Wal-Mart Continues RFID Rollout
By George Anderson
The Wal-Mart RFID wagon rolls on. The company announced today that roughly 25 percent of its stores and clubs would make use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by the end of this fiscal year.
Rollin Ford, executive vice president and chief information officer for Wal-Mart, said in a company press release, "Recent internal analysis of our ongoing efforts, along with the launch of EPCglobal Generation 2 tags, reinforces the value of this technology for Wal-Mart, our suppliers and ultimately our customers. We're aggressively moving forward with the expansion of RFID-enabled facilities."
Mr. Ford said all installations moving forward will make use of Gen 2 tags and the company will fully convert to Gen 2 once all its Gen 1 tags have moved through its distribution system.
"We believe this technology, when coupled with new work processes, will deliver even more benefits than we are currently receiving," he said. "We are actively engaged in designing some new initiatives that will accelerate our program even further and, in so doing, create even more value for everyone involved."
Mr. Ford said Wal-Mart is working with 300 suppliers to begin shipping test cases next month and go live in January. That will bring the total number of suppliers working with Wal-Mart on its RFID program to 600.
"We continue to work with suppliers to help them see the vast potential of RFID," he said. "We're already fully convinced of its value and are ready to step up the pace since we know we are only touching the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of this technology."
No comments:
Post a Comment