RFID. All the time. That's what was making all the noise at Frontline's Supply Chain Week.

Not only did it seem that most suppliers exhibiting at the event had some angle on radio frequency identification (RFID), but the show was co-located with the first EPC (Electronic Product Code) Symposium. That show was the first time MIT's Auto-ID Center had presented much of its recent work on the use of RFID as an electronic product code to track pallets, cases and individual items to a broad public.

For all the buzz (especially that surrounding Wal-Mart's initiative with its top 100 suppliers), it became quickly apparent that RFID is in its early stages. The day before the two events, there was an RFID Summit, which focused on the basics of the technology, and some early applications for it. "Supply chain management is considered to be the ultimate use for RFID," explained Summit moderator, Steve Halliday, president of consultant HiTech Aid.

But as consultant John Hill of Esync said, "RFID and other data capture technologies are fundamental to the success of the supply chain. But they are not the system."

Demand for the tags, readers, software and services associated with RFID is starting to surge. According to Michael Laird of the research organization VDC, compound annual growth for the technology will be 21% through 2005.

He projected the leading use of RFID for the next three years will be closed-loop container and pallet tracking. Laird continued to say closed-loop carton tracking is three to five years out with closed-loop item tracking starting up toward the end of that time period. The strongest potential for RFID, he says, is open-loop item tracking which he pegged at ten plus years away.