing. Procedia Computer Science, 25, 23-31.
Owunwanne, D., and Goel, R., 2010. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology: Gaining A Competitive Value Through Cloud Computing. International Journal of Management and Information Systems, 14(5), 157-164.
Owyang, J., 2010. Disruptive Technology – The New Reality Will be Augmented. Customer Relationship Management Magazine, 23(2), 32-33.
Patterson, P., and Spreng, A., 1997. Modelling the relationship between perceived value, satisfaction and repurchase intentions in a business-to-business, service context: An empirical examination. The International Journal of Service Industry Management, 8(5), 415-432.
Pedersen, P., and Pitts, B., 2001. Investigating the body of knowledge in sport management: A content analysis of the sport marketing quarterly. The Chronicle of Physical Education in Higher Education, 12(3), 22-23.
Peetz, T., and Reams, L., 2011. A content analysis of sport marketing quarterly. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 20(4), 209–218.
Pine, J., and Gilmore, H., 1998. Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard Business Review, 76(4), 97-105.
Pisello, T., 2004. The three Rs of FRID: Rewards, risk and ROI Technology-Evaluation.
Poon, W., and Lau, K., 2000. Value challenges in supply chain management. Logistics Information Management, 13(3), 150-155.
Popescu, M., and Dascalu, A., 2011. Value Chain Analysis in Quality Management Context. Economic Sciences, 4(2), 121-128.
Porter, M., and Millar, V., 1985. How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, 63(4), 149-160.
Prado, N., Pereira, N., and Politano, P., 2006. Dificuldades para a adoção de RFID nas operações de uma cadeia de abastecimento. Proceedings of the XXVI ENEGEP – Encontro Nacional de Engenharia de Produção.
Prahalad, C., and Ramaswamy, V., 2000. Co-opting Customer Competence. Harvard Business Review, 78(1), 79-87.
Ray, G., Barney, J., and Muhanna, W., 2004. Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 25(1), 23-37.
Roberti, M., 2005. Tesco Expand Item-Level RFID Trial. RFID Journal.Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?1343
Rutner, S., Waller, M., and Mentzer, J., 2004. A practical look at RFID. Supply Chain Management Review, 8(1), 36-41.
Schindler, E., 2003. Location, location, location: what effect will tracking technologies like RFID and GPS have on connected businesses? Networker, 7(2), 11–14.
Schmitt, B., 1999. Experiential Marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 15, 53-67.
Sellitto, C., Burgess, S., and Hawking, P., 2007. Information quality attributes associated with RFID-derived benefits in the retail supply chain. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 35(1), 69–87.
Seuring, S., 2009. The product-relationship-matrix as framework for strategic supply chain design based on operations theory. International Journal of Production Economics, 120(1), 221-232.
Shapiro, D., Kirkman, L., and Courtney, H., 2007. Perceived causes and solutions of the translation problem in management research. Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 249–266.
Sielhorst, T., Blum, T., and Navab, N., 2005. Synchronizing 3D movements for quantitative comparisons and simultaneous visualizations of actions. Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, 38-47.
Singh, N., 2003. Emerging technologies to support supply chain management. Communications of the ACM, 46(9), 243-247.
Smaros, J., and Holmstrom, J., 2000. Viewpoint: reaching the consumer through e-grocery VMI. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 28(2), 55-61.
Smith, A., 2005. Exploring radio frequency identification technology and its impact on business systems. Information Management and Computer Security, 13(1), 16-28.
Smith, H., and Konsynski, B., 2003. Development in practice X: radio frequency identification (RFID) – An internet for physical objects. Communications of the AIS, 12, 301-311.
Soon, C., and Gutiérrez, J., 2008. Effects of the RFID Mandate on Supply Chain Management. Effects of the RFID Mandate on Supply Chain Management, 3(1), 81-91.
Spalding, J., 1998. Transportation industry takes the right-of-way in the supply chain. ILE Solutions, 30(7), 8-24.
Stokes, R., and Perry , C., 2005. Chapter 10. Case research about enterprises. In D. Hine and D. Carson (Eds.), Innovative Methodologies in Enterprise Research. Northampton: Edward Elgar.
Tang, A., Owen, C., Biocca, F., and Mou, W., 2003. Comparative Effectiveness of Augmented Reality in Object Assembly. New Horizons, 5(1), 73-80.
Tesco, 2014. Annual Report and Financial Statements 2014. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.tescoplc.com/index.asp?pageid=548#ref_index.asp?pageid=540
The Lego Group, 2013. Annual Reports 2013. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://www.plast.dk/_files/nyhjemmeside/pdf/2014/thelegogroupannualreport20131.pdf
Thomas, D., 2004. RFID and stock level tracking help keep Tesco at the top. Computer Weekly(22).
Thoumrungroje, P., 2004. The effects of globalization on marketing strategy and performance. Washington State University, College of Business and Economics.
Turban, E., Mclean, E., and Wetherbe, J., 1999. Information Technology for Management (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Vallino, J., 2002. Introduction to augmented reality. Institute of Technology, New York.
Venturebeat, 2010. Metaio helps Lego market toys with augmented reality kiosks. Retrieved August, 2014, from http://venturebeat.com/2010/04/21/metaios-augmented-reality-for-lego/
Viehland, D., and Wong, A., 2007. Reducing false reads in RFID – embedded supply chain. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 3(2), 60–71.
Vijayaraman, B., and Osyh, B., 2006. An empirical study of RFID implementation in the warehousing industry. International Journal of Logistics Management, 17(1), 6-20.
Visser, E., 2008. Logistics innovation in global supply chains: an empirical test of dynamic transaction-cost theory. Geo-Journal, 70(213-226).
Vuforia, 2012. Lego. Retrieved August, 2014, from https://www.vuforia.com/case-studies/lego-connect
Waller, A., 1998. Implementations Issues in European Manufacturing and Logistics Integration Proceeding do Eurolog’98. Paper presented at the Congresso Europeu de Logística.
Wamba, S., and Boeck, H., 2008. Enhancing Information Flow in a Retail Supply Chain Using RFID and the EPC Network: A Proof-of-Concept Approach. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 3(1), 92-105.
Wasserman, E., 2005. Finding the Right RFID Formula. RFID Journal.Retrieved August, 2014, from https://www.rfidjournal.com/purchase-access?type=Article&id=1935&r=%2Farticles%2Fview%3F1935%2F3
Weill, P., and Broadbent, M., 1998. Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on Information Technology. MA, USA: Harvard Business School Press Boston.
Williams, A., 2006. Tourism and hospitality marketing: Fantasy, feeling and fun. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18(6), 482-495.
Woods, A., 2009. Augmented Reality. Revolution Magazine, 48-49.
Yee, S., 2005. Impact analysis of customized demand information sharing on supply chain performance. International Journal of Production Research, 43(16), 33-53.
Yin, Y., 1994. Case Study Research: design and methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Yin, Y., 2005. Estudo de caso: planeamento e métodos (3rd ed.). Porto Alegre: Bookman.
Yuan, Y., and Wu, C., 2008. Relationships among Experiential Marketing, Experiential Value and Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 32(3), 387-410.
Zhao, X., and Xie, J., 2002. The impact of information sharing and ordering co-ordination on supply chain performance. Supply Chain Management, 7(1), 24.