Reality meets radio-frequency identification: radio tagging the supply chain unfolds slowly, but CHEP and others keep eye on business-case goals.(Cover Story)

Manufacturing Business Technology, March, 2005 by Michel, Roberto

Like most every executive involved in logistics management, Brian Beattie knows the theoretical advantages of radio-frequency identification, or RFID. But unlike many of his peers, Beattie's company is live with a program that leverages RFID tagging to track assets and shipments in supply chains.

Beattie is senior VP with CHEP, an international supplier of pallets and containers to manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. For the Orlando-based company, RFID tracking in the supply chain is here today, though not widely rolled out across CHEP's customer base. CHEP ...