Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out

Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out to Start in Texas: Wal-Mart will use a phased approach to its ambitious radio-frequency identification technology rollout, requiring pallet and case-level tracking for three distribution centers and 150 stores in the Texas region beginning in January 2005, according to a vendor briefed by the company.  Additional regional Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out of the program will continue on a quarterly basis throughout 2005, says Greg Gilbert, who directs RFID product management for Manhattan Associates Inc., an RFID software supplier.

If you look at the way Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out any supply chain or compliance initiative in the past, it has always been a very pragmatic, tactical, phased approach as opposed to trying to do it all in a big bang. Wal-Mart officials met with about 128 companies that supply goods to its stores to provide further details of its Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out plan, which calls for its top 100 suppliers to provide RFID tracking capabilities on a pallet and case level by January 2005.

IBM To Help Wal-Mart RFID Roll-Out with Service and Software: RFID technology is being rolled out by chipmakers such as Texas Instruments and Phillips, while other large players, such as Intel, are taking a wait-and-see approach. For its part, IBM said it will offer consulting and implementation services along with specialized software to help phase in RFID. The IBM offering, based on open standards, links to retailers' existing back-end inventory systems using WebSphere Business Integration software running on WebSphere Application Server, DB2 Information Integrator, Tivoli Access Manager or WebSphere Portal Server.

 As a result of the recent Wal-Mart and Department of Defense (DoD) RFID (radio frequency identification) mandates, suddenly hundreds of manufacturers are seeking guidance on how to implement RFID systems. Enter the channel. VARs and integrators of all sizes are investing in RFID knowledge and offering everything from total solutions to customized RFID readers. If you are not familiar with the intricate nuances of RFID tags and standards, have no fear; there is still a place for you in this growing market. For instance, many manufacturers of bar code printers offer RFID-enabled models that print a type of RFID tag often referred to as a smart label.

These are normal adhesive labels that have an embedded RFID inlay (transponder), which is composed of a metallic antenna loop and a silicon chip. The printers are equipped with an RFID reader/writer that encodes the transponder and then immediately checks if the tag is readable. Once encoded, the labels are printed with whatever bar codes, text, or graphics are needed.