RC Group (RCG) - Ready to tap into $4 Billion Market

Yawn...:o))

Back on Planet Earth, remember this from the recent Guardian article above:

"RCG is also developing warehouse solutions for Wal-Mart and Tesco as well as biometric locks for households. It is currently the only company in the world to specialise in both biometrics and RFID technologies."

Now read this from the FT on Monday and consider the potential for RCG (thx to Kentan on another bb):



WalMart toughens push on wireless tagging
By Jonathan Birchall in New York
Published: December 19 2005 22:19 | Last updated: December 19 2005 22:19

Walmart logoWal-Mart, the largest US retailer, says it is taking a tougher approach with suppliers who failed to support its push towards the use of RFID wireless tagging on shipments.

In January, a further 200 of the retailer’s leading suppliers are due to begin tagging shipments as Wal-Mart continues to use its influence to support the technology’s introduction in the retail industry.

They will join the 100 top suppliers who began tagging in January and more than 50 smaller suppliers who have voluntarily launched RFID programmes.

The tags are designed as the next step from barcodes, allowing retailers and suppliers to keep track of their products and control inventories more efficiently.

Wal-Mart has deployed RFID technology at 500 stores and at five of its 117 distribution centres, and is planning to double the number of stores handling RFID by the end of 2006 – more than a quarter of its US store network.

Linda Dillman, Wal-Mart’s chief information officer, said that, in spite of significant improvements this year in the effectiveness of tags and lower costs, “there are some that are still entrenched in their belief that it’s not going to work”.

As a result, the retailer was becoming increasingly unwilling to spend time working with suppliers who adopted a “slap and ship” approach to tags – meeting the tagging requirement without engaging with the retailer on modifying and enhancing their use.

“We’ve started communicating to some of the suppliers who have been reluctant – which is a nice way of saying it – to say, ‘We can’t invest any more time in you’.”

Ms Dillman said she could see no pattern in the range of suppliers’ reactions to the technology, citing strong interest from Hewlett-Packard, Gillette and Kimberly Clark, as well as from a range of small suppliers.

“The small ones are hungry, they’re looking at their competitors, they’re able to make a decision and move quickly because of their size. We’ve got a lot of them,” she said.

However, some of the suppliers pushing hardest against RFID were among the most technology aware, she added. Wal-Mart has been seeking to win over suppliers who see RFID as a costly technology that benefits the retailer’s ability to control inventory.

In October, the company unveiled a University of Arkansas study of RFID deployment that showed a significant reduction in out-of-stocks as a result of tagging – suggesting that using tags would benefit suppliers by boosting sales.

Wal-Mart has also welcomed this year’s agreement on a new global standard for second-generation RFID tags that is reducing their cost. “We’re hearing more from suppliers where they intend to tag more because of Gen2,” said Ms Dillman."