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Companies Believe in RFID Benefits, Not Hype
Still, while many sessions and exhibit floor conversations among the 2,500 attendees revolved around the use of passive RFID technology in the supply chain, this year's conference had a broad focus on other applications of RFID, as well. "The great ideas won't necessarily be in your own verticals," Walton told attendees, encouraging them to visit the breakout sessions focused on vertical markets outside of retail, such as health care, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, manufacturing and logistics.
At an academic convocation held during the conference, attendees discussed ways RFID can be integrated into the pharmaceutical supply chain, and how the academic community is studying whether RFID radiation threatens to alter the molecular make-up of drugs in tagged containers. The use of RFID in building an electronic pedigree, to authenticate a chain of custody for drugs from the point of manufacture to the point of sale, is an important topic in light of state and possible federal legislation that could require such an application.
End users at the conference wanted to discuss the implications attaching RFID tags to products or objects carried by consumers and employees might have on personal privacy rights. "I'm here for the privacy and data-protection sessions, and to learn about the technology," said Fred Child, research and development manager for Nationwide Building Society, a U.K.-based financial services company piloting RFID for building access control. "And yesterday, I thought of a new project that I can deploy, based on what I saw here."
Additionally, durable reusable tags continue to garner interest, both from companies using RFID to comply with mandates and those considering it for internal uses, tracking reusable assets. Dow Chemical is studying how it might use RFID asset tags attached to its shipping containers to improve the visibility and upkeep of the containers (see Dow Reveals a Chemical Attraction to RFID). Symbol and Intermec, meanwhile, released ruggedized, reusable passive Gen 2 asset tags during the show, indicating a move away from the active (battery-powered) tags generally used for asset tracking.
"It's scary how fast RFID technology is changing," said Robert Miller, an attendee representing PolyTubes, a supplier of pipes for the industrial and retail markets. Miller is looking into ways his company might use asset tags to ensure order accuracy when shipping large rolls of piping. "I'm talking to a lot of vendors, but I'm trying to take the hype out of the conversation. Vendors are overselling their products, and they would do themselves a favor if they would concentrate on the true pluses and minuses of their products."
Miller's not alone in his frustration as he searches for a workable solution to his business problem. Carol Coren, community programs director at Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences gave a blunt view of the state of RFID technology in a session on RFID research requirements for health and sciences applications: "RFID is not nanotechnology," she said. "It's 50 years old, and we need to make it grow up and do what we need it to do."
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At an academic convocation held during the conference, attendees discussed ways RFID can be integrated into the pharmaceutical supply chain, and how the academic community is studying whether RFID radiation threatens to alter the molecular make-up of drugs in tagged containers. The use of RFID in building an electronic pedigree, to authenticate a chain of custody for drugs from the point of manufacture to the point of sale, is an important topic in light of state and possible federal legislation that could require such an application.
End users at the conference wanted to discuss the implications attaching RFID tags to products or objects carried by consumers and employees might have on personal privacy rights. "I'm here for the privacy and data-protection sessions, and to learn about the technology," said Fred Child, research and development manager for Nationwide Building Society, a U.K.-based financial services company piloting RFID for building access control. "And yesterday, I thought of a new project that I can deploy, based on what I saw here."
Additionally, durable reusable tags continue to garner interest, both from companies using RFID to comply with mandates and those considering it for internal uses, tracking reusable assets. Dow Chemical is studying how it might use RFID asset tags attached to its shipping containers to improve the visibility and upkeep of the containers (see Dow Reveals a Chemical Attraction to RFID). Symbol and Intermec, meanwhile, released ruggedized, reusable passive Gen 2 asset tags during the show, indicating a move away from the active (battery-powered) tags generally used for asset tracking.
"It's scary how fast RFID technology is changing," said Robert Miller, an attendee representing PolyTubes, a supplier of pipes for the industrial and retail markets. Miller is looking into ways his company might use asset tags to ensure order accuracy when shipping large rolls of piping. "I'm talking to a lot of vendors, but I'm trying to take the hype out of the conversation. Vendors are overselling their products, and they would do themselves a favor if they would concentrate on the true pluses and minuses of their products."
Miller's not alone in his frustration as he searches for a workable solution to his business problem. Carol Coren, community programs director at Oregon State University's College of Agricultural Sciences gave a blunt view of the state of RFID technology in a session on RFID research requirements for health and sciences applications: "RFID is not nanotechnology," she said. "It's 50 years old, and we need to make it grow up and do what we need it to do."
