November 2003 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[ARRL-ODV:9707] Re: Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID)
by Bill Edgar 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Here's another article regarding Wal-Mart's RFID program. This article came from CFO magazine. My company supplies product to Wal-Mart and I am hearing that my company is being approached about participating. - Bill Radio Flier Wal-Mart presents its vendors with an offer they can't refuse. Forty years ago, when Sam Walton was still an enterprising young merchant in northwest Arkansas, he'd buy products directly from manufacturers. Then he'd personally deliver the stuff to garages, where he stored the merchandise until it was placed on store shelves. Things have changed since then. Walton has passed away. And inventory control at the company he startedWal-Mart Stores Inc.has grown slightly more complex. The Bentonville, Ark.-based business now operates 4,300 stores globally and maintains a fleet of 7,000 tractors and 35,000 trailers. It owns and operates 108 distribution centers in the United States alonemany of them more than a million square feet. Those distribution centers are at the heart of Wal-Mart's remarkable success. By strategically placing retail outlets near distribution centers, the company can resupply its stores directlyoften on a daily basis. "We follow what the stores sell, and orders are customized for the stores," says Tom Williams, a company spokesman. "For us, tracking inventory is extremely important." This may explain Wal-Mart's recent supply-chain jaw-dropper. In June, management at the world's most powerful retailer issued a stunning edict: the company wants all its suppliers to place radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on all cases and pallets shipped to Wal-Mart distribution centers by January 1, 2006. "RFIDs is a chance to move to a more advanced system...in our distribution centers," notes Williams. "It's somewhat akin to moving from tapping out telegraph signals to moving to the Internet." RFID tags are whiz-bang technology, that's for sure. Unlike traditional bar codes, which rely on line-of-sight technology, RFID tags (think microchips with antennae) emit signals that are read by electronic readers. The readers, in turn, are integrated with a company's enterprise applications, such as an inventory-management system. When all goes well, RFID tags provide precise information about the whereabouts of merchandise as it moves along a company's supply chain. Wal-Mart executives, who have given the company's top 100 vendors a January 2005 RFID deadline, believe the tags will help supercharge Wal-Mart's inventory management. "What we see at the base of all this information is efficiency; moving product more efficiently," claims Williams. "That translates into lower costs." Pallet Surprise For Wal-Mart, anyway. According to technology consultancy AMR Research, Wal-Mart's suppliers will have to shell out, on average, $20 million to comply with the company's request. Half of that will go for system integration and changes to existing supply-chain software. "The tag is just the tip of the iceberg," says one analyst. "Manufacturers may have to change their packaging lines and their finished-goods warehouses." Reportedly, a number of Wal-Mart's vendors are not exactly sure what the requirement entails. Wal-Mart management has called a meeting for this month to explain its plan to its top suppliers. Part of the explaining: convincing vendors that the tags will actually work. Research from AMR shows that early adopters of RFID technology reported failure rates as high as 20 percent, requiring additional internal-quality-control procedures. Problems abound with the technology. For starters, RFID tags don't work particularly well with liquid products or when merchandise comes in metal cans. "The radio-frequency energy doesn't typically run through the case," notes Scott Lundstrom, chief technology officer at AMR. In addition, when they are running, conveyor belts emit their own brand of radio frequencymanufacturing white noise, if you will. Those emissions can scramble or mask the RFID transmission of any tagged item placed on a moving belt. In some cases, whole pallets can be rendered invisible to an inventory-tracking system. Correcting the problemif spottedrequires manual intervention. Moreover, experts say some suppliers could have a tough time meeting Wal-Mart's deadline, particularly since no single standard yet exists for wireless inventory technology. One standard, called the global trade item number, creates an ID for a unique product. Wal-Mart appears to be backing the electronic product code (EPC), which enables companies to track individual iterations of a product. For those keeping score at home, the EPC standard is being promulgated by Auto-ID, a partnership among 100 global companies (Wal-Mart included) and five research universities. Other groups, including the International Standards Organization, are also debating standards for product identification. Given the standards mess, the confusion about competing technologies, and the investment necessary to meet this requirement, industry observers say the odds are slim that all of the top 100 suppliers will be 100 percent ready to ship RFID-tagged products on all cases and pallets by January 2005. "It's definitely a tight time line," says Noha Tohamy, a senior analyst (supply chain) at Forrester Research. "Those suppliers that have been independently working on their own RFID initiativeslike Procter & Gamble and Gillettewill be able to meet it. But it is unlikely that a supplier that has just begun to investigate the option will be able to comply by that date." Can't Dance Even if some vendors aren't able to meet the deadline, the pushing of wireless product identification by the most powerful retailer on the planet is definitely going to speed the RFID plow. According to a survey released in October by Wireless Data Research Group, spending on RFID hardware, software, and services will jump to $3 billion in 2007. Right now, that number is more like $1 billion. The prediction does not seem overly rosy, either, given the cost-savings potential of wireless inventory tracking. IBM, which rolled out a radio-tag consulting and implementation service in September, claims wireless tagging and tracking of merchandise could help reduce corporate inventory levels by as much as 25 percent. In making the announcement about IBM's new service, Faye Holland, worldwide RFID leader (IBM Global Services) for the company, noted: "IBM believes RFID's time has come." It's coming for Wal-Mart's vendors, certainly. Jeannie Tharrington, spokeswoman at P&G, says: "We will have to implement new systems to bring these tags on board. Since we have more than 300 products, it's a huge deal." But, she says, the company expects to meet the deadline. Other consumer-goods manufacturers may have a more difficult time dancing to Wal-Mart's tune, however. For instance, some products with RFID tags slated to go to Wal-Mart will have to be segregated, at least initially. And then there's the small matter of paying for the technology. "Now you have a group of suppliers who don't know what they have to do to be in compliance, and they've already done their budgets for next year," says Lundstrom. "So they are scrambling to do it and figure out how to pay for it." It's doubtful many will want to disappoint Wal-Mart, however. Bear in mind, this is a company that once did $1.43 billion in salesin one day. "This is the cost of doing business with Wal-Mart," says Tohamy flatly. "And [the suppliers] know that and will have to comply on some level." - - - - - - - On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 08:45:52 -0500 "Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ" <dsumner(a)arrl.org> wrote: >I don't know for certain what Wal-Mart is going to be >using, but in general the RF ID tags used in retailing >are not at 433 MHz. I believe they're either at LF or at >13.56 MHz. > >Dave > >-----Original Message----- >From: dick(a)pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com] >Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 9:24 PM >To: arrl-odv >Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9698] Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID) > > >6 NOV, 2003 - 2020 CST > >A local ham friend sent me this Fortune Magazine article >about how Walmart >plans to use RFIDs... let the RF chirping begin. > >http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,526418,00.html > >73 - Dick, W9GIG > > > <TEXTAREA NAME="Signature" ROWS="4" COLS="60">

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[ARRL-ODV:9706] Re: Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID)
by Joel Harrison 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

Dave, Kent Britan tells me they are going to use 900 MHz. His company is building the antennas. Joel -----Original Message----- From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 7:46 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9705] Re: Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID) I don't know for certain what Wal-Mart is going to be using, but in general the RF ID tags used in retailing are not at 433 MHz. I believe they're either at LF or at 13.56 MHz. Dave -----Original Message----- From: dick(a)pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 9:24 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9698] Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID) 6 NOV, 2003 - 2020 CST A local ham friend sent me this Fortune Magazine article about how Walmart plans to use RFIDs... let the RF chirping begin. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,526418,00.html 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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[ARRL-ODV:9705] Re: Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID)
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 11 Nov '03

11 Nov '03

I don't know for certain what Wal-Mart is going to be using, but in general the RF ID tags used in retailing are not at 433 MHz. I believe they're either at LF or at 13.56 MHz. Dave -----Original Message----- From: dick(a)pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 9:24 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9698] Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID) 6 NOV, 2003 - 2020 CST A local ham friend sent me this Fortune Magazine article about how Walmart plans to use RFIDs... let the RF chirping begin. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,526418,00.html 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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[ARRL-ODV:9704] Re: Strange one, even for spam
by dick＠pobox.com 09 Nov '03

09 Nov '03

8 NOV, 2003 - 2330 CST Evidently, Andy got the waste water spam flushed down the toilet... 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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[ARRL-ODV:9703] Re: Fwd: Fwd: Today's Water & Wastewater Treatment News Headlines
by Andy Oppel 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

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[ARRL-ODV:9702] Re: Strange one, even for spam
by Andy Oppel 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

Yes, I got it also. It looks like they hit all the arrl.org e-mail addresses. The source was within the Time Warner Telecom network. I forwarded the e-mail (with full headers) to abuse(a)twtelecom.net (the IP Address owner) and abuse(a)informz.net (the local network that appeared to be the source). Most U.S. based ISPs forbid spam and you can get the spammer's account terminated by informing them of the abuse. 73, Andy Oppel, N6AJO At 03:19 PM 11/8/2003 -0500, you wrote: >Did anyone else get the spam message to their arrl.org address titled >"Today's Water and Wastewater Treatment News Headlines"? It says, "As a >professional in the WATER & WASTEWATER INDUSTRIES, you have been >selected to receive a sample copy...." > >I don't know how to tell if this is just common spam or if there is (as >W3ABC used to say) a "deeper meaning" here. Fill in your own punch-line, >with the degree of tastelessness you're personally comfortable with! > > From money-laundering to waste-water treatment -- a person sure can get >an education on the Internet! 73 - Kay N3KN Andy Oppel andy(a)andyoppel.com

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[ARRL-ODV:9701] Re: Strange one, even for spam
by James Weaver 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

Kay, Having the weird sense of humor I have, I prefer to think the spam was a not-too-subtle message to the Board members! HI! Enjoy Big D. Jim W. AMATEUR RADIO: The only fail-safe communications system in the world. ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio is! Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division ARRL 5065 Bethany Rd., Mason, OH 45040-9660, Tel. 513-459-0142, E-mail k8je(a)arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9700] Strange one, even for spam
by Kay Craigie 08 Nov '03

08 Nov '03

Did anyone else get the spam message to their arrl.org address titled "Today's Water and Wastewater Treatment News Headlines"? It says, "As a professional in the WATER & WASTEWATER INDUSTRIES, you have been selected to receive a sample copy...." I don't know how to tell if this is just common spam or if there is (as W3ABC used to say) a "deeper meaning" here. Fill in your own punch-line, with the degree of tastelessness you're personally comfortable with! >From money-laundering to waste-water treatment -- a person sure can get an education on the Internet! 73 - Kay N3KN

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[ARRL-ODV:9699] Re: Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID)
by Joel Harrison 07 Nov '03

07 Nov '03

The company WA5VJB works for designed and built the antennas for the detector units. Wal-Mart is going to use 900 MHz. Their real intent, not mentioned in the article, is to be able to track your shopping cart from the moment you enter the store, to see where you go first, what items you pick up first, and how people travel around the store. This information will allow them to "arrange" the store better to suit the shopping nature of the customers. I have one huge Wal-Mart Distribution Center that supplies stores in 23 states 7 miles south of the house, a Sam's Distribution Center 6 miles south, plus a Wal-Mart SuperCenter store 1 mile closer (They're the largest employer in the county). Once these little boogers get fired up, It will be curious to see if my noise floor increases on 902 MHz!! 73 Joel W5ZN -----Original Message----- From: dick(a)pobox.com [mailto:dick@pobox.com] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 8:24 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9698] Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID) 6 NOV, 2003 - 2020 CST A local ham friend sent me this Fortune Magazine article about how Walmart plans to use RFIDs... let the RF chirping begin. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,526418,00.html 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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[ARRL-ODV:9698] Wal-Mart Keeps the Change (RFID)
by dick＠pobox.com 07 Nov '03

07 Nov '03

6 NOV, 2003 - 2020 CST A local ham friend sent me this Fortune Magazine article about how Walmart plans to use RFIDs... let the RF chirping begin. http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,526418,00.html 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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