Item Level RFID Markets Has Prosperous Future

Oct. 2, 2006
According to Ireland-based research firm ResearchAndMarkets, item level RFID will soon be both the largest and most prosperous sector. Its success will be driven by the demand for anticounterfeiting, archiving, standing assets and supply chain efficiency ...

According to Ireland-based research firm ResearchAndMarkets, item level RFID will soon be both the largest and most prosperous sector. Its success will be driven by the demand for anticounterfeiting, archiving, standing assets and supply chain efficiency of high priced products.

A new report concludes that, "it used to be thought that item level RFID meant little more than tagging very low cost retail items -- something to do last of all. However, it has become big business in parallel with pallet, case and other tagging and far more profitable because it gives excellent paybacks to everyone, not just retailers. Indeed, the biggest opportunities in the near future are not in supply chain efficiency at all. Archiving, including libraries, the anti-counterfeiting of drugs etc. and the location and monitoring of standing assets in hospitals and the military are driving the market at present."

Aircraft parts, general components and equipment are also being profitably tagged. In contrast to pallet and case tagging -- something of a financial disaster for most RFID suppliers and their customers, the consumer goods manufacturers -- item level tagging often involves safety and security. Customers demand quality and often extra functionality. They are prepared to pay for this, according to ResearchAndMarkets.

The report discusses the "playoff between Near Field UHF and HF, the evolution of standards, winners and losers, detailed paybacks by applicational sector and much more besides. It describes the next wave of very large orders -- not for what is popularly believed and not where most of the industry predicts it will occur."

Some of the 100 RFID Users detailed in the report include: Wal-Mart, Loblaw, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Procter & Gamble - Gillette Campofrio, Philip Morris, Kraft, Hewlett Packard, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Boeing and Airbus Europe.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c42817

Interested in information related to this topic? Subscribe to our weekly RFID eNewsletter.

Sponsored Recommendations

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!