Kimberly-Clark Adds European Retailers To Its RFID Program March 2, 2005

Kimberly-Clark Corp. is taking its radio-frequency identification initiative across the seas. Within a few weeks, the consumer-goods company will be shipping RFID-tagged cases of infant and child-care products to U.K. retailer Tesco plc. In late February, it started shipping RFID-tagged pallets to Metro Group AG, a German retailer.

Kimberly-Clark has been an active participant in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s RFID program, and has been shipping cases and pallets of goods tagged with RFID to Wal-Mart since April 2004. It began shipping tagged goods to Target Corp. in October 2004, and also ships them to grocery retailer Albertsons Inc.

Kimberly-Clark has used more than 100,000 tags to date, estimates Michael O'Shea, director of Kimberly-Clark's AutoID and RFID strategies and technologies. By the end of this year, it will have shipped more than one million tagged cases to Albertsons, Target, and Wal-Mart distribution centers just in the Dallas area, he says.

As for Tesco, Kimberly-Clark will tag cases leaving its manufacturing center in Barton, England, bound for one Tesco distribution center. In Germany, it is shipping a variety of tagged cases containing products sold through Metro's Cash & Carry subsidiary from Kimberly-Clark's Mienholz, Germany, manufacturing plant to a Metro distribution center nearby. (To learn more about the use of RFID in Europe, watch for a story on Marks & Spencer, Tesco, and Metro in next week's issue of InformationWeek .)

For now, the consumer-goods company will use 13.56-MHz tags in Europe. Kimberly-Clark will move to the next-generation UHF Gen 2 tags as soon as they are available later this year. "The tags are only one component," says O'Shea. "We also need to make sure the firmware for readers are ready for UHF Gen 2 as well."

Before Kimberly-Clark brings any new RFID process into its supply chain, it is tested in a dedicated 5,000-square-foot RFID research lab recently opened within its diaper plant and distribution center in Neenah, Wis. This is where a team of packaging engineers and information-systems specialists develop RFID packaging to test compatibility across Kimberly-Clark's wide range of products. It's also where prototypes are built to test future technology implementations that, if successful, could end up in all its operations globally.

The facility currently is shut down through March to renovate and upgrade the equipment. "We are putting in a diagnostic platform," O'Shea says. Part of the objective is to stress the tags, readers, and other equipment to their limits to understand the technology's restrictions. When equipment fails, RFID technicians can learn how to prevent those mishaps from happening in the production supply chain.

The renovation includes the creation of another floor over a conveyer system where tests are run. There's also plans to expand the center to 7,500 square feet this year, and to 10,000 square feet in 2006. "We've outgrown the space," O'Shea says. "The initiative within Kimberly-Clark is beyond fast-moving consumer goods. It's also supporting our other businesses, too, from health care to professional."

Kimberly-Clark's research and development budget supports the test-center project, although O'Shea declined to elaborate on the financial investment. He did explain the company's strategy to maintain its initiative to find experts that can reengineer packaging and supply-chain processes by understanding materials and how they interact with RF signals. It began creating a team with RFID expertise in January 2004 after recognizing the need a year earlier.

Finding RFID talent and knowledge isn't easy. So, Kimberly-Clark has been working with Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin Stout, which are recognized in the industry for their packaging schools. "We think the universities need to step up and do more than just research," O'Shea says. "They need to take a look at their curriculums to prepare a workforce to support the demand that's out there." Although there are those with RFID background and expertise, "I'm looking for the best and I'm not looking for a warm body," he says. "It's amazing how someone walks by an RFID reader and that gives them the necessary experience."