Test Center In Heart Of RFID CountryTest Center In Heart Of RFID Country

Sun Microsystems is assembling a facility in Dallas to help companies test their radio-frequency identification systems to make sure they comply with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s mandate to its 100 largest suppliers to tag pallets and cases delivered to distribution centers and stores in Texas by January 2005. Sun expects to have the center in operation sometime next month, says Julie Sarbacker, director of Sun's Auto-ID Business Unit.

Sun was one of a number of vendors attending a meeting at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters last week where the retailer provided suppliers and IT vendors with details about its RFID plans and schedule.

The vendor's test center will include a mock warehouse with conveyor belts where customers can bring the RFID tags and readers they plan to use and make sure they comply with the formats Wal-Mart requires. The center will include hardware, software, and services to simulate a range of distribution-system environments, including different databases, inventory and warehouse-management apps such as those from RedPrairie Corp., and supply-chain-management apps such as those from Provia Software Inc.

Sun chose Dallas because Wal-Mart and many other bigger companies have major distribution centers in the area, says Jim Clarke, Sun's chief architect for Auto-ID. Next year Sun might add more RFID test centers at its existing iForce test centers around the country. Customers will pay to use the testing service but the fee, which hasn't been set, is mostly to cover costs, Sarbacker says. The service will be open to both current and prospective Sun customers. Sun has a list of more than 160 companies that have expressed interest in using the service, more than two-thirds of whom are not Sun customers, she says.

The mood among Wal-Mart suppliers at the meeting was "mixed" about the RFID plans, Sarbacker says. Some suppliers, especially larger companies and those with high-value goods, are already moving to adopt RFID because they see a potential return on investment through reduced theft and loss and through improved operating efficiency in their supply-chain operations. "They're already moving in this direction," she says. But many other suppliers are nervous because they haven't taken any steps to adopt RFID and aren't sure what to do. "They know they have to do it, but they don't know how to get started," Sarbacker says.

The suppliers' knowledge about RFID also varies greatly. Some have told Sun they needed to be educated about RFID basics, while others have been savvy enough to focus on discussing how they can use RFID to better run their business, Clarke says. Some Wal-Mart suppliers at the conference were mulling just how much to invest in RFID. Some will implement just what they need to meet Wal-Mart's requirements, Sarbacker says, and others are planning bigger up-front investments to integrate the RFID technology more extensively with their own IT systems to ultimately realize a greater return.

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