RFID Lowdown

Retail and RFID: Disappointment 2006?

Evan Schuman at Extreme RFID (who also writes at Storefront Backtalk) says that according to a report from IDTechEx, 2006 has been a disappointment for RFID and retail, with supplier frustration being a common problem, not to mention technical issues. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) RFID applications, then, have not done as well as expected.

On the other hand, contactless payment has been more successful via companies like 7-Eleven and Jack-in-the-Box. The latter recently decided to roll out contactless payment in all of their stores across the USA with a minimum of trials. Item-level parts tagging has also done better than expected in some applications including the airline industry.

The key thing to note is that there are so many niche applications of RFID, with some doing better than others. So it's not easy to say, in general, that RFID as a whole is or isn't doing well.

Wal-Mart Website Wonky But RFID Program Moving Ahead

Wal-Mart, the company that some might say has been singlehandedly driving enterprise supply chain RFID applications, recently suffered a 10-hour outage on their eCommerce website, for which Information Week Editor Rob Preston laid into them. The problem is that it happened on so called Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, which is said to be the best retail shopping day of the year (which puts some retailers "in the black" with profit, hence the name). The company actually spent 13 months to redesign their website, which relaunched in October and crashed in late November - due to getting seven times the web traffic the previous Black Friday.

Website problems aside, Wal-Mart is at least keeping itself on track with its RFID mandate, possibly ready to add another 700 retailers compliant, which would push the total number to over 1200 with radio frequency technology either already implemented or about to be. Following on the heels of Wal-Mart's push, grocery retailer Kroger might be ready to have its big suppliers use RFID tags. Another grocery retailer, Ahold USA, is already using RFID and will expand that use in 2007.

IBM RFID Retail Privacy Tags

To assuage consumers concerned about their privacy after purchasing merchandise with RFID tags, IBM and Marnlen came up with something called a clipped tag. This RFID tag is designed so that after an item is purchased at a retailer, a portion of the tag can literally be torn off, thereby reducing the read range of the section left on the merchandise.

Sounds great, right? The tag is about ready to go into production, despite a lack of customers. Though IBM and Marnlen are in discussions with retailers in North American and Europe. But RFID Hack, a blogger, says that this "clipped tag" from IBM is more about marketing than privacy.

Read the article for more details, but the crux of the matter is that these tags still do not protect consumer privacy (someone can still scan your purchases discreetly, but need to do it closer than 30 feet now), and that an anti-RF shopping bag would do a better job. However, as RFID Hack says, such bags would void merchant security systems. The reason the tags are left otherwise intact is supposedly so that the consumer can return the item if necessary, and the merchant's system will be able to credit them by scanning the still active tag.

Fashion Meets RFID

How's this for in-person CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in the retail industry: You find a piece of clothing that you like and you're wondering wihat it will match with. Well, a research team at the Institute of Textiles & Clothing, part of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) are working on a way to answer that with radio frequency technology. RFID-tagged items of clothing that come near a scanner would trigger a system that retrieves pre-stored images of models wearing that piece of clothing as well as others. These images would be projected onto an in-store screen beside a dressing mirror. Japanese department store Mitsukoshi and Toronto's Nygard are retailers using RFID with clothing in innovative ways.

Razor Scooter Picks Odin Technologies For RIFD Compliance

RFID tags are popping up in the oddest places these days. Well, maybe not so odd. Razor USA, maker of the popular, awarding-winning Razor kick scooter for kids and young adults, is a supplier to Wal-Mart. So under the latter's RFID mandate, they have to implement radio frequency technology or be shut out from being part of Wal-Mart's supply chain. As part of their compliance, Razor USA will be using an RFID system from Odin Technologies, who earlier this year released a benchmark for Gen 2 tags. Wal-Mart, who are using EPC Gen2 RF systems, made it mandatory for all of their suppliers to implement a compliant RFID system in order to continue participating as suppliers. They are helping to integrate 300 suppliers per phase, with the next batch to complete compliance by Jan 2007.

[additional sources: PR Web]

RFID Lowdown - Mon Nov 06, 2006

Smartcards And Banking Models
The Australian government plans to adopt a banking system model for the new citizen "access card", which provides access to government services. In other words, access requires entering a PIN code, just like for a debit/ ATM card. However, unlike debit cards, the citizen access cards will have a photo, signature, card number, and an RFID chip containing a digitized photo and signature. [via Australian IT News]

Jack In The Box Goes Contactless
The American chain of Jack in the Box restaurants will be adding contactless payment cards as a new payment option at all of their restaurants - something few other chains can claim. They'll be accepting the typical American Express, MasterCard PayPass, and Visa Contactless cards as well as Discover Network. They expect to have all restaurants rolled out with this payment option by the end of this year. [via Home BusinessWire]

Metal-Compatible RFID Tags
Metal has been the bane of RFID tags but QinetiQ and Crown Holdings have come up with a way to make metal containers with special antenna-less Gen 2 UHF tags. The tags would be able to handle the interference normally associated with metal by redirecting the RF signals. [via RFID Journal]

RFID Lowdown - Tues Oct 31, 2006

SmartCafes
SinoGold, an IT service provider in the Philippines, is offering an RFID- based monitoring system for Internet cafes. Customers would be issued contactless smart cards which could be used for payment and loyalty programs. Each computer would have a reader that would track usage and limit it based on the prepaid amount on a card. This would reduce lineups at the payment counter. [via Inq7]

RFID Compliance Starter Kits
Organizations that need to be RFID-compliant for either the US DoD (Dept of Defense) or Wal-Mart, Target or Best Buy can turn to ILS (Integrated Labeling Systems) RFID Starter kits. These multi-protocol kits are designed to help users implement RFID quickly, while meeting compliance requirements. [via RFID Solutions Online]

China Opens RFID Industrial Zone
China has opened up an industrial zone dedicated to RFID manufacturing as well as actual applications of the technology. The zone is in the Zhangjiang area of Shanghai. [via RFID in Japan]

RFID Applications: CRM - Customer Relationship Management

[This post is part of a short series aimed at giving a quick overview of existing and future applications of RFID - radio frequency identification - technology .] There are a number of ways that RFID can be used to reward VIP customers. One method that is being tested in a select few banks in Europe and Canada is a permission-based system that identifies a customer as they enter a branch location. The customer signs up to carry an RFID-enabled card, which is scanned at the entrance. The appropriate bank representative is immediately notified electronically, and that person can greet the customer and assist them accordingly.

There are of course less vanity-based CRM applications of RFID which simply involve retrieving customer information such as recent shopping habits. (Provided item-level tagging is used.) This information could then be used in stores to make recommendations for new products or services.

Metal-Compatible RFID Transponders

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

One of the problems with HF (High Frequency) RFID tags is that typically do not function well on, in, or near metal. There are, however, many industrial applications where RFID would be a boon. Trials show that UHF Gen2 RFID tags do much better in these situations. As such, Sontec Co. has devised an RFID transponder for RSC (Retail Supply Chain) use that functions well around the high metal content of consumer goods such as appliances and electronics.

The company's EPC Gen 2 tags' silicon chips are supplied by Texas Instruments and is actually mounted on metal - something no one would even bother to try with other RFID chips. This chip gets around a number of the interference problems.

[via RFID News]

RFID VIP Treatment: You Don't Know Me Like That

--By Raj Dash, Staff Writer

So you walk into a bank or store and suddenly people you don't know greet you by name and lavish you with attention. At least that's what would happen if banks, stores, and other places implement NCR's new RFID system, designed to help businesses cater to VIP customers. They can do this if you voluntarily agree to carry a special membership card embedded with an RFID chip.

While this might be ideal in private clubs, nightclubs, semi-private golf courses, I'm not so sure that treatment like this would necessarily be well received in openly public places. Though I could be wrong. However, only a few banks and retailers have tried the system, reluctant to invade customers' privacy.

Making RFID Compliance Easy + Affordable

Small-scale suppliers to the US DoD (Dept of Defense) and/or to Wal-Mart have a new option for easier compliance to RFID mandates. RFID Ltd. is offering a "tag-only" solution. The press release says very little, other than that Zebra printers would be used to print the tags, and that they are compliant and affordable. [via CNW]

If you are a company looking for financing for RFID projects, look to IBM Global Financing and AbsoluteSKY. They are jointly offering financing options, but only for AbsoluteSKY's proprietary intelliTRACKER inventory tacking product suite, including hardware, software, and services. [via MarketWire]

This is the first I've heard of financing options, but it might be a feasible option. Of course, if you are company actually creating RFID products and solutions, you could always seek venture capital, but would likely have to give up partial ownership. I'm surprised to not see Microsoft considering this as a way to expand their presence in RFID projects. Is anyone awake over there, or are they just sulking because of the long-term sideways motion of their stock's share price?

RFID Tech Knows What You Want?

So you're at a mall and you're not sure what you want? Several Japanese companies have produced an RFID-enabled smart shelf which could suggest something based on previous buying and browsing behaviour of all customers. The system would record a considerable amount of information and produce a database of conversion rates.

So if you're standing in front of a shelf full of, say, DVD players and you take one off the shelf, that is recorded. If you put it back on the shelf, that's recorded, as well as the time it took you to put it back. If you take it with you and buy it, that's also recorded. If you bought other items in the same trip, that's also recorded.

The number of sales compared to the number of "views" produces the sales conversion rate. I assume that if the shelf system would be make suggestions, it might suggest you buy something that's selling like hotcakes. Or something that's not selling? Of course, if you pay for your purchase with something that identifies you - such as a credit card, contactless or not - then it's possible that this info is also recorded. But even if it isn't, this is one of those applications of RFID that I don't have much respect for. It might help a retailer, but it amounts to leading people like sheep. Leave the "product recommendation" business to magazines or TV shows. [via RFID in Japan]

An alternate method of tracking buying behaviour [RFID in Japan] is being tested by DoCoMo, in Yokohama, using mobile phones and embedded RFID readers to collect data. Samsung has also been using RFID to analyze shopping patterns in Korea. These might all qualify as ways that RFID has invaded our lives.

Wal-Mart Moving Ahead Agressively With RFID

Giant retailer Wal-Mart has been running one of the largest conversions to RFID in the world. In fact, with exception of a Chinese railway ticketing project, Wal-Mart is essentially single-handedly driving a huge part of the RFID industry with their mandate. Part of that mandate is to ensure that each and every one of their suppliers use radio frequency technology in their supply chain as well.

Success levels to date have been reportedly varied, with some suppliers cooperating and others quite reluctant, having to be nudged by Wal-Mart's powerful hand. While Wal-Mart has been touting the benefits of RFID technology, at least for them, the biggest hurdle for the project appears to be those suppliers who feel that the ROI (Return on Investment) for them is not worth the efffort. Well Wal-Mart just upped the ante by announcing that they plan to convert another 500 of their stores (including Sam's Club) to RFID use, effectively doubling the number after the effort. Part of the new push includes adding another 300 suppliers to their list of those that are RFID-compliant. That would double the number to over 600 by Jan 2007.

The bulk of the EPC-based RFID tags in use will be pallet- and case-level, which are generally far less expensive than item-level tags. Benefits of their use, to Wal-Mart, includes reducing the number of out-of-stock items in-store, as well as reducing overstocked items. Benefits of use to suppliers? The cynical view: staying in business. The positive, or at least compliant view: the ability to refine production to generate optimum quantities

As I understand it, there won't be any dragging of suppliers kicking and screaming. Those who do not participate simply will cease to be suppliers to Wal-Mart.

Sources: [Line56, Food Business Review, Progressive Grocer, Food Production Daily Europe]

Wal-Mart takes retailing RFID to Canada

If it’s in America now can Canada be Far behind - That I think is the guiding philosophy behind the top brass at Wal-Mart USA. The Wal-Mart -RFID bonding is now legendary. With its financial muscle power its not surprising that they made it to the headlines when Wal-Mart Stores Inc.- World biggest retail chain - decided to introduce RFID technology into their shopping chain.

Now it seems like Wal-Mart Canada Corp. the Canadian subsidiary is preparing to launch a pilot project to match its current ongoing RFID program in the U.S. Wal-Mart Mart is hoping to convince retailers in Canada to join the RFID band wagon after a STORE conference later this week where in retailers will be introduced to the concept of RFID that Wal-Mart Mart is trying to sell.

One major difference though in the Canadian experiment would be that unlike in the US where it was mandatory for retailers to comply with certain specific guidelines in the move towards the RFID implementation, there would be no such compulsion in Canada.

Wal-Mart Mart is fully convinced of the benefits of using RFID in such supply and that is perhaps the single most important reason why Wal-Mart Mart is marching forward with its plans. Starting from being able to efficiently track all their goods in the supply chain providing end-to-end visibility, it can help gauge the movement of goods prompting suppliers when replenishment is required.

RFID can also track, delayed shipments and perhaps the most important feature of them all is the interconnectivity between the concerned supplier to Wal-Mart Mart and others in the chain.

Wal-Mart expects this pilot project to be completed by 2007 and Ontario has been selected for this pilot project because of the diversity in its population there. The future for Wal-Mart Mart in Canada will be largely decided by the success of this Pilot project. Considering the success Wal-Mart has had with RFID I can only predict the Canadian project can only be the same. Way to go Wal-Mart!

Wal-Mart takes retailing RFID to Canada

If it’s in America now can Canada be Far behind - That I think is the guiding philosophy behind the top brass at Wal-Mart USA. The Wal-Mart -RFID bonding is now legendary. With its financial muscle power its not surprising that they made it to the headlines when Wal-Mart Stores Inc.- World biggest retail chain - decided to introduce RFID technology into their shopping chain.

Now it seems like Wal-Mart Canada Corp. the Canadian subsidiary is preparing to launch a pilot project to match its current ongoing RFID program in the U.S. Wal-Mart Mart is hoping to convince retailers in Canada to join the RFID band wagon after a STORE conference later this week where in retailers will be introduced to the concept of RFID that Wal-Mart Mart is trying to sell.

One major difference though in the Canadian experiment would be that unlike in the US where it was mandatory for retailers to comply with certain specific guidelines in the move towards the RFID implementation, there would be no such compulsion in Canada.

Wal-Mart Mart is fully convinced of the benefits of using RFID in such supply and that is perhaps the single most important reason why Wal-Mart Mart is marching forward with its plans. Starting from being able to efficiently track all their goods in the supply chain providing end-to-end visibility, it can help gauge the movement of goods prompting suppliers when replenishment is required.

RFID can also track, delayed shipments and perhaps the most important feature of them all is the interconnectivity between the concerned supplier to Wal-Mart Mart and others in the chain.

Wal-Mart expects this pilot project to be completed by 2007 and Ontario has been selected for this pilot project because of the diversity in its population there. The future for Wal-Mart Mart in Canada will be largely decided by the success of this Pilot project. Considering the success Wal-Mart has had with RFID I can only predict the Canadian project can only be the same. Way to go Wal-Mart!

RFID Analyzes Shopping Patterns

The technology being used by Samsung Telco in Korea does monitor shopping patterns of its customers but the supermarket chain says its customers have no complaints. Signs plastered all over its 69 retail outlets scream that the shopping trolleys and baskets are tagged with RFID chips whose signals are picked up readers. The store’s managers are thus provided a map of each shopper’s movements across the store. These movements are translated into shopping patterns and customer shopping profiles. Accordingly, the most commonly selected items are placed closer together so that movement is minimized.

There are a few drawbacks though; unless shoppers use a trolley or basket, their movements cannot be used to generate more useful information. The chain also had to custom-build its readers as standard ones were too large to fit on the shelves. Samsung Telco has already spent more than $800,000 on its RFID implementation, $300,000 of which was subsidized by the Korean government. The supermarket plans to introduce “smart shelves”, which will use RFID technology for inventory control. A smart shelf will be able to notify mangers when its contents are running low.

Tesco Slows RFID Implementation

Slow read speeds, low tag quality, and poor performance attributed to the large number of readers in warehouses – these are the hurdles that European supermarket company Tesco will have to cross before it fully implements its RFID plans across all its outlets in the nation. The retailer had planned to deploy RFID tags and readers in each of its 1,400 shops and 30 distribution centers by the end of the second quarter of 2006. Due to the above-mentioned problems and other unforeseen situations, the company could only complete tagging items at 40 stores and one depot. They have switched plans and will now tag cages and trolleys instead of individual items. CRM Daily reports:

Peter Harrop, chairman of RFID research specialist IDTechEx, says Tesco may have bitten off more than it could chew. "A lot of rollouts have had problems with one reader interfering with another because retailers are using UHF bands that are not as efficient," he said. "Europe also has hostile radio regulations."

RFID Market - Analysis & Forecasts

The RFID market will increase ten times to become a $26 billion business in 2016 forecasts an IdTechEx article. The global spend on RFID labels for pallets and cases alone - mainly for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies - will be around $0.09 billion this year and is expected to go up to 1.75 billion in 2017 provided the price collapse doesn’t go beyond 5 cents and there is world wide demand.

Item level tagging vs. pallet and cases tagging: Most RFID suppliers to the retail and consumer goods industry are losing money, particularly where pallets and cases are concerned. This often amounts to millions of dollars yearly and sometimes more. Item level tagging is proving to be more beneficial to consumer goods suppliers whereas pallet/case tagging does not. Retailing giants like Marks and Spencer in the UK, Boekhandels Groep in the Netherlands and Maruetsu in Japan have proved this. So, item level tagging is not only happening alongside or even before pallet/case tagging, it usually commands a higher price and sees most participants making satisfactory, sustainable returns.

By contrast, most suppliers to the healthcare and air industry sectors will be more likely to make money, providing secure and enduring support for their customers. Suppliers of the healthcare industry especially will be doing a lot of good and saving human life at the same time by using RFID to combat the counterfeit drugs problem. Think of RFID enabled packs of pills that prompt and record compliance with instructions and error-preventing RFID on hospitals instruments. The Air industry will also benefit largely using RFID as an anti-terrorism measure in airports.

Despite this, retail/CPG will probably dominate the RFID market by sales value in ten years' time but if you look at the growth in the market we can say that the value of Healthcare and Air Industry RFID is growing faster than the RFID industry overall.

RFID to Foil Shoplifting

Surely at some stage in our lives we have all seen the electronic article surveillance (EAS) alarm getting triggered at some mall when some one tried to walk past with goods he had lifted.

Starting from June 2006, RFID will be integrated with existing EAS measures to form a more effective surveillance system to curb and check shoplifting. This new system from Vue Technology and Tag Co. will provide up to item-level visibility of high-end items in the store, and possibly catch a theft in action, before the product leaves the store. It will also give the store keeper trace where products are moved within the store which will not only help stop fraud but also improve in locating it location and in logistic upkeep.

This means that if a new employee at the shop decided to shift a large quantity of a certain item from its original shelf to elsewhere, this change would be picked up and be seen as the sameas shop lifting and would lead to setting off alarms. Alarms need not always be audible to let the person know his act has been noticed. According to Tim von Kaenel, Vue's senior vice president of product management and business development, the alarm could be a message appearing on the store's computer screens to convey shift of certain items has taken place giving full details of the exact location too.

Since these RFID tags cannot be read at distance more than 12 inches they will be ineffective at the doorways. Therefore it is felt that the combination of the two methods EAS (with a 9 foot range) and RFID will give the fool proof solution to check fraud both at the shelf level and at the door way.

Finally the new system with its advantages has one BIG plus point in its favor - there is no need to chuck away your existing EAS readers but merely need to upgrade it to a better solution provider. This along with the new tracking software called IntelliManager will be provided and integrated by Vue Technology at a reasonable price.

Multi-use RFID tags for reusable containers being studied

Ever wondered what Wal-Mart did with the used RFID tags? One thing is for certain nobody really wants electronic waste so what’s the answer? Reusable RFID tags and studies are being conducted to do just that in the near future. This will be just great if you think of the costs of the tags in the retail sector and not every company is a Wal-Mart who can use RFID tags and still manage to go on with business as normal.

The Reusable Pallet and Container Coalition (RPCC) is all set to begin testing RFID technology for the reusable containers its members make or manage. They also say they have Wal-Mart as one of nine companies on their user advisory council.

Next month, the RPCC will begin lab tests at a university to examine the durability of EPC Gen 2 RFID tags when used in conjunction with reusable containers made of wood, steel, plastic or other materials.

The association will begin research to establish the business case for using multiple-use tags on reusable shipping containers. "Unlike commonly used cardboard packaging that is disposed of once goods reach a retailer, reusable containers travel through the supply chain many times," says Jeanie Johnson, executive director of the RPCC, a Washington, D.C., trade association of companies that manufacture reusable pallets and containers and manage pooling services for users and distributors of these products.

A third party RFID solutions provider is said to do the lab test and the results of the lab tests will be out in a month’s time. RPCC will write a report and develop an economic model for integrating RFID tags with reusable transport packaging. The goal of the model and report will be quantify the return on investment of using RFID technology for reusable containers versus using it for expendable containers. Read more: here

Finally a field test and if everything goes well we could have multi-use tags for reusable containers. It could happen sooner than you think, right?

Counterfeiters make RFID the only option for pharmaceutical, brands, luxury goods...

Counterfeiters are estimated to sell up to £10 billion worth of fake goods a year in Britain, from sportswear and cigarettes to perfume and medicines, DVDs to compact discs. The problem extends to a wide range of brands from cigarettes to foodstuffs, from Nike to Rolex watches almost any brand or product is cleverly counterfeited these days.

Its big business and luxury good are big targets with EU figures showing that China as the main origin of many fake goods — 54% of all fakes seized in 2004 while Taiwan comes in second. Read: "Trying to snub out the fakes", for more details on the counterfeiting world.

This is where RFID comes in especially for the Pharmaceutical industry - Pfizer Inc., in a move to thwart counterfeit Viagra declared that it has included special radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on all packages of its anti-impotence pill to verify the authenticity.

How does this work for Pfizer in India? The tiny tags are small computer chips that have been affixed to the underside of labels on each bottle of Viagra, as well as on cases and pallets of the drug. The tags send out a signal that pharmacists in the United States will be able to pick up on specially designed electronic scanners. The product code detected by the scanner is sent over the Internet to a secure Pfizer Web site to confirm its authenticity. Tracking and tracing is another story, as it would be required to have compatible technology at all the distribution centers in every country.

A new law will come to force in Florida from July 1 requiring pharmaceutical distributors to document who takes possession of prescription drugs as they travel from manufacturers to retail shelves should help to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the supply chain. Read more: here

This means in places like US it would be easy to find out where the counterfeit drug got into the market and that's going to be great to secure genuine drugs. Don't you agree?

RFID to check losses in persihable commodity shipment

RFID is definitely in the future of all logistics support activities for any company or repute. Starting from US passports to tracking shipments, RFID has a fair share of presence in logistics tracking and this will only grow. In the days ahead it will not suffice to merely track items but also may require to monitor the health of the shipment. This may require being able to keep a check on all perishable commodities in a across the globe shipment. This wil make shipment of food and such delicate commodities not only easier to track but also constantly monitor ambient of shipping conditions.

Some big retailers like WalMart are currently working out traceability standards for all fresh products. The newer RFID tags from Savi Technologies for instance, can, in addition to being put on metal, plastic, wood or cardboard containers to help processors automatically locate goods in the supply chain, be set to monitor ambient temperature and humidity conditions as well. These RFID tags each have about 128 KB of memory and can be used to monitor exact conditions of our choice as set by the user. These tags are also designed in a manner to set of an real time alarm if any of the parameters falls outside the limits.

These alarms are not purely local alarms but once triggered it can be transmitted to anyone anywhere across the globe using the internet. This will help in getting required attention before total damage to the commodities occurs. This translates to cost savings and reduced losses. The Savi SensorTag comes for all sorts of containers and boxes including those which allow it to be fastened inside plastic, polycarbon, cardboard or wooden totes and containers or attached to pallets during transportation.

With the industry headed the way it is, arrival of smelly decaying  prawns or rotten apples will no longer be accepted.

Introducing RFID tag with privacy protecting features.

There is an ongoing debate questioning how secure one’s private data would be on a RFID tag. The contention is that since RF readers read RFID tags, theoretically it should be possible to read the same tag from a distance. If that were true then a lot of personal data on the tag would be compromised.

Industry experts have been working overtime to come up with an answer to this privacy related issue which if not solved will greatly hamper the acceptance of this technology. Towards this end IBM has developed a prototype tag with an ability to disable its ability to broadcast item information.

The clipped Tags as they are called come with perforations like a sheet of postage stamps do. So when required the tag is torn along the perforations to rip off the antenna portion making the tag readable only from very close. The tags are planned for use at a department store to protect the privacy regarding the items bought. Typically, an item-level RFID tag stores a single Electronic Product Code (EPC). An EPC is a 96-bit identification number that indicates a manufacturer's code and product code, along with a unique serial number of an item. Using the EPC, it is possible to trace the full history of the item including where an item was shipped from, how long it sat on store shelves and price history.

To ensure a higher degree of privacy, the EPC standards body EPCglobal built a Kill command into the new Gen2 communications protocol for UHF tags. The Kill command will result in deactivating the tag permanently. While this will definitely assure a greater degree of privacy once a customer is past the till, it is going to create a huge problem when it comes to returning an item with a 30 day money back policy.

IBM has filed a patent application for the Clipped Tag but what future uses it will put it to and who all will it be licensed to remains to be seen.

China’s RFID Woes

Wal-Mart’s attempt to get all its suppliers to apply RFID tags to their products is running into trouble with Chinese manufacturers reluctant to do so because various reasons, including rising costs and low profit margins. The American retailer, looking to usher in transparency in supply chains, announced in April 2004 that it had asked its top 100 suppliers to RFID-tag all goods supplied from the beginning of 2005. But the plan seems to be going awry, with Chinese companies that currently provide over 65 percent of Wal-Mart’s non-food products reluctant to comply with Wal-Mart’s directives.

One reason is that they have to bear the cost of not only the tags, but also the initial investment costs of software, scanning hardware, and consulting services. The returns from investing in RFID deployments are reaped only by a few parts of the supply chain such as shipping, packaging, warehousing, and marketing, being virtually non-existent for the supplying units.  So the question arises – why should the suppliers have to bear the costs associated with RFID when the retailers reap all the rewards?

Even if a few suppliers are willing to bear the associated costs, their RFID initiatives are hampered by the temporary licenses they are issued to use the 860960 MHz UHF band that is presently assigned by the Chinese government for RFID use. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the frequency band is already congested with the services provided by GSM and CDMA mobile phone operators. Combined with China’s disinclination to let a foreign RFID standard control its local market, the suppliers find themselves in a rather difficult situation.

RFID Developer Goes Public

RFID developer AbsoluteSKY Inc. has entered the trading market with the stock symbol ABSY. The company, which builds RFID solutions for the retail sector, started publicly trading its shares. It is backed by a solid foundation in technology, a good management team, and innovative visions about the potential of RFID. Chron.com reports:

With unique solutions and a deep-rooted understanding of the retail business, AbsoluteSKY holds the potential to move to the forefront of the rapidly emerging RFID field, which industry experts have predicted to grow to over $2B U.S. worldwide in 2006, with the retail sector accounting for almost half of this figure in the U.S. alone, becoming over $3B US by 2008.

US RFID Solutions Company enters Indian market

India's retail industry is witnessing extraordinary growth which is very encouraging for the RFID industry. US based RFID and shrink management company, Checkpoint is all set to make use of the potential existing in the Indian retail market. It opened a Indian subsidiary called Checkpoint Systems India Pvt. Ltd. to cater to the RFID needs of the big retailers in India.

Checkpoint has already provided solutions to retailers like Pantaloons, Big Baazar, Marks & Spencer, Ritu Wears and others in India. It plans to take on the huge $180 Billion Indian retail market by establishing its office in Mumbai, Delhi and other parts of East and South India.

Checkpoint's RFID systems like SmartEAS can help Indian retailers save on labor, data latency and product handling errors. The company has started work on manufacturing Hard tags for its RFID solutions. Checkpoint plans to move to other neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan from India. PR Newswire reports:

"India is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world and Checkpoint sees an excellent potential here", says Mr. John Davies, President- Asia Pacific, Checkpoint Systems Inc. , USA. "We are not going to miss this enormous opportunity and have already established strong relationships with leading retailers."

Wal-Mart's pet product supplier meets RFID mandate

A small sized company supplying pet related products to Wal-Mart has been able to meet the latter's RFID mandate with the help of RFID Infrastructure company IDVelcocity. The company known by the name Pet Friendly is using IDVelocity's ComplianceNow software solution to ship its RFID tagged products to six distribution centers. Wal-Mart wanted Pet Friendly's participation in their RFID initiative since it had a very good performance record with the retailer and also because 85% of the products made by the company came to the shelves of Wal Mart.

Pet Friendly says taking up the RFID project has not just helped them in complying with Wal Mart''s requirement but it has also shown them a new way of redcuing costs and managing their inventory in a better manner. The software provided by IDVelocity is forward looking and promises to provide a platform that can help in charting the future growth of the company and get better ROI from RFID.

Pet Friendly is the first small sized company from the state of Alabama that has brought RFID into its business and it hopes that they will set the trend for other smaller businesses to follow in their footsteps.Yahoo Finance reports:

"We are so much more than compliance," remarked Britt Peace, IDVelocity account manager for Pet Friendly. "Our solution leaves Pet Friendly with a strategy for making RFID-enabled processes a business revolution, not just an increased cost for being a supplier for Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart takes the next step on its RFID project

Wal-Mart continues to advance its RFID venture by testing the sharing of data from its Radio Indentification tags through automated electronic data interchange transmissions (EDI). The next phase of RFID implementation includes putting in place an EPC Information Service (EPCIS) that will allow RFID tags to send an advanced notice of any shipping that is on its way to the retailer.

Suppliers can pick up inventory related information from Wal-Mart's Web-based software called Retail Link. Recently, Wal-Mart also started using handheld RFID scanners to help in the replenishment of its out-of-stock items. Wal-Mart staff will soon be equipped with information telling them when to move products from their store rooms to their stores.

The next RFID agenda for Wal-Mart is to track its cold storage items. Changes are also being made to adopt the Gen2 RFID tags. Wal-Mart brought in about 430 suppliers on its RFID project and hopes to add another 300 by January 2007. techweb reports:

The trial is being conducted with a handful of suppliers and EPCglobal Inc., the standards group spearheading RFID adoption. "We're just aboout to enter the next phase where those suppliers will push their information to us as they ship the products,"Simnon Lanford, RFID global manager at Wal-Mart said. "With this process, we will have the capability to see product on the way to us."

Texas Instruments ships Gen2 RFID tagged cases to Wal Mart

Moving on to the next generation of tags, Texas Instruments (TI) began to ship its Educational & Productivity product cases and pallets to Wal Mart Stores Inc. affixed with Gen 2 RFID tags. TI began to supply its range of calculators in cases that carried the new tag as per Wal Mart's request for the same.

Presently these units will be delivered to five of Wal Mart's stores located in Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. The company plans to deliver similarly tagged units to other European countries too, beginning with Netherlands by next year.

TI has spent $500,000 on the project and believes that it will recover the investment within three years. The tracking system is supported by Oracle Corp's ERP platform. The target for 2006 is to use 250,000 RFID tags. At present the tags rest only on the cases and pallets, but future plans include embedding them on the product itself so that not only can they be tracked through the supply chain but to also observe environmental disturbances that might be caused by the disposal of such products. informationweek.com reports:

"Twelve in our calculator line meet Wal-Mart's request for Gen 2 tags," said Keith Hodnett, vice president, Texas Instruments and supply chain manager for the Educational & Productivity Solutions group. "We've also had inquiries about Gen 2 from several European and U.S. customers. Target is one."

NEC add new dimension to Customer Care with RFID cards

A unique RFID enabled card called NECare Customer Card was launched for the first time by NEC Solutions Asia Pacific that should change the way customer care service works in most organizations. So far, for every query or complaint, the customer had to fill personal details on a form and produce his warranty card or purchase bill. With the new card, all a customer has to do when he needs a service is to flash his or her card on the reader at the NECare Center. This will make all his personal details available to the customer care service officer at the centre.

The card will also serve as a product warranty card and a Privilege Customer Card. Customers will receive promotional offers and new updates on their cards. The card has been introduced in Singapore. NEC hopes to make a difference to its business with the new card. computerworld.com.sg reports:

"With the incorporation of NEC's 'Ubiquitous Can Change' concept and the utilization of advanced RFID technology, NEC is proud to be first in Singapore to introduce RFID-enabled customer-centric card. The advent of the NECare Customer Card marks another milestone in the customer-centric approach to our business. I also speaks volumes of our commitment to customer care," said David Ng, Senior Vice President, Business Services Group, NEC Solutions Asia Pacific.

US retail giant Kroger to test run RFID with OATSystems

The third largest retailer in the US, Kroger Co. of the Kroger supermarket chain of stores, has decided to do a field trial of RFID technology to keep a track of its meat products through its supply chain. With Wal Mart setting the trend among retailers to implement RFID for its fresh food products, Kroger too plans to take advantage of the new technology.

The retailer plans to use the RFID middleware and systems integration of OATSystems to track the temperature history of its meat products. Battery powered tags with sensors will keep a check on the meat products as they make their journey to the company's distribution centers and retail stores. Passive tags will also be used to track case-ready goods within the retail store.

The technology will enable sale of items according to their expiry date. According to a research firm, fresh items contribute to 50% of the profits for most grocery shops. With RFID this profitability can be maintained and perhaps increased in the future. rfidjournal.com reports:

"There are huge opportunities [for RFID] around fresh product management for things such as case-ready meat products, dairy, seafood and produce," Marc Osofsky, vice president of marketing and product management for OATSystems claims. By helping to ensure that fresh goods are sold before reaching their expiration date, he says, RFID could potentially save a large grocery store chain hundreds of millions of dollars annually and cut the 60 percent loss in half.

Symbol Technologies to make RFID products for Europe and Asia Pacific

Facing competition from rival company Intermec Technologies Corp., Symbol Technologies plans to expand its market by venturing into the European and the Asia Pacific market. At present the company's horizon is more or less limited to the US market.

Symbol plans to add forklifts and other mobile applications to its already existing devices that are being used by shipping companies. It is developing alliances with 7000 development and channel partners. It plans to deliver its products in Europe from 2006.

The focus is on developing better software and interfaces, specially for the XR400 RFID fixed and handheld readers. The company has already built the capacity to deliver anywhere between 200 to 400 million RFID inlays to the marketplace. With new license revenue expected to reach $751 million in 2006, Symbol should see good growth in the future. informationweek.com reports:

Phil Lazo, vice president and general manager of RFID infrastructure at Symbol Technologies said the U.S is the "dominant market" for Symbol today, followed by Asia and Europe, but that mix "will change next year" as the company gets new products into those markets."We have built the capacity to deliver between 200 million and 400 million RFID Inlays to the market place," he said.

New Study on RFID for Apparel and Footwear Industries

Kurt Salmon Associates , a global solutions provider on retail and consumer products, has prepared a study titled 'Moving Forward with Item-Level Radio Frequency Identification in Apparel/Footwear.' The study was released by the Voluntary Inter industry Commerce Standards Committee (VICS) and the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA).

The report was made after various business practices were observed to study the impact of RFID on manufacturing, store operations, finance and other functions. The findings assert that the implementation of RFID in the retail store environment can provide great benefits for both the industry. It says that implementation of RFID in a single upstream process will not be cost effective but when applied at retail level it will give great margins.

The report talks about those areas where RFID item-level tagging can provide the greatest value in the supply chain. It clearly points out who all can benefit the maximum from RFID. And finally it lists which products and items can best adapt to RFID. morerfid.com reports:

"The results of the white paper indicate clear benefits for RFID item-level tagging for the apparel and footwear value chain, especially at the store level. Companies running pilots are beginning to realize the potential benefits of this technology," said Mary Howell, Vice President, Industry Relations, American Apparel & Footwear Association.

German retailer initiates RFID pilot

German's largest retailer REWE, with more than 11,500 shops, began to test RFID implementation at a pallet-level pilot, at its Norderstedt distribution center in order to gain an edge in its supply chain management. The test involves the use of UHF Gen 2 inlays supplied by top ranking company, UPM Rafsec, that is engaged in the supply of RFID tags and inlays.

REWE has garnered 30 suppliers in the first phase of its pilot. It has created a REWE RFID intranet which is a label pool that can be accessed by REWE partners for ordering the labels they need. The two label types used in the pilot are a standard 4X6 inch label and the UPM Rafsec FlagTag TM.

The tags used are showing good reading ability promising very efficient pallet labeling throughout the supply chain. The UPM Rafsec FlagTags are specially designed to tag pallets that hold difficult content like fluids, glass and metal. With the implementation of RFID, REWE hope to gain advantage over its competitors in the market. morerfid.com reports:

Following RFID mandates from major global retailers, REWE Group has itself decided to begin implementing RFID and is the first to use the latest Gen 2 technology. In comprehensive RFID labeling test at REWE distribution center, UPM Rafsec FlagTagTM UHF tags demonstrated excellent readability to guarantee outstandingly reliable pallet labeling throughout the entire supply chain.

Japanese company to invest heavily in global RFID market

Looking at RFID's future potential. a Japanese manufacturer of automation and sensing products, Omron Corporation, is planning to invest $20 million in RFID label inlay and reader products. Omron has 20 years of experience in global RFID product manufacturing and in its application.

The recent mandate of Wal-Mart Stores' RFID to its top suppliers motivated Omron to focus on the US market. According to Wal-Mart, all its top 100 suppliers have to put RFID tags on shipping crates and pallets. Omron not only plans to target the Wal-Mart suppliers, it also has other major retailers like Best Buy and Target stores in its sight.

Investments will include establishing a training center, a testing center, a marketing and sales operations office with support on sales and technical requirements. Omron RFID labels and chips are said to be better in quality and have less failure rates. Their ability to function on difficult environments should make Omron a popular brand.home. businesswire.com reports:

Omron president and chief executive officer Hisao Sakuta, who has appointed himself as project leader, said "RFID is an important, global initiative which requires a large investment. I believe RFID could be a major growth engine for the company." Sakuta said that certain market conditions in the U.S. and Omron's own history in RFID product development and testing are creating these opportunities.

Impinj Inc. and Texas Instruments collaborate for Gen2 RFID products

Impinj Inc. got its Monza RFID chips certified as those meeting the Gen 2 standards sometime last year by EPCglobal Inc. The same chips will now be used by Texas Instruments Inc. for the production of RFID inlay and strap products as per a recent agreement signed between the two companies. Texas Instruments is a leading provider of RIFD chips, Inlays and strap products, while Impinj Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company.

Under the agreement, it is expected that Impinj will ship more than 50 million Monza RFID chips in the current quarter. Impinj's Monza chips are being produced by Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Co. Ltd. in Taiwan. These chips transmit RF signals in the 900-MHz frequency and are of global standards.

At present, Texas Instruments is inserting Impinj's chips in its inlay assembly plant but in the future it plans to develop its own Gen 2 chips sometime in the first quarter of 2006. The arrangement between the two companies will give Texas Instruments the early bird advantage of being one of the first few entrants into the market. informationweek.com reports:

Texas instruments sells inlays and straps, components consisting of antennae and silicon that are inserted into an RFID label. "The initial production of inlays and straps are using Impinj silicon," said Enu Waktola, marketing manager for the retail supply chain at Texas Instruments. "It's an interim step to accelerate availability of Gen 2 products to label converter customers and hardware partners that needed tags to develop systems.

A new RFID lab from Kimberly Clark Corp.

Following the recent inauguration of a RFID lab in Madison by the University of Wisconsin, Kimberely Clark Corp. (K-C) also opened an extensive lab devoted to RFID. K-C which has been working on RFID hopes to become a 'thought leader' with real life experimentation and implementation of RFID at its new lab. Unlike the lab opened by the University of Wisconsin where a large number of retailers are involved as participants, the K-C lab is a single company venture. The lab is expected to imitate real life manufacturing and warehouse environment so that real time problems and solutions can be worked upon.

Following Wal-Mart's direction in 2003 to all its top suppliers to start using RFID, KC was the first company to have its products RFID tag read by WalMart. K-C RFID lab is also the first company to have accreditation by EPCglobal, a non profit organization that says the lab meets all global standards to give customers cost-effective RFID technology. The company also holds the distinction of winning the RFID early adopter award from Consumer Goods Technology Magazine. K-C has plans to trim its workforce and close some its manufacturing units and divert the money thus saved into more R&D on RFID. postcrescent.com reports:

"We're going to be on the leading edge of technology and be a thought leader in this field,said  Perkins, K-C's senior vice president and chief technical officer. "We want to make sure our customers find the right products at the right place and the right time. This lab here is real life. We have everything that you would find in a typical manufacturing facility or distribution centre. We want to make sure what we work on will work out in the field."

Post offices across the world are expected to adopt RFID

Courier companies and post offices like the Saudi Post, Deutsche Post and its subsidiary DHL have held successful trials of RFID on individual items proving their utility in the postal services. Other postal organizations in China, Korea, Taiwan, South Arabia, Germany and the United States have all shown interest in adopting the technology to track packages.

Following a study of the above trends, the research firm, IDTechEx, found that there was a move towards revamping postal systems all over the world to make package delivery more prompt, secure and cheaper. And this includes adopting RFID as a technology to enable traceability of packages that are based on real-time.

A fall in the cost of RFID labels has added to the demand. Adoption of the high frequency 13.56 MHz RFID applications in other sectors like libraries, laundries and ticketing has also encouraged the postal service to adopt it.

IDTechEx believes that the postal and the carrier services will have one trillion packages and letters that will be labeled using RFID by the year 2010. If that is to happen then the mail service will become ground for the second largest application of RFID. informationweek.com reports:

The technology already is being deployed at carriers to secure access to vehicles, trailers, and sorting and shipping areas. "We see a strong move toward revamping total postal systems to make it much easier to send and receive the correct package more promptly with better cost and security control," said Peter Harrop, chairman at research firm IDTechEx.

RFID in Postal and Courier Service

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the reading of information on small devices using radio frequencies. It minimises the chance or errors and provides cost-effective solutions. Now it is being used in Postal and Courier services. In these services, it is used for secure access by people to vehicles and secure areas. It is also used to provide access to vehicles to the location of parcels, conveyances and trailers.

RFID monitors the performance of the letter post and matches letters to postal boxes to prevent errors and records. In Sweden, it is the basis of smart packages that record time of tampering, theft, and leads to arrests. Appropriate ISO global specifications are now available for very high volume RFID tagging of individual items. idtechex.com reports:

RFID can facilitate the perfect product recall and postal companies are fitting RFID labels on cases and pallets of consumer packaged goods at the behest of Wal-Mart and other leading retailers, because it increases availability and thus sales and reduces costs, valued at billions of dollars yearly for that industry. The same is being done for the US Military because the faster, more transparent supply chain improves operational capability.

VeriSign extends supply chain management capabilities with purchase of Retail Solutions

California based VeriSign, a leading provider of supply chain services platform, made new additions to its infrastructural capabilities by acquiring Retail Solutions, Inc, (RSI) provider of operational point-of-sale (POS) data to the retail industry. VeriSign provides infrastructure to voice and data networks for enabling secure flow of data. Real Solutions offers POS data that gives detailed information about products that have been sold through retailers.

VeriSign has also signed another agreement with World Wide Retail Exchange (WWRE) for delivering POS services. Combining VeriSign's infrastructure with Real Solution's POS data will enable RFID supply chain markets to provide real time and relevant data facilitating better decision making. RSI already has 130 customers from some of the biggest industries. By acquiring RSI, VeriSign stands to gain all these customers and their data records for their platform. The deal cost VeriSign a sum of $24 million in cash. prnewswire.com reports:

"Verisign is increasingly working to leverage its strength -- secure, scalable infrastructure -- to provide value to customers and partners in the supply chain, " said Ann Gracin, chief executive officer of ChainLink Research. "With the addition of POS data service, VeriSign has taken a big step forward in this area.

RFID Workshop

RFID International is organizing RFID workshops. These workshops will be informative, interactive and educational. They will provide knowledge and insights to the corporate teams. As RFID has been acknowledged as the next generation technology, major organizations and enterprises are considering the deployment of RFID in their businesses. The RFID workshops have been designed to enable people within organizations to get the whole picture on radio frequency identification (RFID) in a workshop.

RFID will definitely help the companies to optimize the solutions. It will determine the feasibility of RFID in the businesses. Corporate benefits of RFID are very large and companies have realized this. ferret.com reports:

As part of the RFID workshop companies will gain an understanding of what the technology is, learn about active versus passive tags, low frequency to microwave, compliance issues, the realities of RFID, options, capabilities and limitations of the technology. Most importantly, the workshops help companies walk through the minefield of information in the press and obtain the facts from an independent trusted source.

Wal Mart witnesses reduction in out of stock merchandise with RFID

In a recent study that was commissioned by Wal-Mart and conducted by the University of Arkansas, it was found RFID contributed to a reduction of 16% in out of stock goods. The research also established that RFID enabled merchandise was being replaced three times faster than those using standard bar-code technology, and that overall all RFID-enabled stores were 63% more successful in replenishing out-of-stock products. In addition, RFID also helped reduce excess inventory.

Researchers held the survey for 29 weeks analyzing merchandise at 12 pilot stores that included Wal-Mart and other stores like Supercenters and Discount stores along with 12 other stores that did not have RFID. The findings have convinced Wal-Mart and most other retailers about the benefits of RFID.

With the prices of RFID tags going down, Wal-Mart hopes most suppliers will start tagging more and more merchandise by next year. Wal-Mart itself plans to have more than 500 stores and clubs and five distribution centers embedded with RFID by the end of October 2005. And by 2006, it plans on 1000 such RFID enables stores, clubs and centers. informationweek.com reports:

Beyond improvements for in-stock merchandise, Wal-Mart also sees benefits from RFID in overall inventory reduction throughout the supply chain, which is important to drive down costs. "With little effort we have been able to make inroads into this area," says Rollin Ford, executive vice president for logistics in Wal-Mart.

Bell Canada to conduct RFID test for retailers and suppliers

A segment of the retailers and suppliers industry in Canada recently appointed Bell Canada to pilot a RFID test project to better performance and reduce costs. The group of industry that appointed Bell consists of companies like Staples, Unisource and UPS Supply Chain Solutions and is called the Supply Chain Network project.

The project  involves holding RFID test on electronic products right from the shop floor to the retail store. It will be conducted at a business depot store of Staples and up to four suppliers are going to participate in the test. This is the first of its kind test to be held in Canada that involves manufacturers, distributors and retailers. The RFID used will be of international standards.

The project is expected to improve process, increase visibility of inventory and reduce duplication and handling of goods. Overall, it aims to reduce cost and improve performance. canada.com reports:

"This project is about increasing Staples Business Depot's productivity and decreasing their costs," said Paul Rowe, vice president of enterprise solutions at Bell. The pilot project, which Bell calls Canada's first end-to-end electronic product code/RFID test, will use a Staples Business Depot store and up to four suppliers.

Retailers hope for returns from RFID

Retailers have implemented RFID into their businesses with a hope that they will receive adequate returns from it. Many companies are now planning to integrate RFID into their supply chain. They are evaluating the benefits of RFID tracking and auditing projects. Retailer Mark & Spencer (M&S) has scanned its 10-million RFID food tray. It had adopted RFID in 2002 by using tags embedded into standard trays used to transport fresh food.

According M&S sources, the RFID trial initiated by the company has resulted in cost-effective accurate service. M&S supply chain now has 4.5 million trays used by 100 food suppliers. 90 per cent of its food supply are now RFID-compliant. vnunet.com reports:

The data collected is used to confirm deliveries and automate procurement four times more quickly than previous barcode scanning methods, with 100 per cent accuracy. The retailer built on the success of the food trials by launching in April a project to RFID-tag items of clothing.

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