Accenture, BearingPoint, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, IBM, and Unisys

Frontline Solutions, April, 2004

As consumer goods manufacturers scramble to meet mandates from large retailers and the Department of Defense to use RFID tags in the supply chain, money spent on integration services will surpass that spent on hardware. According to research firm ABI, RFID integration revenue will exceed RFID product revenue by 2007.

Full-scale RFID rollouts will likely be an extension of the early-stage compliance solutions put in place for the 2005 Wal-Mart, Metro AG, and Department of Defense deadlines. As these systems are extended into event and workflow management applications, RFID solutions will need to adapt to legacy IT and logistics settings. Warehouse management software and supply chain execution companies are extending their logistics solutions to incorporate RFID, as are enterprise software and systems giants, such as IBM, Oracle, SAP, and Sun.

Incorporating RFID into existing IT and logistics infrastructure affects multiple business processes and areas. "Larger RFID solutions aim not just to track out-bound Wal-Mart or Tesco inventory," says ABI senior analyst Erik Michielsen, "but also to create real-time visibility tracking, from the customer through the warehouse domain and into the enterprise IT systems."

Companies that have extensive experience in this space--including Accenture, BearingPoint, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, IBM, and Unisys--are increasing their focus on RFID, "but they have a long way to go to meet staffing needs that will support an RFID supply chain integration market that will surpass $1 billion by 2006," says ABI's Michielsen.

www.abiresearch.com