The Characteristics and Development of RFID - Radio frequency identification Essay Example for Free

The Characteristics and Development of RFID Radio frequency identification Essay Wal-Mart, the world leading retailer, announced it will expand its rollout of radio frequency identification (RFID) to a total of 300 suppliers by 2006, following meeting with its top vendors. The retailers top 100 suppliers have already agreed to implement RFID by January 2005. Wal-Mart plans to have the inventory tracking system, which uses radio frequency technology, in six distribution centers and 250 Wal-Mart stores and Sams Club stores by next June. By October of next year, the program will include up to 13 distribution centers and up to 600 Wal-Mart and Sams Club stores. By the start of 2006, Wal-Marts next top 200 suppliers will begin tagging cased and pallets, bringing the total to 300 vendors. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been in commercial use since the early 1980s. It has been employed, for instance, on highway and bridge tolls, in tracking livestock movements, in tracking airfreight and in motorcar manufacturing, but until recently, the technology has been too expensive and too limited for mass commercial applications. However, retailers are now starting to drive the introduction of RFID and it would seem to have the potential to revolutionize efficiency, effectiveness and security throughout supply chain. By definition, RFID is a technology process starts with a tag that is made up of a microchip with an form a magnetic field when they join with the antenna on the RFID tag (FRiDa. com). Its one of the most powerful IT strategic assets in use in retailing industry. According to Michalisim (1997), he pointed out that strategic asset are simultaneously valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and nonsubstitutable. RFID technology has been commonly recognized as the key source to enterprise resource management system as well as warehouse management systems and enables retailers to gain competitive edges over rivals. RFID is the generic name for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify items. There are several methods of identifying items using RFID but most systems consist of a tag, which is made up of a microchip with a coiled antenna, and an interrogator or reader with an antenna. The reader sends out electromagnetic waves that form a magnetic field when they couple with the antenna on the RFID tag. The tag draws power from the magnetic field and uses it to power the microchips circuits. The chip then modulates the waves that the tag sends back to the reader and the reader converts the new waves into digital data. The data transmitted by the tag may provide identification or location details and/or specific information about the product such as price, colour and date of purchase. The tags are very flexible in that microchips measuring less than a third of a millimeter wide can now store a wide range of unique product information, they can be read from a distance and through a variety of obstacles. RFID technology can also allow some, but not all, the data held on a tag to be read and the tags can be updated after the original data has been loaded. The tags also offer security in that they can be made virtually tamper free. The technology has been too expensive and too limited for widespread mass commercial applications, but as the price of tags, tag readers and the associated equipment continues to fall so a growing number of retailers have begun to explore the introduction of RFID and this in turn seems likely to bring the technology into everyday consumer use. Wal-Mart is making this revolutionary technology (i. e. RFID) a reality in distribution centers today. Its expected that Wal-Marts top 100 suppliers must be RFID-ready by January 2005 and the retailer then put its large foot forward in April of this year by launching the first phase of RFID implementation at the case and pallet level in Fort Worth marketplace. Apparently, the retailing industry is slowly moving toward a re-engineered supply chain with enhanced efficiencies. RFID represents the most sweeping supply-chain advancement since June 1974, initiated by Wm. Wrigley Company by adopting the worlds first, official grocery-store barcode on a pack of chewing gum. Since then, it changes to the way the supply chain operation becomes more efficient. It is evident to note that RFID helps manufactories virtually eliminate manual data entry and manual business process transactions in such ways: first and foremost, order fulfillment speed is dramatically increased; second, the order accuracy is improved; third, the on-going operating costs of order fulfillment are reduced; the performance of warehouse management system investment can be enhanced; last but not least, hidden warehouse management costs become visible. Moreover, efficiency gains can be measured in picking and put away errors, acceleration of handling for return and restocking, and elimination of physical counts. In addition, RFID enables manufactories to make the most use of data as it becomes available for real-time demand signals when product moves through the supply chain. Furthermore, RFID contributes to the improvements of data accessibility and quality of which having a positive impact on demand forecast accuracy (Smith Offodile, 2002). Consequently, it helps manufactories to gain real-time visibility into customer purchase decisions throughout the value chain, which prepare firms to react and influence the marketplace. Cited from Rose (1996), An inspection of technological changes in terms of supply chain management over the last 20 years has illustrated that there have been tremendous changes in the area of physical distribution or supply chain management systems through global business. Information technology and RFID have changed payables, receivables, and the asset side of inventory. Typically, RFID use modern wireless technologies to provide manufactories with unique solutions to difficult logistical tracking of inventory. The technology is largely feature in its stability, with open architectures becoming increasingly available.

Global Warming and its Causes and Solutions :: essays research papers

Global warming has been one of the leading environmental issues for the past several years. Global warming is when an excess of certain gasses are produced and trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere. One of the most abundant of these gasses is carbon dioxide. It is released when fossil fuels and other things are burned for their energy. The average American family of 2 will produce 41,500 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. The Earth is able to cope with a certain amount of these gasses otherwise known as greenhouse gasses. With all of this the earth is heating up faster than most of it inhabitants can adapt. Some just can’t cope with the new conditions and some are having their habitat destroyed by it. Other gasses are destroying the ozone and letting in harmful UV rays and heating the earth even more. The earth has been doing fine but now many countries are in the industrial age and are manufacturing things and releasing more greenhouse gasses. The earth is essentially being thrown out of its natural balance. We started doing harmful things and only now do we realize what we have done and what we are doing. At this current rate by the middle of next century the earth’s temperature may rise a predicted 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This may not seem as much but with the earths delicate balance we will have lost several species and habitats. We all say that we are working to help the earth and yet we have only done a very small percent of what we need to do. Scientists are worried that soon the effects of what we have done may be irreversible. We have the technology to do it, but countries are concerned they will lose too much money. They are already wasting it on other unnecessary things and if they were to reduce funding to them we could have enough money to do these changes and probably still have some left to help fund other countries efforts. We are cutting down thousands of earth’s natural air filters as we speak. Trees and plants take some of the carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen helping us and the environment.

Case Study Geo: Mt St Helens

Case Study of Mount St. Helens Date: 18th May, 1980 Time: 8:30-8:33 8: 30—ash and steam erupted. 8:32—earthquake of magnitude 5. 1 on the Richter scale caused the bulge on the north side of the mountain to move forwards and downwards, releasing material that formed a landslide of rock, glacier, ice, and soil that moved downhill to fill Spirit Lake. However, the water only reinforced it, and it moved rapidly down the northern fork of the Toutle Valley. The mudflow reached Baker Camp, but the floodwater continued down the valley and the sediment blocked Portland’s port on the Columbia River. :33—The exposed magma exploded sideways, which sent out blast waves of volcanic gas, steam, and dust, which is called a ‘nuee ardente’. This moved northwards for 25 km. Within this range every form of life, like plants and animals, were destroyed. For the rest of the morning, a series of eruptions took place, which ejected gas, ash, and volcanic ‘bombs ’, or simply rocks. The thicker ash rose 20 km into the air and drifted eastwards before settling. The volcanic ‘plume’, or could, of fine ash reached the eastern coast of the USA three days later, and several days later, the ash had completely encircled the world.Location: Mount Saint Helens (stratovolcano) is in North America, in the Cascada mountain range. Skamania County, Washington State, USA. Plates involved: Juan de Fuca plate and the North American Plate. Types of boundary and crust: Oceanic (Juan de Fuca) and Continental (North American) crusts. The margin is destructive, also known as a convergent boundary. It’s also a Subduction Zone, as the Juan de Fuca plate is subducted under the North American Plate. Warning Signs On March 20th there was a minor earthquake, which measured 4. 1 on the Richter scale.Tremors happened for the next few days until the 27th of March, when there was actually a small eruption of steam and ash, which left a crater aro und 250 feet wide. On March 30th there were 79 earthquakes on the mountain. After that minor eruptions occurred daily. On April 3rd there were harmonic tremors signaling the movement of magma deep within the mountain. The crater was 1500 feet wide then. Explosions of ash, ice, and rock were happening almost daily. A harmonic tremor is a sustained release of seismic and/or infrasonic energy most often related to the underground movement of magma and/or the venting of volcanic gases from magma.In late April/early May the north side of the mountain had begun to bulge by 1. 5 meters per day, indicating a build-up of magma and an increase in pressure. By then the mountain had lost its perfect cone shape. It was given the name ‘Mount Fuju of America’. What happened? Impacts? Economic All buildings and manmade structures within the vicinity of Spirit Lake were buried. More than 200 houses and cabins were destroyed and damaged in Skamania and Cowlitz Counties. Bridges, roads, t rails, were also destroyed by the eruption. More than 185 miles of highways and 15 miles of railways were also damaged.Around 12% of the total crop was ruined by settling dust. Fruit and alfalfa were hit the hardest. Crops and livestock on valley floors were lost due to flooding. Unemployment around the region of the volcano rose tenfold immediately after the eruption, about weeks following the disaster. This returned to normal after the area was cleaned up. Tourism was nearly crippled in the area after the volcano erupted, however, this was quickly remedied as tourists began pouring in, eager to see the results of the incident. Social Of course the destroying of the houses and cabins led to many people being homeless.The ash coming from the eruption hindered the smooth running of car engines in three states. Trees caused a logjam 60 km away, carried away by floodwater. Electricity supplies were interrupted and telephone wires were cut. Many other electronic equipment malfunctioned due to the layers of ash and the fine ash that drifted into the engines or structures. Transportation was also affected because railways and highways were closed down. The ash also limited visibility, so it was dangerous on the roads. Ash accumulation stopped airplanes from taking off in airports around the area.Environmental Many tens of thousands of acres of prime forest were destroyed or heavily damaged. Every tree in the 250 km2 blast zone north of the volcano was totally flattened and destroyed. 10 million or so trees had to be replanted. Like with the trees, nothing alive, or inanimate, survived the eruption within the blast zone. Game animals like elks, bears, and deer perished in the area as well; Around 7000 of them died. However smaller rodents and such animals were able to survive, as they were below ground level and/or water surface when the volcano erupted.Salmon and other fish were lost when the hatcheries were destroyed, and an estimated of 40,000 young salmon were lo st when they were forced to swim through hydroelectric turbine blades. After the eruption Mount St. Helens was left with a huge crater on its north side. The loss of the north side of the mountain, which was 13% of the cone's volume, reduced Mount St. Helens' height by about 1,313  feet and left a crater that was 1 to 2  miles wide and 2,100  feet deep. Responses The government of Washington State set up two zones around the volcano, a ‘Red Zone’ and a ‘Blue Zone’.The red one surrounded the volcano, while the blue one surrounded the red one. The WA National Guard response to Mt. St. Helens eruption was:(from youtube): â€Å"When I saw the plume rice 60-80,000 feet above, I mean it was just awesome that one away to say it because we never really get to see things like this often, however when I saw at the rate it was coming towards us I felt tremendously terrified. † Five of the guards ignored the ‘shut down’ command and went to sav e survivors of the eruption. Many people owe their lives to the five guards who risked their own lives to save them.

Knack vs Craft in Gorgias Essay - 737 Words

In the book Gorgias Socrates finds himself in an argument with Polus and Gorgias about whether oratory is a knack or a craft. Socrates’ opinion is that oratory is not a craft but rather a knack. When looking at the distinction between a knack and a craft it is commonly agreed upon that a knack is simply something that one is instinctively better at than others and a craft is a skill that one acquires through pursuit. With this said, the distinction that Socrates makes between a knack and a craft is a much deeper and more abstract one. Socrates argues that a knack is part of a shameful practice, that practice being flattery, and is only in accordance with what is most pleasant at the time, where as a craft deals with fitness of†¦show more content†¦The same goes for gymnastics and cosmetics. Cosmetics may make you look like you are healthy but they do not make you actually healthy, where as gymnastics knows what’s best for your physical health (Plato 25,26 ). This is what Socrates specifically refers to as flattery and is such the thing that he finds to be shameful because it does not take into consideration what is best for both the body and soul but instead guesses at what is most pleasant at the moment (Plato 25). Without the soul to govern the body the world would not know what is best for it. This is what makes a knack undesirable and shameful. What Socrates is ultimately saying is that flattery is deception and that is exactly what oratory is. Socrates’ argument about oratory being a knack, and a knack being part of a shameful practice, is backed up by his premises and thus makes his argument valid. The premises consisted of the four parts of flattery and each of their counter parts that are found in a craft. After he explains the four parts of both a knack and a craft he explains how a knack is only what is best for the time being, where as