Simulation on RFID-enable CONWIP control strategy for multi-echelon inventory of supply chain

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) provides an efficient way to the innovation of inventory control strategies. In this paper, we design a RFID-Enable electronic Card system. And a RFID-Enable CONWIP control strategy is designed based on the system. Five criteria to evaluate the performance of control strategies are presented, which include the total inventory cost, the total shortage loss, the total operating cost, the satisfaction rate and the inventory turnover rate. To verify the performance of the RFID-Enable CONWIP control strategy, the strategy is compared with RFID-Enable (s, S) and Push control strategies. Three typical inventory systems of two kinds of products are simulated in the experiments. The results demonstrate the CONWIP strategy is the best one among the three kinds of strategies. It can reduce the total operating cost and enhance the service level for multi-echelon distribution networks in supply chains.