Walmart Requires More Suppliers to Utilize RFID Tags

The retail world is buzzing, as once again, Walmart has imposed an RFID tagging mandate on a broad swath of suppliers. In order to better control and maintain visibility of inventory, Walmart is requiring many of its customers to ship products which are RFID-tagged. (https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/feb/12/walmart-expands-rfid-tag-system/).

Why the mandate? Walmart is eyeing the 25% improvement in inventory accuracy and 10-15% reduction in labor hours required for counting items (per McKinsey). In this age of labor shortages and rising wages, those reductions will surely benefit Walmart’s operation.

Impact for Manufacturers Sold Through Retail Chains

Obviously, affected Walmart suppliers who have not already begun their RFID journey, will need to climb on board. And some who have a toe in the water may have to accelerate their pace. CSSI can help you with RFID consulting and guidance.

It’s also worth noting that Walmart may be early in requiring RFID, but it is unlikely to be the end of the story. We can expect that other retailers will use this as an opportunity to also introduce their own RFID requirements. (Has a retailer told you that you must add RFID tags to your goods before they’ll stock them?).

In short – it’s time to get real about RFID.

How RFID Tagging Can Be a Win-Win For Manufacturers

Here’s the best news: as an affected Walmart supplier or manufacturer, you should not look at this RFID mandate as a new expense or burden. Instead, you should see it as an opportunity to improve the efficiency of your own operations, and reduce your costs.

Some of the RFID benefits for the supplier or manufacturer include:

• Improved visibility on the movement and location of inventory — near-real-time data can help you to reduce or eliminate costly stock outages.
• Tagging product at the source provides you with valuable data for the product’s entire lifecycle, and when suitable, can provide track-and-trace data.
• Eliminate or dramatically reduce expensive manual inventory counts, freeing resources for more productive pursuits.

CSSI Can Help with Your RFID Implementation

CSSI can support you with the complete solution you’ll need to meet these requirements:

• RFID tags
• Printers capable of encoding RFID data on printed tags
• Software solutions to help track and maintain records
• RFID scanners and antennas for your facility
• RFID middleware to simplify your consumption of valuable RFID data

Contact us today to accelerate your adoption of RFID!