Retail strategist Marshall Kay coined a new term a few years ago: RFIQ. Kay is a huge proponent of RFID technology for retail success. He describes RFIQ as a retail metric similar to a human IQ test. Instead of measuring individual intelligence, RFIQ measures a retailer’s understanding and application of RFID technology.
RFIQ isn’t confined to the retail industry, however. A range of business sectors, from pharma and healthcare to agriculture and auto manufacturing, utilize RFID in their production and distribution processes. So how does RFIQ fit in to these diverse industries?
For any industry sector, it starts with a series of questions:
What is RFID?
In brief: It’s a technology that uses radio waves to identify, locate, and track movements of tagged items.
What are the benefits of RFID?
The short answer: It significantly reduces the costs of managing inventories and tracking assets, giving your business a competitive edge.
Which companies use it?
Trick question. Just about everyone.
Why is it critical to their operations?
In big-picture terms: RFID does what technology is good at – in this case, accurate, repetitive counting and tracking tasks. It frees employees’ time for tasks that technology isn’t as good at: customer service, research, innovation, marketing and sales, etc.
RFIQ is a qualitative measure. The more knowledge you acquire about RFID, the more you understand the ways it can be used. And with that new understanding, you can seek out the best RFID applications for your particular operation.
But increasing your RFIQ is time-consuming. It requires diligent efforts to gain an in-depth understanding of what RFID can do for your organization, and how to implement it within your processes. You can reduce the time to reach increased RFIQ by working with an RFID expert who can give you detailed answers to the questions above. They will help educate you and guide you toward the options that best fit your business.
You don’t have to be a genius to have a high RFIQ. All it takes is a clear understanding of what RFID can do for you. Increase your RFIQ, apply it to your business, and gain a competitive edge.
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