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 Written By Louis Sirico It seems that 2007 will be known as another year that the RFID mandates didn't happen. However, despite suppliers' unwillingness to do as they're told, there has been significant adoption of the technology for asset tracking and work-in-progress management. Michael Shiff, General Manager at RFID Recruiters, agrees. "What is most remarkable is that despite the slowdown in mandates, many people and organizations are pressing forward with their respective areas of focus on RFID. The pervasiveness and the sustained march forward with the technology and applications of RFID overall are the most remarkable attributes of RFID in 2007". According to IndustryWizards.com partner, ABI Research, the worldwide RFID markets yielded more than $3.8 billion in revenue in 2007, a 24% growth over 2006. See RFID Markets Expected to Grow Through 2012. Depending on who you talk to, the RFID mandates are viewed either as a plague or panacea for the industry. Those with a positive perspective believe the DoD and retailer requirements brought RFID to the attention of numerous companies unfamiliar with the technology. Yet, many industry experts that have been implementing solutions for years have been frustrated by tire kickers simply wanting to get educated on what RFID can do, but not having any budget to pay for it. All this action made it appear that there is more money being spent than there really is. Ken Trussell, President and CEO at Bentonville International Group, believes "the mandate industry was in my opinion the reason for the slowdown in 2007, subsequently pushing the RFID providers to look outside the RFID box but remain within the circle of feasibility. The overall shift toward non-mandate type customers will be a huge shot in the arm for the RFID Industry."
It has taken time for people to understand what RFID can really do and more importantly, how it can benefit them. Sue Hutchinson, Director of Industry Adoption at EPCglobal North America, says “Probably the most important trend I've noticed this year is that we seem to be moving past the 'does this work?' phase into the 'what can we do with it?' phase - Lots more emphasis on what can be learned from the read event data and how that data gets integrated into business processes, both internal and external.” There is no doubt that RFID technology is being used in innovative ways that will transform the way we do business. We recently examined two such solutions: Yet, venturing forward only occurs if those willing to experiment can find real measurable benefits. This is apparent not only through conversation, but by the tremendous popularity of our In-Depth article on calculating ROI. Personally, I believe there was also a huge change in the perception of RFID technology - a definitive realization that it is actually a sensor and it should be treated as one. Greg McQuay, Advisor and Board Member at the National RFID Center, explains, “The commercial realization that sensors, of which RFID is a part, are all a part of a larger environment of real time tracking and tracing, enabling technologies that in total constitute a powerful capability, greater than the sum of its components. It takes many companies working in close alliance to provide the value enterprise demands. The RFID industry is still evolving as it finds its place in the infrastructure of mainstream enterprise.” We examined this topic in our most controversial article of the year: RFID Middleware is Extinct. The Intelligent Sensor Network is Born. Mike Mitchell, Principal RFID Consultant with Panometric LLC, said it this way, "2007 was the year that various RF technologies (passive RFID, Active RFID, and remote sensing) began to be considered as a single industry with various capabilities. The realization is that all forms of automatic data collection and the integration of them can provide value to the enterprise." Gaylon Morris, a renowned Subject Matter Expert in our community, shared his thoughts, "I will describe 2007 as the year RFID software reached a state of maturity within the consumer goods industry. As a result of the efforts of too many contributors to name, the EPCglobal software certification program came together throughout the year. EPCIS and ePedigree testing programs joined ALE and RP programs from late 2006 providing end-users with ability to make informed decisions about software platforms and moving the industry towards 'open loop', interoperable, and communicative systems. When this is viewed in combination with reduced costs for hardware and growing adoption of technology and practice, I think our industry is positioned for explosive growth in 2008 and beyond." As our community looks to 2008, our articles will continue with more in-depth, original articles that focus in these subject areas, including wireless sensors, asset tracking using 802.11 based positioning systems, and yard management, just to name a few. Of course, we always like to hear your thoughts or suggestions for future topics. Please drop us an e-mail at
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. I leave the final words of the year to my colleague, Michael Liard, Research Director of RFID & Contactless at ABI Research. "I would argue for "Pilots Mean Progress" with activity spread across verticals, applications, and regions. We have heard countless stories of RFID being piloted to solve a host of business problems and pain points. At the end of the day, end users' approaches to RFID pilots and fuller implementations are impacting the speed of adoption and rate of market growth for certain applications. After a wave of heavy RFID piloting in a number of verticals for numerous applications, I feel this industry is taking itself off auto-pilot, with RFID having proved its mettle in a number of environments and several large end users moving forward with wider implementation plans. While RFID pilots will not cease or necessarily slow, we are starting to see the transition or turnover of several high-profile pilots into wider solutions and deployments. The RFID market is stepping out of the perceived shadow of "limited deployment and spending" to exhibit its expansion possibilities and strong growth potential. In stepping back and examining the distinct trials, pilots, and implementations, particularly for passive UHF solutions, I have seen a progressive path of deployment among end user organizations. This is critical to understand as we monitor adoption and market growth in emerging RFID markets. While the level of RFID activity and overall end-user investment may be disappointing to some observers, current pilots and spending should infuse a sense of optimism in the marketplace as pilots are a required means to an end: strong growth and wider adoption. The seeds have been planted and the market is being nurtured, blossoming one end user and implementation at a time." |
