Wal-Mart Pulls RFID, Or Does It?
wirelessweek.com
By Brad Smith
July 9, 2003
news@2 direct
Wal-Mart may have pulled the plug on radio frequency identification for in-store use, but it still plans a major implementation of the technology in its distribution centers.
Wal-Mart's in-store RFID plans had been hailed in some news stories as a significant move forward for the technology. But the giant retailer told Wireless Week it canceled the in-store trial of a 'smart shelf' before it began in a Boston-area store.
Still, said spokesman Tom Williams, Wal-Mart is going ahead with plans to use RFID in all of its 103 distribution centers. Williams said RFID sounds interesting for in-store use but that he thinks it is years away.
Wal-Mart has been doing tests of RFID most of the year, using the radio tags on pallets of paper towels so that their shipping and warehousing can be monitored. The plan is to implement RFID on pallets and product cases with all of the company's top vendors by 2005, Williams said.
Tracking items through the distribution systems can have immediate bottom-line benefits, he said, and speed up delivery of time-sensitive items such as frozen products.
RFID uses chips with radios for identification. They've been used for years in vehicle and other asset tracking, as well as warehousing applications. Trials have been done by several gasoline retailers to use the technology to pay for gas at the pump. McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell also have tested it. Nokia has built RFID into some of its phones, which are being used in payment trials in the Dallas area. |
