Patience, My Dear
A sprint to the finish line has become more of an endurance race. The real question, however, is what rewards await those that complete the course.
November 2007 by Tom Polischuk
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RFID has been the “talk of the town” ever since Wal-Mart laid out its expectations to its largest suppliers in 2003—lots of press, lots of hype. Now, it seems as though more participants are asking that famous question posed in Wendy’s® commercials many years ago, “Where’s the beef?”
It is true that the glowing light of RFID has dimmed during the last couple of years—reality has not lived up to the expectations that were created. That doesn’t mean, however, that RFID is no longer something package printers need to consider.
RFID is being implemented in a wide range of applications and some of the earlier expectations might be met—albeit during an extended time frame. Another potential outcome is that RFID fills the needs in specific markets and applications, such as in pharmaceuticals or brand security.
To gain some insight on today’s RFID reality, packagePRINTING posed a number of questions to several executives whose companies have made a commitment to RFID.
pP: Estimates of RFID implementation in the supply chain have not lived up to expectations. What do you attribute this to?
Robert B. Cornick, VP and general manager, Avery Dennison RFID—It took 30 years for bar codes to become a retail staple. The promise of RFID entranced the analysts and resulted in some very ambitious forecasts. Since the Gen 2 standard was ratified in 2004, the technology has improved dramatically and produced avid interest across a wide range of industries.
Max Golter, VP of sales, bielomatik—I think first of all, mandates were set without realizing the cost and time required to install the infrastructure. If we were to disregard cost for a moment, it has been physically impossible to install the infrastructure to meet the targets. The fallout of this has been mandates set by the major retailers and Department of Defense (DoD) having been “relinquished.” The pharmaceutical industry has, however, determined advantages that this technology offers and has moved forward without mandates being forced upon it. Cost reduction, improved transponder yields, and standards have been occuring recently which will all contribute to finally meeting expectations.
Jeff Feltz, director of product management, Mark Andy—There are a few reasons. First, read rates have not met acceptable levels for mass adoption. The quality of inlays has improved significantly, however not to a level to build full confidence in RFID as a reliable solution. Second, RFID inlay costs have not reached the point to make item-level tagging cost effective. Item-level tagging will be the driver of significant growth in RFID. Third, the infrastructure is not yet in place to support a widespread RFID system. Contrast this with bar code reading. Today, there is a significant infrastructure in place to support bar codes, but this took many years to reach the current state seen today. RFID will reach this level of infrastructure at some point, but it will take time.
It is true that the glowing light of RFID has dimmed during the last couple of years—reality has not lived up to the expectations that were created. That doesn’t mean, however, that RFID is no longer something package printers need to consider.
RFID is being implemented in a wide range of applications and some of the earlier expectations might be met—albeit during an extended time frame. Another potential outcome is that RFID fills the needs in specific markets and applications, such as in pharmaceuticals or brand security.
To gain some insight on today’s RFID reality, packagePRINTING posed a number of questions to several executives whose companies have made a commitment to RFID.
pP: Estimates of RFID implementation in the supply chain have not lived up to expectations. What do you attribute this to?
Robert B. Cornick, VP and general manager, Avery Dennison RFID—It took 30 years for bar codes to become a retail staple. The promise of RFID entranced the analysts and resulted in some very ambitious forecasts. Since the Gen 2 standard was ratified in 2004, the technology has improved dramatically and produced avid interest across a wide range of industries.
Max Golter, VP of sales, bielomatik—I think first of all, mandates were set without realizing the cost and time required to install the infrastructure. If we were to disregard cost for a moment, it has been physically impossible to install the infrastructure to meet the targets. The fallout of this has been mandates set by the major retailers and Department of Defense (DoD) having been “relinquished.” The pharmaceutical industry has, however, determined advantages that this technology offers and has moved forward without mandates being forced upon it. Cost reduction, improved transponder yields, and standards have been occuring recently which will all contribute to finally meeting expectations.
Jeff Feltz, director of product management, Mark Andy—There are a few reasons. First, read rates have not met acceptable levels for mass adoption. The quality of inlays has improved significantly, however not to a level to build full confidence in RFID as a reliable solution. Second, RFID inlay costs have not reached the point to make item-level tagging cost effective. Item-level tagging will be the driver of significant growth in RFID. Third, the infrastructure is not yet in place to support a widespread RFID system. Contrast this with bar code reading. Today, there is a significant infrastructure in place to support bar codes, but this took many years to reach the current state seen today. RFID will reach this level of infrastructure at some point, but it will take time.
Companies Mentioned:
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