Micosoft, IBM, Philips to back RFID

RFID (radio frequency identification) tagging technology continues to gain in inventory tracking uses, as Monday Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp. and Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV announced projects for developing and promoting it as a cost-saving tool for retailers.

RFID chips, computer chips equipped with miniature antennae, store data for transmission to nearby receivers, and are increasingly being used as wireless tags to track goods. One advantage to the wireless tags is that, unlike bar codes, RFID tags can be read at any angle and from a distance. Large retail companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tesco PLC of the U.K. and Germany's Metro AG, have been using the RFID technology and are already planning to push the technology beyond the pilot stage.

IBM, in Armonk, New York, and Philips, in Amsterdam, will team on RFID for supply chain management, retail and asset management, as well as smart card technology for finance, e-government, transportation and event ticketing, the companies said. As part of the joint effort, IBM Global Services will build an RFID system for use in for Philips's semiconductors facilities for manufacturing and distribution in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Both Philips and IBM declined to disclose any financial terms of the agreement.

In a project that began last November, Philips began tagging its wafer cases and carton packages produced in its Kao Hsiung manufacturing site in Taiwan and the division's distribution center in Hong Kong. The program is expected to be fully implemented by mid-2004, according to Christoph Duverne, vice president of marketing and sales at Philips Semiconductors' Identification group.

"RFID is an emerging application that we've been working on for a number of years, but RFID is becoming mainstream now. With a retailer the size of Wal-Mart really pushing RFID, it puts a lot of pressure on people to use the technology," Duverne said.

Wal-Mart, in Bentonville, Arkansas, is requiring its top 100 suppliers to use RFID tags on shipping pallets and cases of merchandise by January 2005, with the rest of its suppliers facing a deadline of 2006.

"2004 is going to be a real crazy year for RFID," said Evelien Vredeveld, IBM's worldwide RFID leader. "Last year there was a lot of concern about privacy issues with RFID but this year, I think consumers will begin to learn the many benefits of the technology." For example, if a product with the RFID tag breaks and needs to be returned to the store, the consumer won't need a receipt as all of that information will be part of the tag's data.

Vredeveld expects to see such disparate industries as the automotive, electronics, pharmaceutical and travel industries to quickly jump on the RFID tagging bandwagon due in large part to the technology's ability to drive down operating costs.

According to estimates from research company IDC, within four years retail demand for RFID tags will be $1.3 billion.

Philips is partnering with IBM to provide a "one stop shop experience" that customers are already beginning to demand, Duverne said. "It is an ideal match with IBM, combining their expertise with ours and putting two very well known brands together. This project will also drive a number of separate projects."

"With Philips we can bring the technology to market quickly," Vredeveld added.