Microsoft Launches RFID Software Project

securitas writes "RFID Journal reports on the first Microsoft RFID software pilot project. Microsoft launched the six-month pilot in December with KiMs, Denmark's largest snack food producer. Microsoft plans to bring the new RFID-enabled supply chain management software (Axapta Warehouse Management) to market next year, targeting small- to medium-sized businesses. The news comes after Microsoft announced its Smarter Retailing Initiative, tools based on RFID and .Net Web services. More on this latest development at CNet and InformationWeek."

Comments

first walmart

[Frymaster]

well, with walmart and microsoft onside it's pretty much inevitable now...

microwave everything!

Re:first walmart

[grub]

well, with walmart and microsoft onside it's pretty much inevitable now...

It's only inevitable if you support the system.

Buy from locally owned stores.

Buy locally produced products.

Support companies owned from within your country.

Don't support the big multinationals. They view consumers as nothing more than cattle at the trough.

It's no suprise that Levi Strauss closed its last US manufacturing plant after getting in bed with WalMart to make cheap jeans so consumers could save a couple of bucks while putting their neighbours out of work.

Re:first walmart

[cgranade]

They view consumers as nothing more than cattle at the trough.

Strange thought: perhaps that's because many Americans are cattle at the trough... consider the inevitable stampeding over Friday-After-Thanksgiving sales. The sad thing about modern marketing? It actually works. People are, in general, so apathetic, that they are glad to be treated like cattle, insofar as they get shiny things.

Now, before I get modded flamebait, please consider what I've said, and recall that I am not ranting against any one person, but against the state of the society as a generality. Thanks.

Re:first walmart

[SheldonYoung]

It's no suprise that Levi Strauss closed its last US manufacturing plant after getting in bed with WalMart to make cheap jeans so consumers could save a couple of bucks while putting their neighbours out of work.

This is so much oversimplified crap. No matter how much money we save on an item it's just going to get spent on something else.

Lower prices are great help to low income families.

And who says that the person who gained a job because of the extra Wal-Mart business doesn't deserve it just as much as your neighbor?

Re:first walmart

[Frymaster]

Cost overrides quality.

the real problem is factoring the total cost of the product. not just the price.

ask yourself if the "cheaper" product:

• has contributed to local unemployment by relocating offshore. higher unemployment means a slower economy and thus, greater cost.
• does not adhere to high environmental standards. you know who's going to pay for cleaning up the manufacturer's mess eventually, don't you? you.
• has a lower use life through negligence or design. if you buy 2 frying pans in your life at $50 each, it's cheaper than 12 at $10.
• what's the disposal cost of your shiny new widget? you'll pay it eventually through taxes. remember those 12 frying pans.

since there are viturally no laws demanding disclosure by manufacturers, calculating the real cost of products is a left to a lot of guessing and assuming.

my general rules: look for the union tag, pay too much, avoid dubious materials (pvc fr instance), dedicate yrself to buying one for the rest of your life when possible.

Good news for SMB's...

[TopShelf]

This is good news for the small and medium-size businesses that might not otherwise spring for a more expensive, market-leading solution from a provider like Manhattan Associates. If a smaller biz can jump on the RFID-enabled supply chain bandwagon early in the game, it offers an opportunity to develop their relationship with the big boys like Walmart.

That said, it's definitely not an easy thing to implement and realize savings from. It requires a real white-board redesign of how your product flows from supplier all the way through to customer. I'm sure there will be many examples of companies falling on thier faces doing this, spending resources on capabilities that they never end up fully utilizing.

Re:Patents

[Jtheletter]

I would have moderated this as funny if it weren't so frightfully inevitable.

Growing new market..

[nurb432]

Since the biggest retailer on the planet is mandating RFID, it only makes sense that the largest software company will get on board too..

Just good business sence in this case.. noting much to see..move along.

Re:Perhaps someone can answer this...

[gregarican]

I'm not sure about the ATM urban legend. But I have seen a few BSOD's on Windows-based ATM's posted on Internet sites. What Microsoft provides on the server level, the desktop level, the embedded device level, etc. is **hopefully** different versions of what has been so maligned. I thought I read somewhere that Windows versions that run on ATM's are stripped down and minus some of the more exploit-riddled components. Same with Windows-based equipment used at hospitals, utility companies, etc.

Of course some folks make the argument that the very foundation of all Windows software is flawed and the security model it employs is poor from the get-go. If that's the case then we shall see what ill becomes of the RFID pilot project. But if ATM's have run Windows software for years now I would think any major exploits or outages would have certainly been cannon fodder by now. Most exploits are due to Outlook mail clients, Inter Explorer scripting/redirects, and open Internet-facing ports. That **shouldn't** come into play for an ATM connected to a clearinghouse via modem. Right?

At the peril of sounding moderate...

[peacefinder]

Publishing warehouse management software with support for RFID is not exactly a big deal. The software presumably had a barcode module before, and now they've added an RFID module. So what? It's just another way to do the same thing. Warehousing is where RFID makes sense. The trouble with RFID has never been in the supply-chain side.

RFID only becomes a problem when active tags escape the market and remain with the end user. Escaped tags are a hardware problem, not a software problem, and trying to bash Microsoft for supporting RFID in warehousing software is just silly.

There are so many good reasons ro bash Microsoft that there exists no need to conjure up bad ones.

MS is just playing catch-up

[Gumber]

Microsoft is doing this because there is already a Java based implementation of many of the key infrastructure services needed to create a large-scale RFID-based supply-chain management system. As a result, all the early trials are going to Sun/IBM.

This isn't something MS would want to loose out on. RFID-enabled supply chains are expected to generate 4-10x more tracking data. That could be a lot of SQL-Enterprise licenses, for just one example.

It's called technological progress

[TrollBridge]

"Do we really need this many systems running computer software when a calculator can work just as efficiently?"

Would you have also questioned the motives of the calculator's inventor, since the slide rule could obviously do math computations just as well?

Re:Nazi?

[strictnein]

Actually America should probably look to Europe and you should stop making comments like that you idiot.

You have stupid laws and allow corperations to bribe your government. You bomb every country you don't like and bush is a gimp doing what his daddy never finished off.

Way to represent Europre with your clear, concise thoughts. How does this comment:

Does Europe forget its past so quickly?
I don't see how any European can throw that word around so freely. It's disgusting really. Give me a break.

make me an idiot? I just don't get how, after seeing the horrible destruction that WWII brought to Europre, and the millions of people exterminated by Hitler's regime, that people in Europe can so freely toss around those types of accusations. The only assumption that I can draw is that you do not fully understand the English language.

You have stupid laws
Oh yes... we're the _only_ ones who have bad laws.

allow corperations to bribe your government.

Give me a break. Yeah, the US is the only place that has a government that takes bribes. Every government across the world takes bribes. In some countries it's expected and required to get anything done.

You bomb every country you don't like

Recent bombing by the US: Iraq (to get rid of a horrible leader (and (lets be honest here) help stabilize our oil supply and the region) and Afghanistan (who harbored terrorists, including one who was directly responsible for killing 3000+ people in New York). I belive there are a number of other countries we don't like as well. For example, have we bombed France yet?

bush is a gimp doing what his daddy never finished off

He's a gimp? Like I said before, clear and concise. Amazing!

Get back to class, your teacher is wondering where you went.

Re:Nazi?

[netsharc]

I just don't get how, after seeing the horrible destruction that WWII brought to Europre, and the millions of people exterminated by Hitler's regime, that people in Europe can so freely toss around those types of accusations. The only assumption that I can draw is that you do not fully understand the English language.

Eh, that's exactly it, a lot of Europeans (Western Europe under police-state Hitler, Eastern Europe under police-state communism) probably know -- or can understand from personal/family history -- what it's like to live under an evil regime. Maybe they see that the same thing is happening in USA, that's why they're afraid of it, and they're trying to make you aware that you (as a citizen of USA) too might get shafted, unless you do something about it.

And don't feel so superior, English originated in England, although that's hard to say, considering English is also a branch of the Germanic languages, and England is in Europe, Mr. Smart American. And, when you consider the budget cuts GWB has done to the US education system, Europeans might even speak the language better than Americans in a few decades.

You have stupid laws
Oh yes... we're the _only_ ones who have bad laws.

That's no argument. Let's have an analogy, let's say you have blonde hair. You want to go to a nightclub, but they don't let blonde people in. You say "You have a stupid rule!", and the bouncer replies "Duh, like we're the only one who have stupid rules.". Would you be satisfied with that answer?

Oh I'm sure you'll like my sig as well..