February 15, 2009
RFID Journal: 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. Kim Zimmer, Procter & Gamble's leader for global EPC RFID technology and operations, sent an e-mail this week to the company's contract manufacturers, stating: "P&G has made the decision to end the EPC Display Tagging project at Wal-Mart, effective immediately."
The e-mail instructed contract manufacturers not to order any additional EPC RFID tags, and not to apply any tags they already have in stock. These companies were also asked to return to P&G's EPC lab the laptop, handheld RFID reader and wireless router that P&G had provided to enable them to capture EPC data before shipping displays to Wal-Mart, as well as any tags not already applied to displays.