A couple of weeks ago, I encouraged end users to step up and submit entries for the first RFID Journal Awards for the best uses of radio frequency identification technologies (see An Award for Leadership in RFID). We did, indeed, see a spate of last-minute entries—due more to the fact that everyone waits until the last minute than to my exhortations.
|
|
In all, we received nearly 50 submissions—a good deal more than I had anticipated. I think it’s a healthy number given the fact that adoption of RFID is at such an early stage, and that many companies perceive their RFID work to be a competitive advantage, or to be at a stage where they don’t have enough data to quantify the benefits accurately.
No one wants to tip off their competitors, and no one wants to say they saw an increase in sales when they don’t know for certain. This is especially true for publicly traded companies.
We received submissions from a wide variety of industries, among them chemicals, consumer packaged goods, defense, health care, logistics and retail. Some of the applications are straightforward—tracking reusable assets, for instance. Other uses are incredibly innovative and cool (sorry, I’m not going to tell you more now). All told, there are some very impressive projects going on, and I’m sure the entries are just the tip of the iceberg.
The good news is that these entries help to showcase how RFID can be used to solve business problems and drive business benefits today. That was our goal. I hope that our calling attention to the successful projects being undertaken will result in more companies taking note, engaging the vendor community and implementing real solutions.
It’s great to see companies stepping forward and telling their story. I encourage you to come to RFID Journal LIVE!, to be held April 30 to May 2 in Orlando, Fla., where we will unveil the winners. I know you’ll be excited to hear about how companies large and small have succeeded in putting RFID to work today.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below.