Mar 14, 2005This article was originally published by RFID Update.
March 14, 2005—More than 800 people were present at the "Making a Difference" RFID webcast at which Wal-Mart's manager of RFID strategy, Simon Langford, gave the keynote address. Echoing Linda Dillman's speech at RFID World earlier this month, Langford reiterated the point that RFID is "journey which is just beginning." (Wal-Mart has consistently tried to drive home to its suppliers that they should take the long-term view on RFID implementation rather than preoccupying themselves with near-term ROI.)
RFID printer manufacturer Zebra Technologies was a sponsor of the event. The company's vice president and general manager of RFID noted that the recent progress of RFID has been impressive and encouraging, especially when compared with the far slower adoption pace of past transformative technologies like the bar code. Matt Ream, Zebra's senior manager for RFID systems, predicted, "2004 was primarily the year of pilot testing RFID technology. 2005 is the year of deployment." Given that 200 additional Wal-Mart suppliers are under mandate to roll out RFID by January 1, 2006, and that the Top 100 will surely continue refining and expanding their own new deployments, this seems an apt prediction.
Read the press release (pdf) from Zebra Technologies
