Wal-Mart Expands RFID Mandate

RFID Journal ^ | 8-17-03

[PatrioticCowboy]

Wal-Mart Expands RFID Mandate

The world's largest retailer says that it will ask all suppliers to tag pallets and cases by the end of 2006.

Aug. 18, 2003 - If anyone still has any doubts that Wal-Mart is serious about deploying RFID technology in its supply chain, they should be dispelled by its latest revelation. The world's largest retailer says it will require all suppliers to put RFID tags carrying Electronic Product Codes on pallets and cases by the end of 2006.

"We have asked our 100 top suppliers to have product on pallets employing RFID chips and in cases with RFID chips," says Wal-Mart spokesman Tom Williams. "By 2006, we will roll it out with all suppliers."

Linda Dillman, Wal-Mart's CIO, publicly announced in June that the retailer would ask its top suppliers to tag pallets and cases beginning in January 2005 (see Wal-Mart Draws Line in the Sand). The news created a storm in the retail and consumer packaged goods industries.

Suppliers are still struggling to come to grips with what the requirement means for them. The Wal-Mart requirement was the hot topic at a recent trade association meeting attended by representatives from Johnson & Johnson, Kimberley Clark, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and others.

"The only consensus was that there's a lack of clarity of what it really means," says one executive who was present. "We are all a little worried that the technology has a way to go before it's robust enough to be implementable in a live distribution center environment.

And we worry about doing something before the technology is ready and possibly having something that's obsolete quite quickly."

The news that Wal-Mart is expanding the requirement to all of its suppliers might not cause the same tumult as the first announcement. That's because smaller suppliers may be able to move more quickly to tag their limited number of stock keeping units (SKU) than large suppliers, which may have hundreds of SKUs, each with different RF properties. And they have an extra year to learn how to deploy the technology for their own benefit.

Wal-Mart plans to hold a gathering for its suppliers in the fourth quarter to provide more details on how it expects them to tag pallets and cases. Some of the larger suppliers are concerned that the schedule doesn't leave them enough time to meet the January 2005 deadline.

"Wal-Mart has said they will define in greater detail what they mean in the fourth quarter, but that leaves us less than a year to do this," says a supply chain executive from one major manufacturing company. "Nobody is going to want to deploy new technologies in November and December, because that's the big selling season."

[geologist]

Yes. In disguise.

[CWOJackson]

Sell any stock you have with Gillette. I'm going down to the local WalMart and I'm going to stand there for an hour picking up a packet then putting it back, pick it up, put it back...

(psssssstttt. It was the grocery store cards that caused the blackout the other day also.)

[sinkspur]

It is not a good idea to be individually identified.

Then don't. Nobody forces you to use these cards. I have one to all the major stores in my area, as I like to save money.

All the rest of your arguments are directly from the CASPIAN website. Pure scare tactics with no basis in fact.

[nightdriver]

"Contrary to some here, these devices can be "killed" by a scanner at the last point of contact, so they're not going to be used to track what consumers buy."

What happens if I happen to put my pocked-sized magnetic hammer up against it and pull the trigger? (It's good for smoking those new electronic parking meters!)

[Free Vulcan]

Hidden camera in "Gillette Smart Shelf" takes photo of each shopper who picks up Gillette razor blades. Photo is automatically routed to store security.  A second photo is taken at the checkstand. Later the two photos are compared to insure that every "potential shoplifter" (i.e., anyone) seen picking up Gillette products is later seen paying for them.

Source:
This image is from a confidential PDF that CASPIAN found on the Auto-ID Center's website in July, 2003.
**NOTE: Gillette VP Dick Cantwell is Director of the Board of Overseers for the Auto-ID Center where this image was found.**


Title: "RF Enabled Shelf and Back Room"
Label: "Confidential - for Auto-ID Center sponsors only"
Date: 6/4/02
Page: See p. 3 for the image above

Originally available on Auto-ID Center website at: http://www.autoidcenter.org/media/savant.pdf
Removed from site week of July 7, 2003 after negative publicity appeared in the press.

Currently mirrored at:

http://cryptome.org/rfid/savant.pdf  (124KB)

My, how lovely.

[american spirit]

What kind of "types" are you looking for in your travels. Types trying to explain the absolute idiocy the fedgov applies to our exploding debt, immigration policies, wars with little purpose other than to liberate another country's oil reserves, embracing the policies of that freakshow called the UN, idiotic trade deals that have ravaged our industrial base......just curious.

[Free Vulcan]

After the "Gillette Smart Shelf" takes a photo of shoppers who pick up Gillette razor blades, this document appears to indicate that sensors or cameras will track their movements through the store. 

Source:
This image is from a PDF that CASPIAN found on the Auto-ID Center's website in July, 2003.
**NOTE: Gillette VP Dick Cantwell is Director of the Board of Overseers for the Auto-ID Center where this image was found.**


Title: "The Next Information Revolution: The Networked Physical World"
Date: 2002
Page: See p. 16 for the image above

Currently available on Auto-ID Center website at:
http://www.autoidcenter.org/media/fmi_2002.pdf

A backup of the pdf is mirrored at:

http://cryptome.org/rfid/fmi_2002.pdf  (933KB)

[sinkspur]

A second photo is taken at the checkstand. Later the two photos are compared to insure that every "potential shoplifter" (i.e., anyone) seen picking up Gillette products is later seen paying for them.

What if they don't pay for them? What will Gillette do?

What if said shopper drops the blades next to the motor oil because he decides he doesn't want them? The second photo will, indeed, show he hasn't paid for them.

Why would Gillette spend this kind of money for a $5.00 package of razor blades?

Odd that the "supposed PDF" is now no longer available.

Only saps believe this kind of stuff.

[sinkspur]

After the "Gillette Smart Shelf" takes a photo of shoppers who pick up Gillette razor blades, this document appears to indicate that sensors or cameras will track their movements through the store.

This is even nuttier! Sensors all over the store to track a package of razor blades?

Katherine Albrecht is the Robert Tilton of conspiracy theorists.

She's struck gold around this place, though.

[freekitty]

Well, I guess that on the ceiling camera I was looking into was really not there at Walgreens yesterday when I picked up my prescription. Since it took forever, a surprise, since I and another woman were the only customers, I took advantage and decided to tell the camera how lousy the service was. Hope they did record it.

[freekitty]

Oh yes, the camera was located right by the cashier's stations.

[sinkspur]

Well, I guess that on the ceiling camera I was looking into was really not there at Walgreens yesterday when I picked up my prescription.

That was Walgreen's camera.

This silly "consumer group" contends that Gillette is going to be putting tiny cameras above shelves of Mach-3 blades to snap pictures of people who buy them.

Who replaces the film in these tiny cameras? And what good is taking pictures of shoplifters if the shoplifter gets away?

[freekitty]

"Paranoia is profitable."

So is having to hire a lawyer to explain why you didn't steal those razor blades.

[sinkspur]

So is having to hire a lawyer to explain why you didn't steal those razor blades.

Nobody's going to have to hire a lawyer; this is CASPIAN fantasy.

[TankerKC]

Want to bet ...? It will be frequently forgotten or missed or fall throught the cracks for awhile and then the information will be sold or used in the case of divorces, health insurances, trials etc. Wait and see.

Walmart is only using these to track pallets and cases. The current bar code can help them track inventory at the item level. This is sound supply chain and inventory practice.

[Free Vulcan]

Download the file at the bottom of post 27. It is a PDF file put together by MIT called The Next Information Revolution: The Networked Physical World, written by Dr. Daniel Engels.

Here are sponsors of the technology as listed in the paper:

Auto-ID Center End User Sponsors Include

Procter & Gamble, The Gillette Company, Uniform Code Council (UCC), CHEP International, Coca-Cola, Dai Nippon Printing, Department of Defense, EAN International, Globeranger, International Paper, Johnson & Johnson, Kimberly-Clark, Pepsi, Pfizer, Philip Morris Group, Target Corp., Tesco Stores Ltd., Unilever, United States Postal Service, United Parcel Service, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
Westvaco, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Mfg. Co., LTD.

Auto-ID Center Vendor Sponsors Include

Accenture, AC Nielson, Alien Technology, Avery Denison, Cash?s, Checkpoint Systems, Inc., Ember Corporation, Flexchip AG, Flint Ink, Intel, Invensys PLC,
Markem Corp., Matrics RFID, NCR Corporation, Philips Semiconductor, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Rafsec, RF SAW Components, SAP, Savi Technologies, Sensormatic Electronics Corp., Sun Microsystems, Symbol Technologies, TAGSYS,
ThingMagic

According to this presentation, testing began on the system on '1 oct 2001, 9:41am edt'. The source for the file is http://www.autoidcenter.org

[TankerKC]

According to this presentation, testing began on the system on '1 oct 2001, 9:41am edt'.

Well, that convinces me. NOBODY could make up a date like that.

[geologist]

Sorry ... I was responding to this posting by sinkspur ...

"Wal-Mart wants all its suppliers to put these RFID's (Remote-Frequency Identification Devices) on pallets so that it can track inventory from the minute it leaves its warehouses to the time it is unloaded.

With chip technology costs continuing the decline, the next step will be to put RFID's on all products, so that they can be tracked all the way to purchase.

Inventory carrying costs are high, so Wal-Mart wants to know exactly what it has on hand, at all times.

Contrary to some here, these devices can be "killed" by a scanner at the last point of contact, so they're not going to be used to track what consumers buy."

7 posted on 08/17/2003 1:08 PM PDT by sinkspur

[sinkspur]

So? What's nefarious about companies discussing RFID technology, since retailers are going to FORCE them to use it. Wal-Mart will be closely followed by Target.

It's a supply chain management device, not a means to figure out how much Charmin you buy.

Ever get those grocery store-generated coupons at the checkout stands? Those are offered based on what you bought in that purchase. But no retailer keeps a database of your purchases. There's no need to.

[Free Vulcan]

That's the information in the presentation written by Dr. Engles of MIT. Call him and ask him if he is lying or not.