Weber launches RFID compliance program

In the wake of Wal-Mart’s mandate that requires its top 100 suppliers to place radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on all cases and pallet loads by January 2005, Weber Marking Systems has announced that it has established what it calls Initiative 2004, a program aimed at providing the systems and supplies that will help companies meet RFID compliance standards.

‘Wal-Mart was the first to set a deadline for RFID compliance,’ says Brad Weber, president of Weber Marking Systems. ‘The Department of Defense was next (also for 2005), and we feel that many other retailers and supply chain operations are bound to follow suit. We pledge that our Initiative 2004 will ensure that our customers will be ready.’

RFID is the latest development in automatic identification and data capture technology. Much of the initial growth of RFID is expected to be linked to “smart label” technology, which combines the benefits of bar code labeling with the functionality of RFID by embedding an ultra-thin RFID tag in the label material that will transmit a range of product data.
According to Brad Weber, the company already has initiated its effort to ensure that equipment like label printers and printer-applicators will be available to encode data on RFID tags, as well as produce printed bar codes, text and graphics on the same smart labels.