Eventually, individual products will have RFID tags instead of bar codes, revealing instant data about the items and their route from factory to store. Privacy advocates, however, have questioned whether the tags could be used to track shoppers.

Each RFID tag broadcasts to a scanner a unique code that corresponds to data maintained by its manufacturer about the product.

When an item is scanned, the EPC network will send a query over the Internet to VeriSign's directory, which in turn will pass the request to the appropriate manufacturer's server.

VeriSign performs a similar function on the Internet as the key operator of the Domain Name System, the main directory for Internet addresses. It controls the master list of all the Internet's domain name suffixes, along with the entire directories for ".com" and ".net," the two most popular endings.

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VeriSign Inc. was selected as the directory manager by EPCglobal, a venture formed to administer the radio-frequency tagging network that is expected to begin replacing bar codes as product identifiers over the rest of the decade.

4:27:06 PM    

IDC to RFID: Tags, you're it | CNET News.com: "RFID tagging is currently aimed at cases and pallets, rather than individual items, although IDC predicts the tagging of separate products will happen later. Wal-Mart and other companies have roused the ire of consumers with RFID trials in which individual items were tagged, creating potential privacy concerns. "
3:16:37 PM    

IDC to RFID: Tags, you're it | CNET News.com: " Reader Resources RFID technology CNET White Papers While some say RFID is still too expensive and unproven, Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense have mandated that their suppliers must start to incorporate the technology. The weight of these two huge organizations is set to have a significant impact in spurring RFID spending, IDC said. With manufacturers and distributors scrambling to meet those retail and military mandates, IDC said it expects RFID spending for the U.S. retail supply chain to grow from $91.5 million last year to nearly $1.3 billion in 2008. The majority of spending will come from the hardware side, which covers RFID tags, infrastructure and systems integration. This will reach $875 million in 2007, mostly coming out of the pockets of manufacturers and distributors. RFID-related services will grow to about $270 million in 2007 before leveling off, IDC projected, while software spending will not begin to grow until about 2006, when more companies will start to need RFID middleware. "
3:16:18 PM    

The SAP software integrates RFID data collection with the business software maker's R/3 ERP system, version 4.6c or higher, and its MySAP ERP applications.

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Nevertheless, SAP is one of a few business software vendors that have actually released a strong RFID product.

"There's a lot of vendors out there that have ideas, and a lot of vendors that are cobbling things together," Woods said. "But SAP is one of the few that now has a real packaged product."

RFID is data-collection technology being introduced in corporate supply chains. The technology, which uses electronic tags to store identification data and a wireless transmitter gun to capture it, is gaining traction within the retail industry.

Driving adoption among retail suppliers is a mandate from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, to start using RFID tags to track pallets and cases by 2005.

3:13:20 PM    

 

The package comprises the German company's new Auto ID Infrastructure, its supply chain event management module and enterprise portal application. The package, which leverages radio frequency identification tags and other RFID technologies, is scheduled for general release in the middle of the year.

The new offering, unveiled at the National Retail Federation show in New York, provides "out-of-the-box" support for packing and unpacking, shipping and receiving and track and trace business processes, SAP officials said.

3:12:24 PM    

SAP AG launched on Monday a package of software that enables customers to integrate product-tracking radio frequency technology with their SAP supply chain management and enterprise resource planning systems.

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Microsoft retail project taps into RFID | CNET News.com: "Other applications being developed under the program include software for use with point-of-sale terminals and analytic tools based on Microsoft's SQL Server designed specifically for the retail sector. The software maker reported that RadioShack has already adopted 8,000 point-of-sale systems based on Windows XP throughout its stores and that it built a mobile store management system with another partner, Wipro Technologies. "
3:10:12 PM    

Microsoft retail project taps into RFID | CNET News.com: "Microsoft also announced that it has joined the Metro Group Future Store Initiative. The effort to promote innovation in retail technology and to create industry standards was founded by Metro Group, a German consumer packaged goods company, along with IBM, Intel, SAP and other technology providers. "
3:09:45 PM    

Microsoft retail project taps into RFID | CNET News.com: "The Redmond, Wash.-based software maker reported that it has already signed on a number of partners to contribute to the project, including consultants such as Accenture and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and technology vendors like Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard and Intel. Microsoft also has recruited several retail chains to participate in the program, including 7-Eleven, Circuit City Stores and RadioShack"
3:09:19 PM    

Microsoft retail project taps into RFID | CNET News.com: "Dubbed as the Smarter Retailing Initiative, the effort promises to deliver tools that allow retailers to interact with customers, improve operations management and incorporate emerging wireless technology. Microsoft said that software built under the effort would be based on its .Net Web services framework and would have an interface to existing products"
3:09:02 PM    

Microsoft retail project taps into RFID | CNET News.com: "Microsoft said Monday that it established a new project aimed at providing next-generation technology to retailers, including emerging wireless applications such as radio frequency identification. "
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