RFID is finding its niche in the supply chain, but not necessarily in areas like pallets, cases and individual items as originally anticipated.

Two recent implementations in Europe illustrate the evolution of RFID in the supply chain. "What these deals say is that RFID isn't just about item-level visibility," says Andris Berzins of AeroScout, a provider of WiFi-based real-time locating systems.

Shipper DHL is working with a pharmaceutical manufacturer to track temperature-controlled products during shipment. In this application, the manufacturer is liable for ensuring vaccines remain within a specific temperature range from the factory to the end customer.

Today, the manufacturer installs a data logger on a pallet before it's loaded onto a truck. When it reaches the distribution center, the pallet is placed in quarantine while the data logger is sent to a lab for analyzing, a process that can take up to three days.

Soon, the pallets will be tagged with an RFID tag and temperature sensor. The tag sends an update to a GPS unit equipped with a GPRS modem on the outside of the truck. If the temperature goes out of range while in transit, the driver receives an alert and takes action to make sure the heating or cooling unit is working properly. If nothing goes wrong, the shipment can be released immediately.

City Link, a British parcel shipping company, installed Wi-Fi-based, active RFID tags on 22,000 roll cages that house and protect high-value parcels between a hub and 73 depots located across the United Kingdom.

"If a depot runs out of roll cages, which often happens during the holidays, they have to palletize their shipments and use a lift truck, which slows down operations," says Bezins. "Now, they can call up their inventory of cages on a screen and see how many they have available and where they're located at any given time." That allows City Link to better deploy the cages across its network.