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One of the most destructive, and evil accomplices of the Illuminati and the New World Order....... Wal-Mart This article is from CNET online/ New York Times Wal-Mart hits snags in RFID push Last modified: March 29, 2004, 5:48 AM PST By Barnaby J. Feder The New York Times When Mart Stores surprised its suppliers last summer by announcing an aggressive timetable for them to put radio frequency identification tags on their shipments, it put manufacturers of the most tightly controlled prescription drugs on the fastest track of all. They were supposed to send bulk shipments of such drugs in RFID containers to a distribution center near the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., by the end of this month. With that deadline just days away, Wal-Mart is now acknowledging that it will not be met. A few companies have begun sending radio-tagged drugs, Wal-Mart spokesman Gus Whitcomb said, although he declined to identify them. Whitcomb said that the company, which operates 3,000 pharmacies, had revised its goal and wants all drug makers on board by the end of June. The drifting deadline is the latest in a string of accommodations that Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has been forced to make as it pushes to deploy RFID in its supply tracking process. "Wal-Mart keeps cutting back on its requirements," said Michael Liard, the senior analyst following radio tag technology at the Venture Development Corporation, a market research company in Natick, Mass. "They're not ready; the industry's not ready; and the technology is not ready." Cost an issue An RFID system uses electronic readers to retrieve digital data stored in microchips embedded in plastic product tags, with metal grids around the chip that serve as an antenna. Unlike bar code scanners, the radio readers can collect data from tagged items packed in boxes or hidden behind other items. And unlike common bar codes, the digital chips can carry more information about a product, like when and where that specific item was made. Radio tags could one day be integrated with sensors to record and report, among other things, whether refrigerated goods became too warm during the trip from manufacturer to consumer. One hurdle bogging down Wal-Mart and its suppliers is the cost of the devices. The tags alone cost 25 cents to 30 cents each. Analysts contend that for many companies the price needs to fall to 5 cents or less before the investments can be recovered from the savings generated by moving goods more rapidly and accurately through supply chains. In the drug industry and others where counterfeiting and tampering are major concerns, the tags may pay off sooner. Everyone, meanwhile, faces challenges such as figuring out how far electronic readers can be positioned from the tags without missing crucial data and how to overcome the tendency of liquids and metals to block the signal. While today's readers can easily identify a pallet of Coca-Cola in cans, for example, and cartons on the outside edge of a pallet, they have trouble picking out cartons in the middle of the pallet. It is also becoming apparent that industrywide standards for advanced tags and readers are developing more slowly than the technology's advocates had hoped. That adds to the incentives for delaying investment. Wal-Mart was aware of these issues when it announced last June that it expected its top 100 suppliers to use radio tags on shipments by 2005, with all suppliers complying by the end of next year. But in November, Wal-Mart told the top group of suppliers--which swelled to 132 participants as companies eager to be pacesetters asked to be included--that the year-end deadline would apply only to a limited number of goods shipped to three distribution centers serving 150 stores in Texas. Continue |