Can Anticipatory Logistics Work in the Corporate World?

Over the last few years the cost declines of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, combined with improvements in sensitivity, range and durability, have enabled widespread RFID use in the logistical planning and operation of supply chain processes in the manufacturing, distribution and retail industries. An RFID tag consists of a microchip and an antenna, often in the form of a tiny ribbon that can in turn be packaged into many forms, such as a label, or imbedded in between the cardboard layers in a carton. On the microchip is stored information about the product that the tag is affixed to, which can then be "read" when the tag passes within proximity of an RFID "reader," with that information being relayed back to a computer system that updates the location status of the associated product. After successfully utilizing RFID, Wal-Mart Stores announced that it would require all of its top 100 suppliers to put RFID tags on shipping crates and pallets by January 1st 2005 and their 200 largest suppliers by January 1st, 2006.…