Compliance is King

"Note how manual RFID systems are no longer the de facto choice in RFID planning. Automation is central to RFID to ensure data accuracy and obtain labor and capital investment efficiencies. Consumer goods (CG) RFID activities are now seen more as a way to improve or get better than an obligation to meet a customer demand. Making data meaningful and useful is driving this transition. Moreover, RFID solutions are becoming available that apply to various CG business sizes and operations. As a result, CGs are more confident with inline solutions than ever before, and with the passing of EPC Gen 2 as an ISO 18000-6C standard, this will only increase in coming months."
- Erik Michielsen, ABI Research

"Given the scope of mandates and the number of suppliers affected, it's not surprising that compliance is still the top driver of RFID adoption. However, other critical drivers signal the shift from the outright skepticism of the last few years to a more concentrated effort to find the business value. More and more CG firms are developing the use case for improved inventory and asset visibility, whether for higher asset utilization or promotion compliance at the point of sale. On the vendor side, RFID-enabled applications and business intelligence tools can help companies use RFID data without losing time and money developing custom applications. Note the number of respondents who see real-time updating as a driver of RFID adoption. Gen 2 does a better job enabling read-write capabilities, but this interest portends a more intense focus on edge security moving forward. Expect a more mainstream, business-driven discussion of RFID data security and the protection of sensitive information that can exist on these tags."
- Christine Overby, Forrester Research

"Over the last two years the majority of consumer products companies' investments in RFID have been driven by retailer mandates, as verified by the survey responses. The challenge has been finding significant return on this investment. Those who are willing to look beyond the mandates are beginning to see a lot of value from their initiatives. Several Clarkston Consulting clients are now integrating point-of-sale data with case and pallet RFID data. They are able to see when their inventory arrives at the retailer and track when that inventory hits the point-of-sale. They are then using baseline and promotional curves to track product movement. These companies are using exception reports to support their merchandising teams become more effective at the retail site. By improving two common causes of out-of-stocks at the retail shelf, supply chain and in-store execution, our clients are achieving a return on their RFID investments."
- Thomas Borneman, Clarkston Consulting