Hard to quantify return on investment and high
implementation costs are hobbling the uptake of RFID, according to
market analysts Frost & Sullivan.
The hype and early successes of radio frequency identification
(RFID) pilots in the retail sector have created “unrealistic
expectations” of the technology in many industries.
“The uniqueness of each new RFID implementation due to varying
company environments compounds this challenge, making meaningful
comparisons of new systems with existing implementations
unreliable,” says Frost & Sullivan research analyst Rengarajan
Srinivasan.
The analyst estimates that the revenue for RFID technology in
the automotive, aerospace and industrial manufacturing space will
soar to $109m by 2012 – almost five times its market value in
2005.
To fully realise the benefits of RFID, companies must fully
integrate the technology into its business processes. As well as
helping manufacturers improve the way they can track and manage
inventory, RFID will help them protect against counterfeiting.
