RFID World Gains Momentum

Attendance soars at Shorecliff Communications' Third Annual Event

More than 3,000 attendees gathered at the Gaylord in Dallas for Shorecliff Communications' third annual RFID World conference. The three-day conference (March 1-3) provided five in-depth workshops, 35 conference sessions, six keynote addresses, and an exhibit hall packed with130 exhibitors. As a bonus, Sun Microsystems arranged tours of its 17,000-square-foot RFID test center in Dallas, a bus-ride from the Gaylord.

Shorecliff's president Tim Downs confessed to me that he actually ran out of booth space for this year's event. "We won't let that happen again," Downs said. "We have already contracted for more space next year." The Gaylord got the nod again for RFID World 2006, which is scheduled for February 27 to March 1, 2006.

Dallas is an excellent location for this event for several reasons. Most importantly, the bulk of Wal-Mart's RFID deployment activity is occurring at its distribution centers in the greater Dallas area. Another big draw that Downs points out is the large community of RFID start-ups and funding sources in the Dallas area. "This area was home to dozens of companies that served the telecom industry prior to its meltdown," Downs explains. "As a result, there is a large workforce with wireless technology skills that RFID companies can use." Another incubator of RFID talent in the Dallas area, Texas Instruments RFID has been involved with all forms of RFID technology since long before companies like Wal-Mart catapulted it into the limelight.

Wal-Mart's CIO, Linda Dillman set the stage for exploring the varied forms of RFID technology on display at RFID World. In her opening keynote address, Dillman told the audience that there is no single killer benefit. "The key to success," said Dillman "is to look for benefits across many areas of your operation."

As companies search for pockets of RFID ROI, they will begin to discover the potential of other RFID technologies (i.e. non-EPC-based). RFID World's coverage across the entire spectrum of RFID technologies provides an excellent venue to facilitate this discovery process.

The EPC vision of globally interoperable RFID systems has created an enormous buzz. This buzz will ultimately increase the number of both open- and closed-loop deployments, as the pockets of benefit to be exploited are discovered. To share my discoveries at RFID World 2005, look for reports over the next several weeks on the following topics:

1. The renewed interest in closed-loop solutions based on active RFID tags, and systems that operated in the high (13.56 MHz) and low (125 KHz) frequency spectrums
2. How providers of automatic print-and-apply solutions are addressing the need-for -speed on high-volume lines
3. How value-add distributor ScanSource plans to help its resellers get up the RFID learning curve
4. How RFID middleware vendors are positioning and differentiating themselves
5. Advancements being made in the process of converting chips into finished smart-labels that will drive lower costs and improved yield on finished labels