Singapore invests S$10 million to push RFID

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has been touted as one of the important
technologies that will bring supply chain management to new levels of efficiency
and Singapore wants to be sure she is part of the game.

IDA Chairman Lam Chuan Leong announced recently IDA's investment of S$10
million over the next three years to promote the development and adoption of
RFID in Singapore. Under this plan, IDA aims to build five RFID-enabled supply
chain clusters by 2006.

This will be achieved by bringing together manufacturers, logistics service
providers, retailers, infrastructure providers and solutions providers in the
high-tech, pharmaceutical and fast moving consumer goods sectors.

Lam Chuan said that RFID is high on the agenda of retailers, food
manufacturers and logistics providers in Europe and US. Quoting recent research
reports, he added that leading retailers in Europe, like UK-based Tesco and
Germany-based Metro, will initiate large-scale rollout of RFID.

In the US, three of the four leading retailers-Wal-Mart, Albertsons and
Target-have mandated for their major suppliers to deliver pallets and cases
with RFID tags, starting in 2005. The US Department of Defense has also issued a
RFID policy to tag all of its items (except bulk commodities like sand, gravel
or liquids) by January 2005.

So what does this mean for Singapore? Manufacturing and logistics are two key
economic sectors for the Singapore economy and such developments overseas will
certainly affect Singapore because she is the world's second busiest port and
a key logistics hub.

CI NEWS BUREAU