RFID and
Walmart
Let’s see RFID
and Walmart closely. The retail giant was expected to throw its
weight behind RFID (radio frequency identification) technology at
the Retail Systems 2003 industry conference in Chicago.
Sources familiar with the company's plans said executives will make
a presentation encouraging its top 100 suppliers to start using
wireless inventory tracking equipment--chips affixed to products,
and scanners in warehouses--by 2005.
Wal-Mart's
endorsement of RFID and Walmart gives an important boost to efforts
to overhaul the world's supply chains, a makeover that could provide
a shot in the arm for technology companies struggling to find buyers
for the latest products and services. RFID is expensive, but backers
say it offers long-term benefits that could dwarf the impact of the
bar code on inventory control and distribution.
RFID spending
will be "bigger than...Y2K," predicted AMR Research analyst Pete
Abell. "I imagine there will be a rush on investing in RFID."
Suppliers are already exploring the use of RFID technology in
tracking goods from the factory to warehouses. But backing from
retailers is considered important because it could ultimately allow
products to be tracked on store shelves.
Executives from
Bentonville, Ark.-based RFID and Walmart are expected to
aggressively push for the adoption of Walmart RFID technology during
a presentation at an upcoming event for retailers, suppliers and
distributors, sources said. Part of the discussion will involve the
significance of standards development and its effect on the
widespread adoption throughout the supply chain.
Wal-Mart
representatives did not return calls for comment.
RFID tags have
the potential to streamline and improve inventory management by
allowing manufacturers to more efficiently enter and track the flow
of goods. For example, RFID could let a company add a boxful of
goods to its inventory systems all at once, without having to unpack
the carton and scan each piece separately. An RFID scanner can pick
up signals from all the chips in the sealed box, something bar code
systems can't do.
The cost
savings could be substantial for RFID and Walmart, the world's
biggest retailer with sales of $217.8 billion in 2002. AMR's Abell
estimates that Wal-Mart's costs associated with supply
chain--including storing, transporting and keeping track of
goods--are about 10 percent of overall sales. RFID, Abell said,
could save 6 percent to 7 percent of those costs annually. Using the
2002 figures as a model, that would amount to about $1.3 billion to
$1.5 billion saved.
Such savings
are an attractive brass ring, but installing the technology is no
small task. RFID and Walmart suppliers "may find it difficult to
meet the early 2005 time frame," Abell
said.
Some more
examples to show how RFID and Walmart are associated together.
Recently, Walmart goes serious with RFID. A good discussion on RFID
and Walmart MetaFilter. Apparently, US Giant retailer Walmart is
forcing its top 100 suppliers to track goods using RFID by 2005.
Walmart even seems to track women's panties
already!
Gilette started
the wave last year, but if every single product one buys now will
implement a long-lived passive tracking device, the opportunities
are rife for retailers to dig into people's
privacy...
Let’s have a
look on one personal story, My Personal Encounter with the RFID and
Walmart
Comment, from
mzaneg on 6-10-3
This is my
personal encounter with the RFID and Walmart tags.
I bought two
pairs of panties a few months ago at Wal-Mart. these were the kind
that were hung on a little plastic hanger, individually sold, and
not packaged (I’m sure many women are familiar with these).
Anyway, one day
I noticed a small hard object inside the crotch of the panties I had
chosen to wear that day. When I began to investigate what this was I
realized that the panties had an opening at the seam of the cotton
crotch lining. I felt inside to get the small hard object which was
glued or taped with some type of strong adhesive. I had worn and
washed the panties several times before noticing this so that will
give u some idea how strong this adhesive was as well as how small.
The object was
in an unmarked white casing very small less than half an inch long
and fairly thin across. i checked the other pair of panties (same
make but different color) and it also had the object inside the
crotch. It was so small it was undetectable by just the wearing. i
had no idea what it was though thought it odd but really didn't give
it much though i just threw the little things away ... now I wish I
had kept them.
And now ...
today I just read this article on RFID and Walmart and just knew
that that little thing in my panties was a tracking device!!
Seems to me
that a thing like that would be placed in an obvious place where the
person buying the product can see and remove it. I hope you post
this so people will be sure to check products they buy at Wal-Mart.
btw, I don't shop at Walmart anymore but from what this article
states, it looks like we may be fighting a losing battle.
I did a little
research and was shocked at the possibilities of privacy invasion
with RFID. Few good links are below for more info on the
subject.
Yours truly,
Gena
Now, instead of
paranoid worries, I hope people start focusing on the promise of
RFIDs: instant checkouts, instant inventories, instant customer
feedback to the retailer (meaning better product choices by the
stores) and much better inventory management (meaning lower
prices!). Never mind traceable warranties, potential theft
prevention/insurance, etc, etc, etc...
RFID Chip, also
known as RFID tags, is being touted as the greatest invention for
retailers since the bar code. A tiny computer chip can be embedded
in any product for sale, or the package it comes in, to uniquely
identify it. In a store such as Wal-Mart, a company seriously
interested in the technology, an RFID scanner sends out a radio
signal, and each chip responds. The retailer has just taken
inventory, saving a great deal of work. As great as this may sound,
there is a dark side to this
technology.
Wal-Mart and
Gillette recently tested the usefulness of placing RFID tags on
Gillette razor blades sold at Wal-Mart stores. RFID antennas on
store shelves tracked when customers picked up razors, when they put
them back on the shelf, and when they carried them to the register.
The project was designed to help give the retailer insight on
shopping behavior, prevent shoplifting, and to alert employees when
shelves needed to be re-stocked.
