Wal-Mart will stop using generation-one radio frequency
identification tags by the end of June.
The US retailer is the world's biggest user of RFID tags. It is
18 months into a trial with 200 of its main suppliers, which have
been mandated to tag pallets of goods.
Second-generation RFID technology is expected to be ratified as
a global standard by the International Standards Organisation. The
tags can be read from greater distances and at faster speeds than
earlier tags, but the biggest advantage to Wal-Mart will be if
wider use of the tags causes their price to fall.
However, Jeff Woods, research vice-president at analyst firm
Gartner, said Wal-Mart had yet to prove the business case for RFID.
"What it has largely not answered to date are the business case
questions," he told Computer Weekly.
A Wal-Mart spokesman said, "We disagree. Yes, the benefits are
not quantified in trials, but we feel we and our suppliers will
benefit significantly from RFID."
Wal-Mart CIO Rollin Ford, said, "RFID will transform the way we
do business."