VERTICAL FOCUS The Buzz in Consumer Electronics By enabling companies to react quickly to sudden changes in demand for new products, RFID adoption in the consumer electronics supply chain could benefit manufacturers as well as retailers.

COVER STORY Wal-Mart Tackles Out-of-Stocks Wal-Mart is rolling out new applications and processes in its first seven RFID-enabled stores, to ensure that items are on the shelves when customers want to buy them.

COVER STORY The $69 Billion Problem Out-of-stocks have long been the bane of the retail industry. RFID has the potential to make sure products are where they need to be, but solving the problem involves more than just tagging goods in the supply chain.

CASE STUDY Beaver Street Fisheries Catches RFID The frozen-seafood dealer may be a small fish in Wal-Mart’s sea
of suppliers, yet it met the retailer’s RFID mandate a year ahead of schedule—and it expects to land internal benefits as well.

BEST PRACTICES The Right RFID Reader Strategy Companies need to understand the reader requirements for each of their major RFID applications and the features of common types of readers—and then match them.