On January 1st 2005 Wal-Mart’s mandate to top suppliers, announced some 18 months ago, came into effect. Here we report, after two months into the year, what has happened so far.

Linda Dillman, CIO at Walmart, confirmed early this month that Wal-Mart’s RFID strategy has been a success so far, " I don't have to stand up here and debate whether it will happen, because it did," she said. Due to technical issues some suppliers marginally slipped the deadline but by the end of January the required RFID systems were in place and many of Wal-Mart’s suppliers were collecting data on the delivery of their products. Wal-Mart has installed RFID systems in 104 Wal-Mart stores, 35 Sam’s clubs and three distribution centers. In total 14,000 pieces of hardware has been installed connected with 230 miles of cable.

After attending recent events on RFID, here we list some of the details of progress so far of RFID at Wal-Mart. For the full article, read this month's Smart Labels Analyst journal.

By the end of February, Dillman explained that Wal-Mart stores using RFID have received 23,753 tagged pallets and 663,912 tagged cases and taken over 5 million tag reads

Wal-Mart is making RFID data it reads available to suppliers within 30 minutes though its Retail Link extranet website

About half of the top 100 suppliers decided that there was very little knowledge of RFID integration and choose to learn and setup the systems themselves rather than outsource it to consultants

At case level, read rates have exceeded 90% for cases on carts, 95% on conveyors in distribution centers and 98% in trash compactors in the back room of stores

The biggest headache is reading RFID tags on individual cases on fully loaded pallets, with read rates averaging 66%. Wal-Mart suppliers are working out the best position of the tag on the case for maximum readability, which varies according to the contents of the case
What’s next?
By October, Wal-Mart intends to be using RFID in 12 distribution Centers and 600 stores in the US. By Jan 2006, the next top 200 suppliers will be RFID compliant. It is clear suppliers cannot opt out of this. Wal-Mart are now also working on tracking recalls. Despite the forceful nature of this mandate and modest tag volume so far, most agree it has been a positive step for the RFID industry and retail and it has been a successful start for Wal-Mart, seeking to add competitive advantage by being first.
Learn more
Smart Labels USA, now in it’s four year, will tackle how to meet the increasing demand of RFID and implementing the technology. Attend to hear from early adopters discussing their experiences and needs. See www.smartlabelsusa.com