White Paper: Retail RFID Compliance

In 2003, Wal-Mart made the retail industry's initial steps with a RFID (radio frequency identification) supplier requirement when it announced a pallet and case level tagging initiative. Currently, over 600 suppliers are participating in the initiative. In November 2007, Sam's Club built upon this and other similar retail requirements by announcing that its suppliers should begin EPC (Electronic Product Code) tagging according to a provided specification and schedule. Through these defining initiatives, the retail industry continues to realize the tremendous gains derived from RFID technology and its application throughout the retailer/supplier distribution chain.

Today, most retail industry RFID compliance initiatives require tagging at the case and pallet level. Case read requirements are typically limited to conveyor reads, where tags are singulated and in motion. Pallet tag read requirements are commonly limited to placard tags (e.g. a single tag on a SSCC or SGTIN label adhered to the stretch wrap) which are read as the pallet passes through a dock portal.

This paper serves to address some of the more common questions raised when preparing to meet current retail supply chain RFID compliance initiatives, including:

• Where do I start?
• How do I successfully begin tagging at the pallet level?
• What options do I have for tagging at the case level?