Item-level RFID tagging of pharmaceuticals potentially could dwarf RFID use for Wal-Mart.
One radio frequency identification (RFID) insider recently told Packaging World technical editor Rick Lingle that he believes that RFID for pharma will eventually dwarf that of RFID for Wal-Mart. Although he preferred to make the comment off the record, his opinion isn't far-fetched. Pete Beckwith, director of business integration at Cardinal Health, says "that could be possible simply because pharma is looking at item-level tagging, while the Wal-Mart mandate is for cases and pallets." He notes that 2.1 million individual units pass through Cardinal Health's distribution each day.
If any manufacturing sector is ripe for implementation of RFID systems for product tracking through the supply chain, it's pharmaceuticals. RFID is particularly suitable for combating counterfeiting, and the FDA has already recommended that RFID be part of a layered approach to counterfeit prevention. While the early portions of the FDA timeline stress cases and pallets, by late 2007 it is likely that most item-level pharmaceuticals will be tagged as well.
Chantal Polsonetti, ARC Advisory Group vice president and author of a report titled "RFID Systems in the Manufacturing Supply Chain," explains: "The RFID market potential in pharmaceuticals is huge, with over 12 billion units as candidates for item-level tagging in the United States alone. Pharmaceutical manufacturers can justify using passive tags all the way down to the item level on the basis of tracking and tracing requirements. Pharmaceuticals also have a higher price tag and margin relative to retail products."
Additional information on this market study, which costs $4,900, is available at www.arcweb.com/res/rfid.
