SCDigest Editorial Staff

SCDigest Says:

Germany may well be the world leader in RFID.   What do you say? Send us your comments here

SCDigest recently completed a detailed review of almost 200 public announcements related to RFID deployments in 2007. The list includes both pilot projects as well as full RFID-based system deployments. We excluded from the list some application areas, such as library-related projects, and announcements that had only to do with companies complying with Wal-Mart or Department of Defense RFID tagging programs.

We’ve compiled that list into a simple excel file, which is available as a pdf to SCDigest subscribers. Download it here: RFID 2007 Analysis.

If anyone would like a copy of the actual spreadsheet, you may request a copy of that by emailing us at feedback@scdigest.com.

Last week, SCDigest editor Dan Gilmore gave his perspective on the 2007 RFID project data (see RFID 2007 – Who Did What in the Past Year). Among his observations:

• Use of RFID for various forms of asset tracking is becoming almost mainstream.
• Of the 190 announcements in our list, 40 were in this hospital sector, and the majority of those had to do with tracking medical equipment.
• Germany may well be the world leader in RFID; there were many projects by German companies in the list, driven in part by active support from the German government.
• There were also a number of work-in-process/manufacturing applications.
• Very few projects were announced in the consumer goods or retail sectors in the US.
• There were some very ambitious program announcements. Korean automaker Hyundai, for example, is on a stated path to use RFID to drive its entire supply chain, with aggressively plans to use RFID on all cartons and containers moved around the world. Aerospace supplier Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing is not only is investing heavily in RFID for its own internal usage, but hard at work integrating its systems with those of customer Boeing. The plan: demand signals from RFID reads in Boeing’s own operations will drive production and replenishment at Killdeer.

(RFID and Automatic Identification Article - Continued Below)