Kristian Hyyppä, an accordion performer and the owner of Giulietti"”a Finnish company that imports and resells Giulietti accordions in Europe"”plans to add some authentication to the process, thanks to an RFID-based solution that will help authorized parties guarantee the history of his firm's accordions via a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile phone. The solution was developed by Finnish company FinnCode Ltd.

Hyyppä's store, located in Seinäjoki, Finland, sells accordions at prices between €2,000 and €20,000 ($2,700 and $27,000). Each instrument comes with a three-year warranty; however, that warranty becomes nullified if the owner fails to have the instrument serviced after the first year of use. Of course, proof that such service did or did not occur can often be difficult for a customer to provide, or for Hyyppä to confirm. Because the instruments are of such high value, there are concerns for customers as well. For one thing, if an instrument is lost or stolen and is later retrieved by police or another party, it can be nearly impossible to identify the instrument and its rightful owner if its serial number has been destroyed or removed. What's more, proving the instrument's value to insurance companies can also prove challenging.

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Keywords: RFID, product warranty, supply chain solutions, supply chain IT, supply chain management, tracking and tracing IT