Networked RFID systems in product recovery management

Product recovery involves collection, sorting and reprocessing of returned products to recover value from them. The management of product recovery is characterised by a high level of uncertainty in product returns flow due to the lack of information associated with such products. A case study exercise carried out at various electronics product recovery industries in Europe supports this widely accepted fact. The recent emergence of networked RFID (radio frequency identification) systems is a means of connecting a product tagged with an RFID chip to a network and thereby carrying complete information associated with it throughout its lifecycle. This paper examines the benefits of information provided by such systems in decision-making during product recovery stages and consequently, in product recovery management as a whole.