When the world's biggest buyers yell jump, you'd think their suppliers would be crouched and ready to elevate. But when Wal-Mart yells jump, some suppliers are more apt to roll over, or complain that it's breaking a noise ordinance.
So it goes with Wal-Mart's RFID mandate. In August 2003, the world's largest retailer announced that it would require all suppliers to put RFID tags with Electronic Product Codes on their pallets and cases by the end of 2006. As of April 2007, Wal-Mart said that 600 suppliers were using RFID--just 3 percent of its base of 20,000. Why?
Source: Information Week, http://www.informationweek.com