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technologyreview
Is RFID dead?
Definitely not!
New research shows that while RFID
adoption hasn’t followed the predicted
path, it’s far from a failed technology.
THE HISTORY OF RFID IN LOGISTICS HAS BEEN
brief but tumultuous. The technology was thrust into the
spotlight in 2003, when Wal-Mart and the U.S.
Department of Defense issued their now-famous supplier mandates. At the time, RFID was hailed as an innovation that would transform the supply chain world and
make out-of-stock problems a thing of the past. Within a
few years, however, the hype had died down and some critics had begun to dismiss RFID as an
oversold, overpriced version of the bar code.
So how have things really worked out? Has the RFID revolution gotten off the ground? How
widely is the technology being used in logistics operations today? These are not easy questions to
answer. While there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence indicating that shippers and service providers
have tried the tags on all manner of products with varying degrees of success, research on the actual implementations has been limited, making it tough to gauge the true extent of RFID adoption.
To get some answers, DC VELOCITY, Baylor University, and Bryant University surveyed the magazine’s readers on their use of RFID in logistics and supply chain operations. The online survey,
which was conducted in August and September of 2010, was completed by 175 respondents. One-third ( 33 percent) of those respondents said they worked in warehousing or distribution, and
nearly the same percentage ( 32 percent) worked for manufacturers. The remainder worked in the
third-party logistics services sector ( 14 percent), merchandising/retail ( 10 percent), material handling ( 6 percent), and transportation services ( 5 percent). Respondents’ main areas of responsibility were warehouse operations ( 39 percent) and logistics management ( 33 percent).
The survey queried them about their use of RFID—whether they’ve deployed it and if they have,
how they’re using it, why they’re using it, what barriers they’ve encountered, and what benefits
they’ve gained (or hope to gain). What follows is a brief look at some of our findings.
