People Technology Capital Equipment Materials Information Inputs Transformation Process
Output
Goods, services
Fundamental principles of Value Chain Management
Optimize the whole, not the pieces Broader than “cradle to grave” (“lust to dust”) Delight our customers in a way that improves the financial returns of all value chain participants.
Benefit of value chain management: improved customer service - the major benefit cost saving accelerated delivery times improved quality

Obstacles to Value Chain Management (cont.)
Organizational Barriers - among the most difficult include refusal or reluctance to share information, shake up the status quo, and deal with security issues
Cultural Attitudes lack of trust - reluctance to share information, capabilities, and processes too much trust - leads to theft of intellectual property intellectual property - proprietary company information that is critical to competitiveness collaboration results in a loss of control
Required Capabilities - essential to capturing and exploiting the value chain coordination and collaboration ability to configure products to satisfy customers ability to educate internal and external partners
People - must be committed to value chain management must be flexible must be willing to expend incredible amounts of time and energy experienced managers a critical resource processes Organizational Processes - the way that organizational work is done must examine core competencies to determine where value is being added non-value-adding activities should be eliminated processes must change in the following ways: better demand forecasting is necessary selected functions may need to be done collaboratively new metrics required for evaluating performance along the chain Organizational Culture and Attitudes - important for employees to have favorable attitudes regarding sharing, collaborating, openness, flexibility, mutual respect, and trust these attitudes must characterize internal and external partners
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless use of electromagnetic fields to transfer data, for the purposes of automatically identifying and tracking tags attached to objects. RFID tags, a technology once limited to tracking cattle, are tracking consumer products worldwide. Many manufacturers use the tags to track the location of each product they make from the time it's made until it's pulled off the shelf and tossed in a shopping cart. RFID tags are used in many industries. An RFID tag attached to an automobile during production can be used to track its progress through the assembly line. Pharmaceuticals can be tracked through warehouses. Livestock and pets may have tags injected, allowing positive identification of the animal.
Since RFID tags can be attached to cash, clothing, possessions, or even implanted within people, the possibility of reading personally-linked information without consent has raised serious privacy concerns. Thousands of companies around the world use RFID today to improve internal efficiencies. Club Car, a maker of golf carts uses RFID to improve efficiency on its production line (subscribers, see Golf Car Maker Scores with RFID). Paramount Farms—one of the world's largest suppliers of pistachios—uses RFID to manage its harvest more efficiently (see Farm Harvests RFID's Benefits). NYK Logistics uses RFID to improve the throughput of containers at its busy Long Beach, Calif., distribution center (see Logistics Gets Cheaper by the Yard). And many other companies are using RFID for a wide variety of application. RFID Captures the Action on Hawaiian Zip Line
Princeville Ranch Adventure Tours uses Snapsportz, an automated photography system, to boost revenue and improve customer service.
RFID Protects Students and Teachers
Skyview High School deployed a safety solution that can summon help in a disciplinary, medical or violent emergency.
What are the benefits of using RFID