The Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G), a pioneer in the use of Electronic Product Code (EPC) technologies in the supply chain, has ceased placing EPC tags on promotional displays bound for Wal-Mart's RFID-enabled stores.Although I haven't followed the subject closely, from the early days of RFID I have thought that its most significant application, from a trade promo standpoint, was in tracking displays for purposes of compliance monitoring. The article seems to support this view, quoting a P&G exec: "... the work we conducted with Wal-Mart has shown that this use of the EPC can deliver improved promotional effectiveness, better sales and, most importantly, higher shopper satisfaction."
So why stop doing it? It appears that Walmart was was not cooperating with the project. The article cites a P&G supplier as saying that "the company is frustrated that Wal-Mart's sales associates have not acted on the data in order to improve compliance with promotional programs."
P&G's managers, the contract manufacturer explains, "were asked to put the tag on and absorb the cost of that, and I think they felt Wal-Mart should be doing more to live up to their end of the bargain. Why put the tag on if Wal-Mart's not going to act on the data?"P&G of course is not going to say anything like that. But they seem to hint at it:
"We've been working on these applications for close to 10 years. We have learned that to secure sustainable benefits, the use of EPC requires deep levels of collaboration between the manufacturer and the retailer, and a commitment to use the actionable visibility provided by the EPC to change business processes. "Hmmm ... Walmart not collaborative?
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