Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Forrester on CNET - "Commentary: RFID's win at Wal-Mart"

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 20:20:57 -0400

-------- Original Message --------
From: Anthony Townsend <[email-masked]>
Subject: Forrester on CNET - "Commentary: RFID's win at Wal-Mart"

Commentary: RFID's win at Wal-Mart

By Forrester Research
  Special to CNET News.com
  September 8, 2003, 9:15AM PT

By Christine S. Overby, Senior Analyst

Wal-Mart Stores CIO Linda Dillman announced earlier this year that the 
retailer will require its top 100   suppliers to use radio frequency ID 
tags on pallets and cases by January 2005.

Other major players, most notably Gillette and Benetton, have recently 
made public their support of RFID, which has been met with mixed 
reactions from technology optimists who trumpet the possibilities and 
from consumer privacy advocates who cry foul. But Wal-Mart's 
endorsement represents the real tipping point for retail adoption, as 
its top 100 suppliers must now embark upon or expand their own RFID 
efforts.

  Wal-Mart's announcement will cause some sleepless nights for CIOs who 
are anticipating the data   overload on today's IT systems. But help is 
on the way, as new applications that provide RFID data   management and 
integration will become a low-cost reality in 2004--thanks to the 
Uniform Code Council   (UCC) and EAN International's new role in 
Auto-ID standards and the launch of the UCC subsidiary Auto   ID.

  With nearly 1 million member companies in more than 140 countries, UCC 
and EAN constitute   the epicenter of global standards for product 
data. Auto ID will aggregate the learnings of today's   regional RFID 
initiatives--including the U.S. Auto-ID Center Field Tests and the U.K. 
Chipping of Goods   projects--to address country-specific system 
modifications for North America, Asia, Europe and Latin   America.

  Later this month, Auto ID plans to release the standards and 
specifications for the electronic   product code (EPC) network--the 
data standard the Auto-ID Center and its sponsors developed, which   
Dillman cites as "retail's implementation of RFID." This is a critical 
step, as Dillman took an   open-standards-or-bust position by stating, 
"(Wal-Mart) won't implement anything that's proprietary."

The standardized EPC network will make it economically feasible for 
technology companies to develop the   applications and middleware 
necessary for mainstream trade-unit RFID tagging. The news that 
Microsoft will   lend its considerable product development and 
partnership network to UCC's Auto ID underscores the   near-term 
reality of low-cost packaged software.

  Wal-Mart's other decision, to scrap its test of smart-shelf technology 
and RFID-tagged Gillette razors, bears   little impact on near-term 
RFID uses but underscores the need to focus on its real benefits in the 
supply chain.   The decision unleashed victory cries from consumer 
privacy advocates and defensive posturing among RFID   early adopters. 
Forrester believes that most of the media storm amounts to a tempest in 
a teapot. RFID   provides companies with big opportunities to operate 
their businesses more effectively.

  Still, companies piloting or considering RFID implementations should 
take away some key lessons.

  • Focus efforts on supply chain visibility. As Forrester has long 
maintained, RFID projects yield the biggest immediate benefits when 
they support order fulfillment and logistics.  Why? Because these 
activities, which span the supply chain and require fast 
decision-making, lack visibility. As such, most near-term RFID testing 
should concentrate on pallets, cases, distribution centers and 
warehouses--not items and store shelves.

  • Stop talking smart refrigerators and start talking real consumer 
benefits. Talk of refrigerators that monitor food consumption smack of 
an Orwellian society and will only fuel more protests against the 
implicit collection of consumer data. More responsible dialogue must 
center on the most valuable benefits of   item-level RFID, such as 
tamper prevention for prescription drugs and the elimination of 
smuggling rings   that distribute stolen goods throughout the 
developing world.

  • Create an RFID privacy policy--now. Packaged-good manufacturers and 
retailers must address privacy concerns by adhering to best practices 
like outlining uses of RFID data and providing consumers with opt-in 
and opt-out choices.  By doing so, companies will avoid missteps like 
Benetton's: The Italian clothier put its item-level rollout on hold, 
because it had not adequately addressed consumer privacy concerns.

http://cnet.search.com/click?sl,techsearch.2.103.1278.0.1.RFID.0,http%3A%2F%2Fnews%2Ecom%2Ecom%2F2030%2D1122%2D5072548%2Ehtml

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/