An interesting confluence of events has made RFID one of the hottest buzzwords in the industry today. Although, this technology was invented over 30 years ago and has been applied to many niches over those years, RFID was mostly identified as a technology with tremendous potential poised to become "really big" sometime in the future. It now appears that the "future" for RFID is here today!

A number of things are contributing to RFID's rise to eminence today. The technology has finally matured to the point where it has become practical. This is helping generate increased demand as new uses and applications are dreamed up almost every day. New manufacturing processes for RFID chips and tags are helping drive yields up while driving prices down. Additionally, Industry Standards organizations like EPCglobal Inc. are helping define the standards around tags, readers, data communication and software components. Standards such as the Electronic Product Code (EPC), the EPC Air Interface Protocols and the Savant are expected to help further drive economies of scale.

Finally, Wal-Mart has done the industry a huge favor by mandating the use of RFID for some applications at the case and pallet level . This mandate alone is responsible for getting many companies off the fence and into RFID playing field. While the Wal-Mart mandate has immediate implications in the retail and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) markets and their associated supply chains, the mandate is also producing a cascade effect that is propelling RFID into many other diverse industry segments such as Defense, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare. Case in point - we've already seen the US DoD issue a mandate to its suppliers that is along the same lines of the Wal-Mart mandate. It is only a matter of time before we see mandates from players in other industries.

What does this mean to your company?

If you are a Wal-Mart or US-DoD supplier, you are already thinking about the use of RFID and about its effect on your business. However, RFID is a fundamental technology that will have an impact on any business that has assets and that is concerned with making the best use of those assets. Leveraging RFID to improve your business efficiencies will become an imperative for any company looking to stay competitive in the future.