 | Friday, August 24, 2007
Issue 670 | | Will Smith, Editor |  |
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Editor's Note: Today's top story is German retailer METRO Group's intention to charge financial penalties for supplier shipments that do not comply with its recently announced RFID mandate.
Asian RFID solutions provider Adtio has been selected by DHL Exel Supply Chain to deploy RFID to improve the logistics firm's warehouse efficiency in Hong Kong and China. The deployment will include Adtio's EPC compliant RFID middleware, EPCIS server, readers, tags, and integration services, and will track the movement of cases and pallets as they enter and exit the warehouse. More details in the announcement.
Lastly, WiFi-based RTLS solutions provider Ekahau has announced the installation of its solution at the Herentals Hospital in Belgium. According to Ekahau, Herentals is the first hospital in the country to deploy RTLS. The deployment will be used to track patients through the operating room complex, from their registration to their return to the ward. Upon successful implementation later this year, the hospital will launch a second phase in which it will use Ekahau's RTLS solution to track and trace medical equipment. |
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| Products & Services | | - Free RFID Software with Alien 9800 at RFIDSupplyChain.com (site) | | - Until you manage assets with ESP, you might want to try RFID. (site) | | - Real-Time WIP Visibility Appliance from Omnitrol Networks (site) | | - Peel - Stick - Ship(TM): SimplyRFID Pre-Programmed Tags (site) | | | Upcoming Events | | - RFID World Boston - September 18 - 20, 2007 (site) | | - Midwest RFID Symposium, Oct 23-24, University of Kansas (site) | | - IDGA's Military Logistics Summit, Sept 10-13, Adelphi, MD (site) | | - LogiPharma 07, Sept. 17-19, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, PA (site) | | - IDTechEx's RFID Europe; 18-19 September, Cambridge, UK (site) | | | Research & Whitepapers | | - How RFID Can Decrease Manufacturing Errors (site) | | - RFID Marketing Strategies Report from RFID Update (site) | | | RTLS & Active RFID | | 
Sponsored by Ekahau | |
| | - Locate it now. How? Ekahau. That's how! (site) | | | Employment | | - RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting (site) | |
METRO to Penalize RFID Non-compliance
Perhaps the biggest development to occur this summer for the RFID market is the announcement by German retailer METRO Group that it will take its existing RFID pilot activity into full-scale deployment. The company is equipping roughly 200 locations with RFID infrastructure, and it expects 650 of its top suppliers to begin shipping RFID-tagged product by early next year (see METRO Moves RFID Pilot to Production, Taps Reva).
Not only will the METRO suppliers be expected to tag their goods, they will actually be penalized a fee by the retailer for non-compliance. "METRO is going to pass through the additional handling cost of an untagged pallet," ABI Research senior analyst Jonathan Collins told RFID Update. When METRO renegotiates its supplier contracts for next year (as it does every year), RFID mandate compliance will for the first time be one of the items on the table. "Mandate compliance will be built in to the contractual relationship between METRO and each supplier," explained Collins. Specifically, some sort of levy will be imposed for each non-compliant -- that is, untagged -- pallet shipped by the supplier to the retailer.
Exactly what that levy will be is unclear. Industry hearsay puts it at two euros per untagged pallet, but METRO has not confirmed the figure.
This practice is in contrast to that of METRO's counterpart across the pond, whose RFID mandate was considered aggressive indeed but stopped short of threatening a financial penalty for non-compliance. Granted, the volume of goods sold through Wal-Mart for most of its suppliers is so integral to their business that displeasing or, worse, losing Wal-Mart as a customer could be devastating. So perhaps Wal-Mart figured it did not need to define an explicit penalty. Still, METRO's decision to do so positions its mandate as more immediate and firm. "This is a somewhat stronger step than we've seen from other high-profile deployments like Wal-Mart," said Collins. "It is absolutely a statement of intention, and a serious one at that."
According to Collins, METRO's ramp-up will have a positive near-term effect on the RFID reader market in Europe. ABI estimates that METRO itself will deploy about 220 readers in this first stage, which will see infrastructure installed at the company's Cash & Carry supermarkets, Real hypermarkets, and the distribution centers that serve them. Intermec and Sirit are providing the readers. Then there are the readers that the METRO suppliers themselves will have to deploy. Collins noted that it is hard to predict how many reader purchases will result from supplier demand, since some suppliers will only need one, some will need many more than one, and some will need none, opting to pay the penalty instead of comply.
Collins also believes that METRO's expansion will have a ripple effect across Europe, as other companies perceive the retailer's forward movement as a validation of the technology. "The METRO deployment is a good signal that a lot of the hurdles can be managed and that UHF RFID can be done," said Collins, referring to the Europe-specific regulatory challenges that had stalled supply chain adoption on the continent. "The reasons for thinking RFID is a better investment are becoming clear." Furthermore, as one of Europe's leading RFID evangelists, METRO has invested a lot resources in working through the challenges and laying the groundwork from which others can now benefit.
Collins predicted more exciting developments in the not-too-distant future. "I think it's fair to say that in the first half of next year you will see other European companies making similar announcements. Maybe they won't have the same teeth as the METRO announcement, but they will certainly entail rolling out RFID in the supply chain."
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Meet the industry's most innovative award winning RFID solution that enables complete work-order traceability in manufacturing. Real-time web-based dashboards and multi-site monitoring for work-order pedigree and traceability, including proactive bottleneck management and real-time performance analytics optimizing shop-floor efficiency. All at the lowest TCO in the marketplace. www.omnitrol.com/WIP. | Peel - Stick - Ship(TM): SimplyRFID Pre-Programmed Tags
Military-grade, Class 1 Generation 2 RFID Tags pre-programmed to DoD 252.211-7006 specifications shipped same day for less than $1 each. Find out why over 1,000 DoD (Department of Defense) suppliers choose SimplyRFID for their RFID needs. Visit us at www.SimplyRFID.com for no hassle RFID solutions. | | | Upcoming Events | RFID World Boston - September 18 - 20, 2007
A premiere event at the new CMP TechMash Boston, RFID World Boston brings together the foremost luminaries on RFID technology and implementation to discuss the concepts and topics critical to making RFID a reality for today's businesses. Enter code RU01 to save $300! | Midwest RFID Symposium, Oct 23-24, University of Kansas
The 3rd annual symposium and exhibition focuses on closed-loop applications of RFID. Speakers and exhibitors from Motorola, Ekahau, Intelleflex, Fluensee, Intermec, Rush Tracking, SAVR Communications and more will demonstrate RFID's potential to error proof manufacturing, organize the office, and simplify asset tracking in industry and healthcare. www.continuinged.ku.edu | IDGA's Military Logistics Summit, Sept 10-13, Adelphi, MD
Join the "who's who" of logistics at the leading event for senior-level defense logistics professionals. Join thought leaders and decision-makers to discuss the latest implementation strategies and program initiatives to ensure the flexibility and preparedness of our military's future. Special keynote by: GEN John Abizaid, USA (Ret), Commander, USCENTCOM (2003-2007). www.militarylogisticssummit.com. | LogiPharma 07, Sept. 17-19, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, PA
LogiPharma presents 3 days of knowledge-sharing and idea exchange on the challenges and issues surrounding pharmaceutical supply chain management. For more information please visit www.logipharma.com. | IDTechEx's RFID Europe; 18-19 September, Cambridge, UK
IDTechEx's RFID Europe, in its eighth year, is the premium event covering RFID, technology analysis and market insight. Hear from AIR FRANCE KLM, Ahold, BP, TNT, MasterCard, Tube Lines, Sony, City Link and others. Explore technologies from printed RFID to smart tickets and cards to RTLS and sensor networks. Register with code: UPDATE97. | | | Research & Whitepapers | How RFID Can Decrease Manufacturing Errors
Specialized RFID tags that are optimized for use on or around metal are an effective and viable alternative to bar codes for error proofing applications in manufacturing. Learn the financial impact of errors and recalls and how RFID can be used for error proofing and other manufacturing processes. Get the full report now. | RFID Marketing Strategies Report from RFID Update
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Ekahau RTLS (Real-Time Location System) automatically tracks assets and people via your existing Wi-Fi network. Control costs and improve asset management with Ekahau. For more information, visit us at www.ekahau.com. | | | Employment | RFID Recruiters - 100% Focused on RFID Recruiting
Whether your company is looking for the best RFID talent or you have the best RFID talent and are looking for the best RFID employer, RFID Recruiters offers the most focused approach to your objective. To learn how the RFID industry and the RFID job market are evolving, visit www.rfidrecruiters.com |
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RFID Update is the RFID industry daily. Launched in early 2004 to provide timely analysis of RFID industry news, RFID Update publishes editorial briefings every weekday for the growing ranks of top level executives involved in the deployment of RFID. Each issue delivers the breaking news and analysis most pertinent to successful RFID implementations, allowing readers to understand global RFID developments as they happen.
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