What is really driving the surge in RFID requirements?
Actually, RFID has been around and utilized by companies and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) for several decades. Whether using passive or active tags, or HF or UHF frequencies, the majority of these applications have been closed systems in which all the data was utilized by a single organization. The major difference in the RFID requirements today is that companies are seeking to share RFID data among trading partners in their supply chains. Sharing data requires that RFID systems today be built on open standards. EPCglobal is the organization that has been developing standards to enable companies to share data. Compliance mandates from both Wal-Mart (the world’s largest retailer) and the DoD have incorporated EPC protocols in their specifications and have pushed adoption of RFID technology higher on the agenda of many leading businesses. Both organizations have indicated that they consider the early phases of their compliance initiatives successful and they will continue to scale-out their implementations. In addition, other retailers, including Target, Best Buy, and Albertsons have also issued RFID compliance requirements for their suppliers.

How do you interpret the 10-foot spec of Wal-Mart?
This refers to the requirement for reading tags at the pallet level going through the dock door. Ten feet is the width of the dock door.

Is there a retailer push in Europe as aggressive as Wal-Mart's in the United States?
Metro, the world’s fifth-largest retailer and Germany’s largest retailer, has clearly articulated a mandate that is very similar to Wal-Mart’s. Other companies that have come forward are Marks & Spencer, the fourth-largest retailer in the United Kingdom, and Tesco, another large retailer in the U.K.

What are the requirements mandated by Wal-Mart and the DoD?
Wal-Mart has communicated its requirements and all updates to its suppliers comprehensively via Retail Link, which is Wal-Mart’s online communications link to its suppliers. The DoD has posted its requirements at www.dodait.com.

What is the required data content for the Wal-Mart tag? Is it in the GTIN or will it comply with the data content specified in the EPCglobal specification?
The data required in an EPC tag is based on the EAN.UCC GTIN or SSCC, which are codes currently in bar codes on shipping labels. Details can be found on EPCglobal’s Web site at www.epcglobalinc.org.

Some Wal-Mart and DoD suppliers do not have to comply until 2006 or 2007. What can they do to get a jump-start with an RFID implementation in the meantime?
A number of early adopters have used the strategy of isolating a few products or processes and emulating their bar coding systems as a first step to understanding the physical or mechanical aspects of RFID. By using an existing business process and existing data, and adding RFID technologies, end users can learn what tags work best with their application and how tags and interrogators work, as well as gain a better understanding of antenna/interrogator placement, smart label placement on cases/pallets, and smart label orientation to interrogators. It is recommended that if adopters are starting RFID pilots today, they go directly to Class 1 Gen 2 protocols in setting up their environments.

Once the physics of RFID are mastered, the next step is to consider whether the technology provides a return on investment in the application. Users can determine this by asking some of the following questions:

1. What business problem am I trying to solve?
2. What is the compelling reason to use RFID rather than bar codes?
3. Is the data actionable?
4. What is the benefit to my business?
5. With which standards should my system comply?
6. Are there any international regulatory considerations?
7. Can I expect the system to perform the same anywhere in the world?
8. Have I thoroughly tested the range of sites in which the systems will be installed?
9. Have I thoroughly tested the system with a representative range of items?
10. Have I assessed the impact of this “new data” on my existing information systems?

What level of compliance is the DoD mandating?
The DOD mandate requires that its 60,000 suppliers use passive RFID tags for shipments by 2007. Starting Jan. 1, 2006, suppliers will be required to tag cases and pallets of subsistence and comfort items, packaged petroleum, lubricants, oils, preservatives and chemicals, construction and barrier material, ammunition of all types, and pharmaceutical and medical material shipped to 32 depots throughout the United States and two Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) distribution centers.