Using RFID for Risk Mitigation and Location Assuredness of High-Value Goods

We present a natural application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for tracking and tracing high-value goods (HVG) in general. We cover in more detail such an application in the jewellery industry where large volumes of jewellery items are affixed with tamper-evident tags and scanned daily, thus lowering the risk for inventory shrink and deviation. Further, such application provides granular visibility on a daily basis where, traditionally, inventory counting sessions are manual, inaccurate, labour-intensive, and too infrequent to provide concrete value. Finally, we offer insight into an innovative financial model made possible by such an application. The model offers new opportunities for funding and alleviating the burden and risks of high-value inventory endured by trading partners in the industry. The model also offers new possibilities to financiers for providing gold jewellery consignments to retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers, as a competitive alternative to traditional gold loans.