Walmart Procter Gamble RFID Commitment

Walmart and Procter & Gamble work through their differing views on the application of RFID technology to business processes. ...

... "WalMart and the Procter & Gamble Co. of Cincinnati say they remain committed to advancing the technology. " ...

Via Northwest Arkansas: RFID chip project

Walmart RFID WSJ Incomplete Picture of Benefits

Dean Frew, President and CEO of Xterprise, responds to negative article in WSJ that criticized WalMart's RFID program alleging that WalMart is not realizing the benefits originally proposed. ...

... "It is always interesting to me that journalists like Mr. McWilliams write about the same three companies when covering RFID. Beaver Creek, Blyth and Thomasville. These companies together account for about 100,000 cases of RFID enabled product shipped per year out of >100 million cases shipped to Wal-Mart in 2006. Why did Mr. McWilliams not talk with Proctor & Gamble they have publicly talked about their RFID successes and ship millions of RFID-enabled cases of product annually? A number of our clients are each shipping over 1 Million tags a year to Wal-Mart alone and we have seen multiple of our clients that are seeing significant value in managing of promotions. Just because they are not talking about it, does not mean they are gaining value. It is unfortunate when the largest most respected global business publication leads the Market section with such a negative one-sided story with so much wrong information and without any commentary from the subject company. " ...

Via Xterprise: Letter to the Editor (PDF) ...

RFID Program: P&G EPC

P&G electronic product code (EPC) and radio frequency identification (RFID) program is focused on the opportunities in the supply chain and is sensitive to privacy concerns that consumers may have. ...

... "The Procter & Gamble Company is pursuing the use of EPC (Electronic Product Coding) to create efficiencies in the supply chain, to manage inventory, prevent theft and counterfeiting, and reduce out-of-stock levels, via case and pallet-level EPC. Down the road as we learn more about the technology, there may be opportunities to save costs and generate additional benefits for the supply chain and consumers via item-level EPC. " ...

References on P&G's RFID program ...

RFID Program: P&G EPC: Via P&G: P&G Position on Electronic Product Coding (EPC) ...

Via SAP: SAP Launches First RFID Solution to Help Customers Automate RFID-Enabled Business Processes: "Drawing upon experience from customer projects with leading companies like Procter & Gamble and the METRO Group, as well as six years of RFID research and involvement in RFID standards organizations, SAP has developed technology that will dramatically change supply chain management in the retail and consumer product industries. "

Via RFID Journal: P&G Teams With T3Ci for RFID Apps: "Procter & Gamble has signed a five-year agreement with T3Ci, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup that has created software for analyzing Electronic Product Code (EPC) data from radio frequency identification systems. "

Via Computerworld: Early Adopters Send Mixed Messages About RFID: "Flannery said the justification is more apparent in P&G's pharmaceutical business, where RFID is viewed as a technology that can help curb counterfeit drugs and bolster consumer safety. "

RFID Supply Chain Excellence Recognition ...

Supply chain innovators are recognized for their operational excellence. ...

... "OATSystems, Inc., the recognized RFID framework leader, offers its congratulations to customers who have been named to the AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25, which highlights companies that are excellent operationally and brilliant innovators. A third of the companies on the Top 25 list are using OAT's RFID platform to help optimize their supply chains. AMR Research analyzed the top retailers and manufactures on a variety of metrics and criteria including return on assets, inventory turns, trailing 12 months growth. According to Marc Osofsky, vice president of marketing and product management at OATSystems, RFID has become an increasingly attractive and realistic strategy for companies to track their products through the supply chain and gain operational efficiencies.

AMR Research's Supply Chain Top 25 for 2005 list includes:
Dell, Procter & Gamble, IBM, Nokia, Toyota Motor, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung Electronics, Wal-Mart Stores, Tesco, Johnson Controls, Intel, Anheuser-Busch, Woolworths, The Home Depot, Motorola, PepsiCo. Best Buy, Cisco Systems, Texas Instruments, Lowe's, Nike, L'Oreal, Publix Super Markets, Sysco and Coca-Cola. " ...

RFID Supply Chain Excellence Recognition: OAT Customers Included in the AMR Research Supply Chain Top 25: List Identifies the Top 25 Global Supply Chain Performers for 2005 ...

Procter Gamble RFID T3CI Strategic Partnership

Procter Gamble RFID T3CI Strategic Partnership: T3Ci: The RFID Analytics and Applications Company The Procter & Gamble Company and T3Ci Multi-Year Joint EPC/RFID Applications Development Agreement: RFID Expert Steve Rehling of Procter & Gamble Joins T3Ci Customer Advisory Board ...

... "We are honored that Procter & Gamble has selected T3Ci as their strategic RFID partner, said Jonathan Golovin, CEO T3Ci. Procter & Gamble is not only an experienced early pioneer in the exploration of the potential benefits of RFID technology, but has also demonstrated leadership in the development of EPCglobal standards. " ...

T3Ci, the leading RFID analytics and applications company, develops and markets software and subscription services for leaders of RFID initiatives at major retail suppliers, major retailers and pharmaceutical companies who are responsible for delivering business value from their company's RFID investment. T3Ci's enterprise-class solutions include: RFID data analysis services and software, deductions management and authentication/ e-pedigree, representing the most comprehensive RFID application vision in the industry. To date, T3Ci has more experience in analyzing and gaining business value from retailer EPC data than any other company. They recently received AMR Research's 2005 Innovation Award as the most innovative software and services company in America under $10 million. T3Ci's customers include P&G, Gillette, Unilever and HP.

Two billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Bounty(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Actonel(R), Olay(R), Clairol Nice •n Easy(R), Head & Shoulders(R) and Wella(R). The P&G community consists of about 110,000 employees working in almost 80 countries worldwide.

Walmart RFID Testing ...

RFID technology is making its way into people’s everyday lives in a number of areas ...

... "Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble have tested RFID tags on Max Factor Lipfinity lipstick sold at the Wal-Mart store in Arrow, Oklahoma. Store shelves equipped with Webcams allowed Procter & Gamble researchers in Cincinnati, Ohio, to watch customers as they picked up and looked at the lipsticks. In a separate trial, Wal-Mart and Gillette have tested the usefulness of placing RFID tags on Gillette razor blades sold at Wal-Mart stores. RFID antennas on store shelves tracked when customers picked up razors, when they put them back on the shelf, and when they carried them to the register. The tests were designed to give insight on shopping behavior, prevent shoplifting, and to alert employees when shelves needed to be re-stocked. " ...

Strategic RFID Applications: EPC Standards

Strategic RFID Applications: The Procter & Gamble Company and T3Ci Announce Multi-Year Joint EPC/RFID Applications Development Agreement: RFID Expert Steve Rehling of Procter & Gamble Joins T3Ci Customer Advisory Board ...

P&G collaborates to develop strategic use of RFID applications, using the EPC standards, to lead the CPG industry ...

... "T3Ci, the leading RFID analytics and applications company, and The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) today announced a multi-year, non-exclusive joint development agreement to collaboratively identify and build high value RFID applications designed to leverage the EPCglobal RFID standards. The two companies aim to jointly develop a range of strategic RFID applications as learning continues behind RFID programs at multiple retailers. " ...

T3Ci, the leading RFID analytics and applications company, develops and markets software and subscription services for leaders of RFID initiatives at major retail suppliers, major retailers and pharmaceutical companies who are responsible for delivering business value from their company's RFID investment. T3Ci's enterprise-class solutions include: RFID data analysis services and software, deductions management and authentication/ e-pedigree, representing the most comprehensive RFID application vision in the industry. To date, T3Ci has more experience in analyzing and gaining business value from retailer EPC data than any other company. They recently received AMR Research's 2005 Innovation Award as the most innovative software and services company in America under $10 million. T3Ci's customers include P&G, Gillette, Unilever and HP.

Two billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Bounty(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Actonel(R), Olay(R), Clairol Nice n Easy(R), Head & Shoulders(R) and Wella(R). The P&G community consists of about 110,000 employees working in almost 80 countries worldwide.

Proctor Gamble RFID Privacy Guidelines ...

Radio Frequency IDentification: Applications and Implications for Consumers ...

... "Workshop panelists also discussed the privacy guidelines adopted by Procter & Gamble (“P&G”), another company involved in RFID trials both in the U.S. and abroad. In addition to its global privacy policy, P&G has developed an RFID-specific position statement calling for clear and accurate notice to consumers about the use of RFID tags and consumer choice with respect to disabling or discarding EPC tags “without cost or penalty” as well as disclosure of whether any personally identifiable information about them is electronically linked to the EPC number on products they buy. Further, P&G stated at the Workshop that it will not participate in item-level tagging with any retailer or partner that would link personal information about consumers using RFID, other than what they do for bar codes today. ” ...

P+G EPC Electronic Product Code Enabled by RFID Technology ...

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology: What the Future Holds for Commerce, Security, and the Consumer: Why P&G is investing in EPC ...

... "Procter & Gamble is pursuing the use of Electronic Product Code (EPC) to create efficiencies in the supply chain. As you have heard from Dr. Sarma, EPC is a way to uniquely identify a pallet, case or individual product using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. It's similar to today's bar code, but with many more potential uses and benefits. P&G is a founding sponsor of MIT's Auto-ID Center because we realized the enormous potential to improve processes in the entire supply chain from our plants to retail distribution centers to store shelves. The real time, automated, accurate information that EPC generates will benefit manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and most importantly, consumers. Today's supply chain systems are outdated and not meeting the needs of our consumers. EPC offers potential solutions for problems like out-of-stocks, theft and counterfeiting, as well as reducing inventory levels. We know that out of stock levels are higher than we, our retail partners and our consumers want. It is frustrating when you go to your local supermarket to buy your favorite flavor of Pringles and the shelf is bare. It can result in a lost sale for P&G and for the retailer. To guard against out of stocks, we keep an average of 65 days worth of product inventory, which costs us $3 billion a year. Theft and counterfeiting are growing problems as well. Worldwide theft costs retailers $50 billion a year and counterfeiting is a $500 billion problem. " ...

RFID Benefit Potential Estimates ...

Commentary - Radio Frequency Identification (RFID Technologies: Potential for the Department of Defense)

CW4 Pablo A. Brown writes ...

... "Business practices in the private sector demonstrate the impact of using RFID. A study by Accenture, a global consulting firm, concluded that RFID could lower inventories by at least 5 percent or as much as 30 percent. In one practical application, Procter & Gamble Company plans to use RFID technology to monitor its tagged cases. Procter & Gamble hopes this will reduce its inventory by 40 percent. Using Accenture's lower 5 percent estimate, the DLA can reasonably assume a savings of $4 billion to its $80.5 billion wholesale inventory. The DLA might save as much as $24 billion if it can reduce the inventory it carries by 30 percent. If the DLA could achieve Procter & Gamble's 40 percent reduction, this would save the DLA an estimated $32 billion. Clearly, the DOD stands to benefit tremendously from the use of RFID." ...

CW4 Pablo A. Brown wrote his article on the potential of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technologies for the Department of Defense while working in the Army’s Training With Industry program at the Logistics Management Institute in McLean, VA.

RFID Progress: CHEP Makes Important Advances in RFID; Progress in Both Research & ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... leader in pallet and container pooling solutions, has announced a series of new developments in the company's Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) program. ...

... CHEP, the global leader in pallet and container pooling solutions, has announced a series of new developments in the company's Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) program. From participating in the largest RFID test market in the US, to establishing an industry wide pilot implementation with the aim to better understand RFID/EPC applicability to the Brazilian marketplace, CHEP is at the forefront of RFID implementation in the supply chain around the world. To meet the requests of retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco, Target, Metro and others, CHEP has strengthened its PLUS ID offering, which features pallets embedded with RFID tags and now includes technical and strategic consulting to assist in RFID implementations. ...

CHEP is the global leader in pallet and plastic container pooling services serving many of the world's largest companies. The company has more than 7,700 employees in 42 countries. Combining superior technology, over five decades of experience and an asset base of more than 265 million pallets and containers, CHEP handles pallet and container supply chain logistics for customers in the consumer goods, produce, meat, home improvement, beverage, raw materials and automotive industries. With global partners that include Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestle, Rich Products Corporation, Ford and GM, CHEP is known for Handling the World's Most Important Products. Everyday.

RFID: Sanjay Sarma Testimony ...

From The Committee on Energy and Commerce, Dr. Sanjay Sarma, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology states ...

... "In 1999, the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC), a not-for-profit standards making body based in Lawrenceville, N.J., which had spearheaded the adoption of bar code technology, joined with Procter & Gamble and The Gillette Co. in helping establish the Auto-ID (Automatic Identification) Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Sponsorship of the center soon grew to more than 100 global companies, and research spread beyond MIT to five other great research universities around the world: at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom; the University of Adelaide in Australia; Keio University in Tokyo, Japan; Fudan University in Shanghai, China; and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The center's mission was to develop RFID for use across the global supply chain. The vision was simple: harness the capability of RFID to create a world in which we can effectively track products throughout the supply chain using a single, global network as products move from one company to another, one country to another. The idea behind this vision was to make it as easy for one company to read another company's tags as it is for IBM computers to communicate with Apple machines over the Internet. One focus of the center's work was the development of the identification system for objects in the system -- the EPC. Another was the development of the entire system in which EPC tags could be used -- the EPCglobal Network. " ...

Food Industry RFID: Bruce Foods Leverages RedPrairie Functionality to Achieve ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... Bruce Foods, a specialty US food manufacturer, will implement industry-leading RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), Transportation and Warehouse Management ...

About RedPrairie Corporation: RedPrairie is a leader in supply chain technology solutions that help customers transform their businesses. These global, end-to-end logistics solutions optimize operations across customers' extended supply networks, driving out costs, improving customer service and creating competitive advantage. RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management capabilities, enhanced with process management and optimization components for real-time visibility, event management, sourcing, quality control, supplier collaboration and performance management. RedPrairie provides industry-tailored solutions for many markets, including consumer goods, direct to consumer and traditional retail, food and beverage, high tech / electronics, third party logistics, industrial / wholesale, automotive and service parts, and pharmaceuticals. Customers include Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Thames Water, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Panasonic, Georgia-Pacific, Eveready, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Unilever, Exel, GE, TNT Logistics, and many others.

" ... RedPrairie RFID strategy addresses the three issues companies are facing today as they plan for inevitable RFID adoption – how to comply with retail 2005 requirements, how to transition from current barcode environments, and how to move to the ultimate scan-free environments that will be possible as RFID technology matures. Compliance: The RFID Accelerator is designed to enable companies to meet the demands of the large retailers without replacing their existing infrastructure. The application provides agents to collect and verify RFID tag information, retrieve related inventory data and pass this combined information to the retailers in advanced shipping notices (ASNs). This will provide the pallet and case RFID-based information that Wal-Mart and Target will require. Transition: Because taking full advantage of RFID technology will entail a fundamental change to distribution operations, companies will need to transition to this stage over a period of time while continuing to leverage their existing investments in RF and barcode infrastructure. To facilitate this dual mode of operation, RedPrairie has integrated RFID functionality with traditional processing so that distribution operations are independent of the data capture source. This will enable customers to take early advantage of RFID benefits, such as increased inventory visibility and accuracy, reduced labor costs and faster cycle times, without disrupting existing operations. Scan-Free: As RFID technology matures, it will enable companies to fundamentally redefine distribution operations. Operations currently requiring manual scanning will be replaced by scan-free operations that query, collect, store and transmit inventory information without human intervention. RedPrairie is working with its customers and the RFID Center of Excellence to define these new operational requirements and build support for them into its application suite. This will have positive impact on warehouse efficiency, labor productivity, transportation turnaround times and retail in-stock levels ... "

RFID Supply Chain: RedPrairie Appoints Jack Robinson as Financial Leader

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management ...

RedPrairie is a leader in supply chain technology solutions that help customers transform their businesses. These global, end-to-end logistics solutions optimize operations across customers' extended supply networks, driving out costs, improving customer service and creating competitive advantage. RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management capabilities, enhanced with process management and optimization components for real-time visibility, event management, sourcing, quality control, supplier collaboration and performance management. RedPrairie provides industry-tailored solutions for many markets, including consumer goods, direct to consumer and traditional retail, food and beverage, high tech / electronics, third party logistics, industrial / wholesale, automotive and service parts, and pharmaceuticals. Customers include Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Thames Water, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Panasonic, Georgia-Pacific, Eveready, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Unilever, Exel, GE, TNT Logistics, and many others.

RFID Career: RedPrairie Appoints R. Michael Mayoras Customer Implementation ...

From Business Wire (press release), CA ... RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management ...

RedPrairie is a leader in supply chain technology solutions that help customers transform their businesses. These global, end-to-end solutions optimize operations across customers' extended supply networks, driving out costs, improving customer service and creating competitive advantage. RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management capabilities, enhanced with process management and optimization components for real-time visibility, event management, sourcing, quality control, supplier collaboration and performance management. RedPrairie provides industry-tailored solutions for many markets, including consumer goods, direct to consumer and traditional retail, food and beverage, high tech / electronics, third party logistics, industrial / wholesale, automotive and service parts, and pharmaceuticals. Customers include Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Thames Water, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Panasonic, Georgia-Pacific, Eveready, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Unilever, Exel, GE, TNT Logistics, and many others.

RFID Solutions: Symbol's Top Exec Touts Enterprise Mobility Architecture At N+I

From CRN ... Nuti, along with both Callagee and McGovern, also spoke briefly about the benefits of improving RFID (radio frequency identification) technology solutions that ...

Radio frequency identification is one of today's most promising technologies, and Symbol Technologies is leading the way with a new generation of RFID solutions. RFID advanced data capture systems are being tested by multiple market-leading companies, to develop Symbol's enterprise mobility reference architecture.

RFID technology is used to mark, identify and track individual objects as they move from the manufacturing floor through the supply chain and into the hands of the buyer or consumer. As the objects move through the supply chain, wireless RFID readers can communicate with an RFID tag on the object, collect information about the object (such as a unique number), and match that number in a database to access a complete record about the object. Symbol views RFID as a subset of the suite of automatic data capture technologies, and includes RFID in the core competencies the company deploys as a leading supplier of enterprise mobility solutions.

Interest in RFID technology is driven by the desire of companies to achieve greater visibility to their supply chains, with the goal of increasing operational efficiency. An efficient supply chain operation helps to ensure that goods can be bought at the place and time consumers are ready to purchase. Potential gains from the visibility RFID generates include lower inventory levels, reduced labor costs and increased sales—the bottom line: increased profitability.

EPC (Electronic Product Code) is the emerging standard for RFID applications in the retail supply chain. It represents an industry consensus on the best technological approach to successful implementation of RFID. The overall EPC concept is designed to work in a range of retail supply chain applications. EPC emerged from the Auto-ID Center, a partnership between almost 100 companies and five of the world's leading research universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Retailers include many globally recognizable names—Wal*Mart®, Target Corporation, Home Depot®, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Tesco plc...

RFID in the Supply Chain: SAP RFID Infrastructure...

SAP RFID Infrastructure senses and controls automated signals in real-time. It connects directly with business processes requiring signal data to drive faster and better business decisions. With SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, SAP has achieved an important milestone in realizing its vision of an adaptive supply chain network.

One of the first applications of SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure is the integration of RFID technology with supply chain processes. SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure provides out-of-the-box functionality to fulfill requirements for RFID compliance in the logistics applications of the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and large retailers such as Wal-Mart. With SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, you can meet current market needs and be ready for future automatic identification requirements.

Drawing upon experience from customer projects with leading companies like Procter & Gamble and the METRO Group, as well as six years of RFID research and involvement in RFID standards organizations, SAP has developed technology that will dramatically change supply chain management in the retail and consumer product industries. Companies can leverage data captured through RFID tags in their business processes by integrating ERP and SCM functionalities with RFID-enabled applications. Examples include packing and unpacking, shipping and receiving and tracking and tracing across the supply chain.

The Java-based RFID solution packages the new SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure, SAP® Event Management (SAP EM), a component of mySAP™ Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM), and SAP® Enterprise Portal (SAP EP), a component of SAP NetWeaver™, the industry’s leading integration and application platform. Currently available to pilot customers, the SAP RFID packaged solution will be more widely available to customers in mid-2004.

The SAP RFID solution is built on SAP Web Application Server (SAP Web AS), part of the SAP NetWeaver technology platform, which ensures seamless extension and integration into SAP and non-SAP IT environments. The new packaged solution, developed to allow management and communication of RFID data and utilization of business content to automate RFID-enabled business processes, can be integrated into existing IT environments through Auto-ID connectors for SAP R/3, version 4.6c or higher, and mySAP™ ERP. SAP and its consulting and technology partners will help customers build individually tailored RFID solutions that address business case building, integrating RFID hardware infrastructure, creating solution blueprints and implementing projects. SAP’s automatic identification concept enables companies to manage multiple Auto-ID technologies, including RFID, barcodes and sensors.

RedPrairie Announces Partnership With RFID Solution Integration ...

From Business Wire (press release) ... in global supply chain technology solutions that drive business transformation, and Xterprise Incorporated, a world leader in EPC/RFID solution integration ...

WAUKESHA, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2004--RedPrairie Corporation, a leader in global supply chain technology solutions that drive business transformation, and Xterprise Incorporated, a world leader in EPC/RFID solution integration, today announced a strategic partnership. The agreement will enable Xterprise to resell the RedPrairie RFID product suite into the rapidly expanding EPC market. It will also enable RedPrairie to leverage Xterprise's solution integration delivery capabilities to RedPrairie's rapidly expanding EPC customer base.


RedPrairie and Xterprise are already working together on a number of Wal-Mart supplier compliance projects. The combined capabilities of RedPrairie and Xterprise will enable customers to utilize RFID technology to accurately identify, manage and track physical assets, information and personnel.

"Our partnership with Xterprise ensures our customers that we are continuing to partner with only the most competent RFID solutions integrators in the market today," notes Mike Dempsey, Industry Strategy Leader at RedPrairie.

Dean Frew, President & CEO at Xterprise, shares, "We have found that the operational thought processes and experience that RedPrairie's RFID applications demonstrate are right on target for what the market needs."

About Xterprise.

Xterprise Inc. is a Dallas based RFID Solution Integration Company. Founded in 2002, the Xterprise team has over 40 years of Warehouse Management System implementation experience and over 25 years of RFID implementations experience. Xterprise is recognized as one of a few firms with real world expertise in "Next Generation" RFID supply chain solutions. Xterprise is delivering RFID Compliance Implementation Plans, detailed RFID Engineering studies, integrated RFID & WMS Implementations and complete RFID compliance Pilot Deployments. In addition, Xterprise is a sponsor of EPC Global and one of the first solution integrators to be selected by Alien Technology as a Preferred Partner. Xterprise can be found on the web at; www.xterprise.com and can be contacted at 972.690.9460 x 300, or by email: info@xterprise.com

About RedPrairie Corporation.

RedPrairie is a leader in supply chain technology solutions that help customers transform their businesses. These global, end-to-end logistics solutions optimize operations across customers' extended supply networks, driving out costs, improving customer service and creating competitive advantage. RedPrairie's RFID-enabled suite of supply chain technology solutions provide the industry's leading transportation, productivity, and distribution management capabilities, enhanced with process management and optimization components for real-time visibility, event management, sourcing, quality control, supplier collaboration and performance management. RedPrairie provides industry-tailored solutions for many markets, including consumer goods, direct to consumer and traditional retail, food and beverage, high tech / electronics, third party logistics, industrial / wholesale, automotive and service parts, and pharmaceuticals. Customers include Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Thames Water, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Panasonic, Georgia-Pacific, Eveready, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Unilever, Exel, GE, TNT Logistics, Amazon.com, and many others.

Supply Chain RFID: SAP Launches RFID-Enabled Software

SAP Launches Latest Version of mySAP™ Supply Chain Management

New Responsive Replenishment Functionality and RFID-Enabled Supply Chain Execution Processes to Enable Companies to Build More Adaptive Supply Chains

ATLANTA, Ga. - April 19, 2004 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the launch of its latest version of mySAP™ Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM). With its latest SCM solution, SAP introduces a new responsive replenishment scenario and RFID-enabled (radio frequency identification) supply chain execution processes, which will help enterprises gain better visibility into real-time customer demand and enable them to build more adaptive supply chains. The announcement was made before 6,000 attendees at the 2004 ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair, being held this week in Atlanta, Georgia.

The new responsive replenishment process will enable companies to respond to real-time customer demand, including promotion-driven demand, coupled with the ability for retailers and consumer goods companies to support a fully automated replenishment process on a daily or sub-daily level. This functionality will allow companies to manage their replenishment processes much more efficiently, resulting in reduced inventory levels, shortened order cycle times and improved customer satisfaction. This will also enable them to meet the increasing replenishment requirements created by a growing global market and help them build customer and demand-driven supply networks that can span both SAP and non-SAP IT environments.

Leveraging the SAP® Auto-ID Infrastructure (SAP AII), a component of the SAP NetWeaver™ application and integration platform, SAP’s newest SCM solution will support RFID-enabled execution scenarios within warehouse and logistics processes. These scenarios will allow companies to meet RFID mandates from government agencies as well as major retailers such as Wal-Mart, METRO and Target.

“Our goal at Procter & Gamble has been to build a demand-driven supply chain that delivers the product at the right time, the right place and for the right price,” said Keith Harrison, global product supply officer, Procter & Gamble. “SAP has been instrumental in our efforts to deliver such a demand-driven supply network. It has been a key partner, helping us to establish a global business backbone at P&G over the last decade.”

The latest release of mySAP SCM will also offer enhancements to SAP® Advanced Planning & Optimization (SAP APO) for cross-industry implementation as well as new and enhanced industry-specific functionality. Benefits will include a fully automatic approach for adaptive forecasting and life-cycle planning within the demand-planning functionality. Customers will also be able to use adaptive forecasting to select optimal methods and parameters for each planning object. In the area of supply network planning, planning of subcontracting relationships has been enhanced to support business requirements for increased outsourcing of production capabilities. SAP APO will also offer companies enhanced transportation planning, vehicle scheduling and production planning and detailed scheduling functionality to support requirements for increased adaptive network planning...

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions. SAP® solutions are designed to meet the demands of companies of all sizes -- from small and midsize businesses to global enterprises. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver™ open integration and application platform to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership and empower business change and innovation, mySAP™ Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. The unique core processes of various industries, from aerospace to utilities, are supported by more than 25 industry-specific SAP solution portfolios. Today, more than 21,600 customers in over 120 countries run more than 69,700 installations of SAP® software. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

Oracle joins race to bring RFID to retailers

From CNET Asia, Mar 31, 2004 ... Oracle is looking to capitalize on a developing technology intended to let computer networks wirelessly keep tabs on all sorts of objects such as razors dress shirts and prescription drugs. The technology is known as radio frequency identification RFID and global companies including Wal-Mart Stores and Procter Gamble are with the expectation that RFID will shave billions of dollars off their inventory costs.

Oracle joins race to bring RFID to retailers

From CNET Asia Applications, Mar 31, 2004 ... Oracle is looking to capitalize on a developing technology intended to let computer networks wirelessly keep tabs on all sorts of objects such as razors dress shirts and prescription drugs. The technology is known as radio frequency identification RFID and global companies including Wal-Mart Stores and Procter Gamble are with the expectation that RFID will shave billions of dollars off their inventory costs ...

From RFID to Smart Dust: The Expanding Market for Wireless Sensor Technologies

Wireless sensor technologies will be explored at a U.S. Department of Commerce Forum on April 1, 2004 that addresses the current and potential uses of sensor technologies by both industry and government as well as the public policy implications of widespread deployment. The forum is open to the public on a first come basis. Registration is onsite, no pre-registration required. A link to the forum webcast will be posted here on the day of the event.
DATE & TIME: The Wireless Sensor Technology Forum will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2004. Registration and demos open at 8:00 a.m.

LOCATION: The forum on wireless sensor technologies will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Auditorium, Washington, D.C. (Enter through the Department of Commerce Main Lobby on 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania avenues. Photo identification required.)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Lader, Office of Policy Analysis and Development, NTIA, at (202) 482-1880, or electronic mail: wlader@ntia.doc.gov. Please direct media inquiries to the Office of Public Affairs, NTIA, at (202) 482-7002.

Commerce To Host Wireless Sensor Technologies Forum April 1st, Panel Discussions Will Examine Marketplace Expansion “From RFID to Smart Dust”

Wireless sensor technologies, the next highly anticipated billion-dollar market for the information technology sector, will be explored at a U.S. Department of Commerce Forum on April 1, 2004 that addresses the current and potential uses of sensor technologies by both industry and government as well as the public policy implications of widespread deployment.

Panel discussions will be moderated by Federal Communications Commissioner Kevin J. Martin and senior Commerce Department officials including Jon W. Dudas, Acting Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Michael D. Gallagher, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information; Elizabeth Prostic, Chief Privacy Officer; and Benjamin H. Wu, Deputy Under Secretary for Technology.

"Designing an appropriate regulatory framework for wireless sensor technologies requires an understanding of different policy objectives. We look forward to a lively discussion," said Acting Under Secretary Dudas.

“Widespread use of wireless sensor technologies is moving from factory floors to store shelves to family living rooms,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Gallagher. “We want to make sure government is a smart consumer. We also need to explore the implications for spectrum management and privacy, and we must adopt policies that maintain our economic competitive advantage,” Gallagher said.

The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Technology Administration will host the half-day forum. The first panel will address the present and future market for sensor technologies. Panelists will include developers, manufacturers, market analysts, and industry and government users. The second panel will address public policy issues facing sensor technologies such as spectrum use, privacy and security, and intellectual property. Panelists will include representatives from industry and government, as well as public policy analysts.

The Wireless Sensor Technologies Forum will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Auditorium, Washington, D.C. More information is available on the NTIA Web site at www.ntia.doc.gov .

Program:

8:00 AM Registration and Demo Area Opens

9:00-9:15 Opening Remarks by Mario W. Cardullo, Counselor for Technology and Entrepreneurism,

Office of the Under Secretary, International Trade Administration



9:15-11:00 Panel 1: The Market and Uses for Sensor Technologies



Moderators:

Michael D. Gallagher, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and

Information

Kevin J. Martin, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission

Benjamin H. Wu, Deputy Under Secretary for Technology



Panelists:

Jon Brendsel, Director of Technology, VeriSign

Lyle Ginsburg, Managing Partner, Products Operating Group, Accenture

Ralph M. Kling, Principal Researcher, Intel

Ron Moser, Strategic Applications Analyst for RFID, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Thomas M. McAuliffe, Vice President, Strategy & Business Development,

Secure Asset Solutions, Motorola

Robert Poor, Chief Technology Officer, Ember

Piyush Sodha, President & CEO, Matrics, Inc.

C. Stewart Verdery, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security for Border

and Transportation Security Policy and Planning



11:00 - 11:30 Break



11:30 –1:15 Panel 2: Policy Issues Related to Sensor Technologies



Moderators:

Jon W. Dudas, Acting Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Michael D. Gallagher, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and

Information

Elizabeth Prostic, Chief Privacy Officer, U.S. Department of Commerce



Panelists:

Paula Bruening, Staff Counsel, Center for Democracy and Technology

Sandra R. Hughes, Chief Privacy Officer, Procter & Gamble

Ari Juels, Principal Research Scientist, RSA Laboratories

Elliot Maxwell, Fellow, Center for the Study of American Government, Johns Hopkins University

Paul Moskowitz, Research Staff Member, IBM Watson Research Center

Ravi Rajapakse, Chief Technology Officer, Savi Technologies

Steven J. Winter, Senior Vice President, Global Service and Intellectual Property,

Intermec Technologies Corporation

Badri A. Younes, Director, Spectrum Management, U.S. Department of Defense

1:15 Close

Accenture Helps Form RFID Industry Group to Evaluate Technology’s Value in Pharmaceutical Industry

Accenture announced the formation of a group of industry leaders that will work together to evaluate the potential of new radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to enhance pharmaceutical product manufacturing, distribution and retail operations within the United States.

Accenture is serving as program manager for the group of pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and retailers, which includes Abbott Laboratories, Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cardinal Health, CVS Pharmacy, Johnson & Johnson, McKesson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Rite Aid and others. Additionally, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) and National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) are supporting the group by providing their members with additional information and education-related opportunities for this program.

This innovative project will explore the application of EPC and RFID and technologies to three areas: enhancing the safety and security of the pharmaceutical supply chain; improving the process of pharmaceutical returns management; and increasing the efficiency of distribution operations. The group also plans to help encourage use of the new electronic product code (EPC) digital identification standard throughout the pharmaceutical industry.

“These technologies are becoming widely recognized as a powerful tool,” said Jamie Hintlian, a partner in Accenture’s Health & Life Sciences practice. “The RFID initiative is groundbreaking in that it brings together leading companies across the pharmaceutical industry to not only design and evaluate ways to improve supply chain integrity and accuracy but, also to help consumers receive authentic medicines.”

In studying these issues, the group has worked with the Food and Drug Administration’s Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force on how RFID and EPC technologies can mitigate the risk of counterfeit drugs making it to market.

In addition, the group plans to test how RFID technology can improve: expiration date management, lot and batch tracking, returns management processing, shipping and receiving accuracy, operational integrity, and product security and consumer safety, among other areas.

“The program’s goal is to explore the benefits that full adoption of this emerging technology could bring to consumers as well as companies throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain,” said Lyle Ginsburg, a partner in Accenture’s Products Operating Group. “We also plan to help participating companies accelerate the technology learning curve and to share our findings with the industry.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With approximately 86,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$11.8 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2003. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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