RFID slow to grow in Canada.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, and its potential impact on future business operations, is getting the attention of Canada's big players in the retail and manufacturing sectors, according to Deloitte's new qualitative study conducted among senior ranking executives within the top 30 retail and consumer product companies in Canada. The report, entitled the 2004 Canadian Radio Frequency Identification Study (RFID), commissioned by Deloitte's consumer business group, explores the Canadian market's receptiveness, readiness and concerns relating to RFID technology. The message seems to be that, although companies are interested in the technology, and some are actively researching it, no one is going to move too quickly to adopt it.

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"There is no doubt that RFID technology's most promising application area is not in the tracking of lost pets and kids, but in the supply chain and the retail environment," says Christian Stephan, a partner in Deloitte's consumer business group. "RFID has the potential to take supply chain management a quantum leap forward from bar codes, which have been around for about 20 years, essentially by practically eliminating human intervention. However, we know there are a number of major considerations, issues and challenges that Canadian manufacturers and retailers face when assessing or planning for RFID implementation. Every corporation needs to totally understand the uses and advantages that RFID can bring, and ultimately, what the cost-benefit return is for their particular organization, before initiating RFID implementation. Deloitte commissioned the 2004 RFID study to gain a deeper insight and understanding on where the Canadian retail and manufacturing market currently stands concerning RFID technology."

According to Deloitte's study, the vast majority (73%) of Canadian corporations who participated in the study are aware of RFID technology, however, only 23% of the senior executives interviewed felt they were 'very' familiar with the technology, with nearly half of those interviewed expressing that they are only 'somewhat familiar' (43%). Only 14% of those who participated in the study stated that RFID technology had already been implemented to some degree within their corporation.

Overall, nearly all of the senior executives from the Canadian retail and consumer corporations who participated in the study believe RFID will have some impact on their company (93%).

The vast majority (71%) of the Canadian corporations that participated in the study revealed they have already taken steps towards implementing RFID technology (including 43% that stated their company has researched the technology).

Nearly half of the corporations that participated in the study indicated a strong likelihood of implementing an RFID system (47%). Overall, the retail corporations expressed a stronger probability of implementing RFID compared to the consumer corporations that were interviewed for the study. Of the companies that indicated they were likely to implement RFID, 50% believe they will implement an RFID system within two years. An additional 29% believe they will implement RFID within three to four years.

According to Deloitte's study, Canadian retail and consumer corporations consider the main determinants and considerations that will trigger RFID implementation within their corporations to be the following: in response to a client request (20%), the cost of the technology (13%), the value of the technology for tracking purposes (10%), and the ability of RFID technology to reduce operational costs (10%).

For more information, visit www.deloitte.ca.