An RFID based carbon footprint tracing method for product logistics

The RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology facilitates the rate of information flow and the efficiency of decision-making in the supply chain management. In this paper, a new RFID based method is proposed for the carbon footprint tracing throughout product logistics. During the four key stages in product logistics (i.e. delivering, loading, unloading and receiving), the logistics geographic location, time and other product properties can be stored in the RFID tags, which are attached on the packages of products and the vehicles. By scanning these RFID tags, the logistics-related information can be obtained, with which the carbon footprint of the product logistics process can be calculated. In addition, a case study for the logistics process of fifty servers is demonstrated in this paper to explain the procedure of this method. Finally, this paper provides reference value for the researches of RFID information systems and carbon footprint tracing systems.