While RFID was certainly not a new concept in 2003, the announcement that June that Wal-Mart wanted its 100 largest suppliers to start implementing RFID tags on pallets served notice that the technology was about to take the next step.

From the perspective of Wal-Mart’s suppliers, there were quite a few drawbacks to the RFID initiative. For one, industry knowledge about RFID was a mixed bag, as many companies were not familiar with the technology. Second, there were plenty of companies supplying RFID technology, but there was no independent source that could analyze effectiveness and filter out what actually worked.

Fortunately, the University of Arkansas, Wal-Mart’s neighbor, took an interest in RFID. The University formed the RFID Research Center, a sub-unit of the Information Technology Research Institute (ITRI) at the University's Sam M. Walton College of Business. Dr. Bill Hardgrave, holder of the Edwin and Karlee Bradberry Chair, became the director of the RFID Research Center.

“Much like everyone else, our interest in RFID started in 2003 when Wal-Mart announced that it wanted suppliers to begin using RFID tags on pallets,” Dr. Hardgrave said. “There was definitely a need for an independent lab to help people understand RFID tagging and the issue of placement of these tags. We have concentrated our efforts on helping the supplier community understand RFID and how it addresses business value.

University of Arkansas’s location is ideal for RFID research.

“We are located within one hour of the world's largest retailer; the world's largest producer of protein products; the nation's largest publicly traded truckload carrier; the largest and third largest less-than-truckload carriers in the U.S.; and hundreds of offices from some of the world's largest companies,” Dr. Hardgrave noted. “This positions us at the forefront of RFID research."

The center’s mission is to create and extend knowledge in RFID utilization and its impacts on business and society, and to be an internationally recognized leader in RFID application research.

By February 2005, the RFID Research Center had opened its doors, complete with $2 million in brand-new state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, strong leadership and plenty of talented, eager students ready to help the RFID business move forward.

Now, four years later, the university has more than 60 industry-leading sponsors, including heavyweights such as ADT, Campbell Soup, Clorox, Motorola, UPM Raflatac, Tyson Foods, and, of course, Wal-Mart. The University’s RFID Research Center has rightfully earned the respect of the industry, and is moving ahead in key areas such as printed electronics .

Along with its sponsors, the RFID Research Center has put much effort into creating real-life environments for testing, utilizing a warehouse donated by Hanna's Candle Co. and retail store settings to test out customized and off-the-shelf products.

“The RFID Research Center does independent testing better than anybody in the RFID space,” said Randy Dunn, national sales directory, RFID for ADT Security Systems, an RFID Research Center sponsor. “For example, they have created a warehouse, complete with fork lifts, where they test how well RFID chips can be read. They have also set up a retail store, which they use to check RFID tags and readers, to determine optimum scenarios. They also go out into the real world to do research, for example the use of RFID on inventory, and determine ROI.

“Their findings are objective and practical, which is why end users rely heavily on the center’s research,” Dunn added.

“We show how RFID technology can be used,” Dr. Hardgrave said. “We have leading-edge as well as off-the-shelf technology. We are always testing the latest technology, but we can also demonstrate how out-of-the-box solutions work. We work with a lot of great technology companies, and we have excellent engineers who can show companies how RFID can work in their environment.

“Our sponsors are very generous,” Dr. Hardgrave added. “Every piece of equipment we have has been donated. We have well over $2 million worth of equipment in our labs.”

The ultimate key to the RFID Research Center’s success is its ability to be a neutral, independent source of information for the industry.

“We are a neutral lab and research institute; we are not selling anything, and we report our findings,” Dr. Hardgrave said. “We are currently working on a lot of great projects for companies, from retailers and suppliers to government agencies. More than a 1,000 visitors a year come through our labs.”

The University of Arkansas students play a major role at the center, and are gaining important skills and finding opportunities for this growing field.

“We have a lot of great students here,” Dr. Hardgrave said. “While we have three full-time employees, we are largely staffed by students, 22 right now in our labs, and they are successfully going into the field. There is a need for RF specific knowledge, whether it is how to look at data or to engineer systems. These are valuable skills, and our graduates are finding plenty of opportunities.”

Dr. Hardgrave sees excellent potential for printed electronics as well.

“Printed electronics is where RFID is going,” he said. “We are working closely with companies working on printed electronics. RFID is ideal for some products, but the future is coming for printed, chipless tags. That has to be the future of the industry, as it is hard with the current form factor to use RFID on a bottle of ketchup, for example.”

Dr. Hardgrave said there is a lot of work yet to do, but he can envision a time when the RFID Research Center’s work will be successfully completed.

“The ultimate goal of our center is to ensure that these technologies are ideal for retail, and to see its adoption become ubiquitous like bar codes,” Dr. Hardgrave said. “At that point, we’ll shut down our center; after all, there are no bar code research centers. It will likely be a few years to go.”