If you want to assess the benefits of using RFID (radio frequency identification) for tracking products and assets, you might be attracted to a service launched by supply-chain software house Descartes Systems Group. The organisation has launched what it calls the Descartes RFID Pilot Program, which is said to help companies to measure the impact of RFID on order fulfilment quality, cycle times and inventory and asset productivity.

Features include site evaluation and laboratory testing of RFID equipment; implementation of RFID equipment; live monitoring of RFID-enabled orders, inventory and assets; measurement of business process improvements; assessment of RFID infrastructure and tag costs; and rollout recommendations.

Meanwhile, momentum is building behind the emerging EPC standard for RFID tagging, and leading manufacturer Texas Instruments has lent weight to its development by becoming one of the first to join the newly formed Hardware Action Group (HAG) of EPCglobal. It has also published a brochure explaining the system, which you can download from its Web site.