IS Today Week 12/ Chapters 8 & 9 | Page 11

Assigned

PROBLEMS

Week 12/ Chapters 8 & 9 11

5. Analyze the supply chain of your favorite electronic gadget and compare this with the supply chain of your favorite pair of jeans. How do the supply chains differ? What are potential reasons for this?

My favorite electronic gadgets are my Apple products like my Mac and iPhone. I studied the supply chain for the their corporation which is unique to others in their industry. Apple begins with sourcing that comes from the United States, China, Europe, and other Asian countries. Next, manufacturing assembly is in China. Then, there are two types of warehousing. First, intermediate warehouses via UPS/Fedex and then warehouse facility in Elk Grove, California. Apple has four types of distribution: online store, retail stores, direct sales force, and finally wholesalers, retailers, and network carriers. The final portion of the supply chain is the return process. Warranty return, trade in program, recycle/reuse program are all part of the return services.

The Gap Inc. supply chain is quite different. There supply process begins in the farms were they grow raw materials for the clothing. Then, the fabric is weaved in the mills. Next, factories cut and sew the fabric. Finally, the finished garments are distributed to warehouses and retail stores so that the clothes can be sold. This process is much

different from the electronic companies because the process of gathering the supplies for the product varies and production process is different for the two types of products

8. What applications other than those mentioned in the chapter are there for RFID tags? What must happen in order for the use of RFID to become more widespread?

Other uses for RFID tags would include access management, toll collection and contactless payment, machine-readable travel documents, tracking sports memorabilia to verify authenticity, and airport baggage tracking logistics. While RFID’s deployment is growing rapidly, the systems are still relatively expensive, there isn’t yet a clear set of data standards, and radio frequencies allocated to RFID differ between countries. These hurdles are being overcome by cooperation between vendors and regulating authorities.