ABI Sees the Big Picture for RFID

A new study from US-based ABI Research focuses on ways to integrate information from radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging technology with retailers' systems to aid decision-making and improve profitability.

RFID involves the electronic tagging of products, allowing them to be to tracked through manufacture and sale. The new report, RFID Integration Services Markets, suggests how RFID can help to streamline business activities: examples are avoiding theft in the pharmaceutical supply chain, improving manufacturing productivity through RFID tracking, increasing promotion visibility at retail stores, and reducing time spent on inventories.

Erik Michielsen, ABI's Director of RFID says 'RFID is no longer just about hardware tags and readers. It's a process of making that core tag information more meaningful'. He says large IT-based firms such as IBM (with its WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure), Microsoft, SAP and Oracle are actively tying RFID information into their enterprise architectures. A group of 20 RFID vendors last week formed a 'patent pool' consortium intended to simplify and streamline users' access to RFID intellectual property.

ABI Research conducts research and analysis for the automotive, wireless, semiconductor, broadband, and energy industries. The company is online at www.abiresearch.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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