Title: Modelling e-supply chain processes in SMEs: the impact of RFID as a key IoT technology

Authors: Omneya Kandil; Rasha Abd El-Aziz; Meer Hamza

Addresses: Business Information Systems Department, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Miami Campus, Alexandria, Egypt ' Business Information Systems Department, College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Miami Campus, Alexandria, Egypt ' College of Computing and Information Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Abou Kir Campus, Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract: The Egyptian Government is paying great attention to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their role in the economy. SMEs face a lot of challenges which prevent them from operating in an efficient manner. This research aims to explore the current performance of Egyptian SMEs and the impact of adopting the available technologies. A mixed methods approach was used, where interviews were conducted at 14 Egyptian SMEs. The supply chain process was observed at six of them. ElMadina enterprise was chosen as a representative sample, and its process was analysed and modelled in order to visualise, specify, construct, and document the system in an effective way. Results show the inefficiencies that face SMEs. However, the investigation concludes that adopting internet of things technologies such as RFID may help eliminate theses efficiencies.

Keywords: e-supply chain; small and medium enterprises; SMEs; unified modelling language; UML; internet of things; IoT; radio frequency identification; RFID.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2024.138049

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2024 Vol.45 No.4, pp.474 - 489

Received: 04 Jan 2020
Accepted: 08 Mar 2021
Published online: 18 Apr 2024 *

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