Two stories this morning suggest the momentum developing to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology:
- Benetton, the clothing retailer, announced that all its garments will shortly contain an RFID tag that will replace the bar code, allowing the company to track products from manufacturer to the point of sale in all its 5,000 retailer locations.
This means some 15 million such tags are going into the system, allowing Benetton to significantly tighten up its inventory controls along the supply chain.
These tags will contain no information about the buyer of clothing, though the retailer concedes that there may be some loyalty marketing applications down the line. - The third phase of an ongoing test of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology by Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble is expected to begin within the next month, according to published reports. The technology, developed by the Auto-ID Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will now be deployed at item level, identifying when products are removed from the shelf and generating appropriate responses along the supply chain.
- KC's View:
- Think of this story within the context of the “Plugging In The House” story above, and you start to get a sense of the brave new world that awaits us all…
