Abstract
In recent years, prime-oriented manufacturing industry has evolved into the formation of global collaborative production. With the implementation of Internet-enabled tracking system, enterprises are trying to improve the efficiency of workflow among supply chain partners. Nonetheless, while manufacturers deliver goods to customers or end-users in the distribution network, it is still difficult to record all details of logistic statuses during the shipping and distribution processes. Therefore, based on the RFID standardized technology and EPCglobal Network architecture, this research develops and constructs object tracking information network integrated with intelligent decision models. The network transfers and collects event information for building the global cross-enterprise information exchange platform. In order to increase visibility of the goods during their circulation and distribution in the supply network, the platform tracks and reports the logistic information of shipped products in real time. RFID is applied in the integration of supply chain network for object tracking development. This thesis first reviews the literatures of RFID technology, logistic decision methods and previous research in the areas. Afterward, based on the standard of electronic product codes, we develop the RFID-based goods and cargo tracking system, define the Web Service interfaces for the supply chain and logistic partners, and build the standard exchange format for XML transmission among partners. Furthermore, this research defines logistic decision-making models to solve operational issues of logistic strategies. Mainly, the decision models for merging shipments in multiple containers and cargo dispatching and routing are developed and implemented in the decision console of the platform. Finally, a real case RFID application and its EPCglobal Network architecture are discussed. An automotive part manufacturer (and distributor) integrates its RFID-enabled real-time cargo tracking system for its global logistics management.