RFID Initiatives at Other Organizations

Apart from the Wal-Mart and DoD mandates, several other large retailers and institutions have published RFID compliance guidelines for their suppliers. Some are similar to Wal-Mart's standards. Others such as the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) are different, illustrating the breadth and applicability of RFID. These guidelines are summarized in Table 9.2.

Table 9.2. RFID Adoption Plans and Supplier Guidelines for Selected Major Organizations

Organization	RFID Adoption Plan	Tag Type	Status
Albertsons	Top 100 suppliers to tag cases and pallets by April 2005	UHF tags based on EPC	Pilot in process
(U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Note: Not a mandate but a roadmap that could turn into a mandate	Unique identification (mass serialization) of some drugs most likely to be counterfeited, at pallet, case, and package level by Dec 2005 Unique identification (mass serialization) of most drugs, at pallet and case level by Dec 2006 Unique identification (mass serialization) of all drugs at pallet and case level, and most drugs at package level, by Dec 2007 Acquisition and use of RFID technology by all manufacturers, wholesalers, chain drug stores, hospitals and most small retailers by Dec 2007	Passive	Various suppliers and others working on plans to comply FDA issued a pharmaceutical tagging initiative in Nov 2004, accelerating RFID pilots in this industry Subsequently, several pharmaceutical companies announced initiatives to tag individual bottles of prescription medicine
Metro Group (Germany)	Top 100 suppliers to send RFID tagged pallets to 10 distribution centers and 50 stores by Nov 2004 Plans to use RFID throughout its supply chainin store as well as with partners. RFID deployment in 800 stores by 2007	UHF tags based on EPC, some early work based on HF tags	Working on pilots with partners and in-store Opened an RFID-enabled future store in Summer 2004
Target	Top suppliers to apply RFID tags on pallets and cases sent to select regional distribution centers by late spring 2005	UHF tags based on EPC	All suppliers in compliance by 2007 Working on pilots
Tesco (UK)	Suppliers to tag pallets and cases starting Sept 2004 All suppliers likely on-board by 2007. End date not confirmed	UHF tags based on EPC	Tracking non-food items between its distribution center and several stores DVD tracking pilot in select locations