Texas Instruments Educational & Productivity Solutions First to Ship EPC Gen 2 Tagged Cases and Pallets to Wal-Mart

The Educational & Productivity Solutions (E&PS) business of Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) have announced it is the first consumer goods supplier to ship RFID tagged cases and pallets based on the Generation 2 (Gen 2) Electronic Product Code (EPC) specification to Wal-Mart.
Starting with a dozen product lines shipped to five distribution centers, TI E&PS, a Wal-Mart next 200 supplier, is tagging cases and pallets of its market-leading graphing, scientific and financial calculators using Gen 2 smart label solutions from Texas Instruments RFid Systems, NCR Corporation and Zebra Technologies.
 
Initially 12 of our TIs core calculator product lines, which represent 100% of the products being shipped to and carried by Wal-Mart, now carry Gen 2 tags.
 
Driving to set the standard for best-in-class in international supply chains, TI EP&S is adopting EPC Gen 2 solutions as a platform to facilitate advanced data exchange and processing capabilities on a global basis with its retail trading partners.  Advancements in retail supply chain data exchange processes enabled by EPC Gen 2 will allow TI E&PS to achieve improved product visibility and lower out-of-stocks at the retail store.  TI EP&S began its development and implementation of EPC Gen 2 in 2004, deciding to leapfrog legacy EPC Gen 1 solutions which will be phased out in 2006.  In building its Gen 2 implementation plan, TI worked closely with retail partner Wal-Mart.
 
TI is ahead of the curve with Gen 2 adoption, and we commend them on being the first to begin Gen 2 tagging of cases and pallets in support of Wal-Mart's RFID expansion plans in 2006," said Simon Langford, RFID Strategy Manager at Wal-Mart.
 
This marks a significant milestone for our business and the industry as a whole, said Keith Hodnett, vice president, Texas Instruments and supply chain manager for E&PS.  Moving forward, we are prepared to expand our Gen 2 efforts with other retail trading partners when they are ready.
 
Production, Interoperability and Implementation
In July 2005, Texas Instruments RFid Systems began production of its EPC Gen 2 inlays and straps, leveraging its experience in delivering highly reliable, high volume and easy- to-integrate solutions to label converters and printer customers.  Proving its success driving interoperability of its tags with leading smart label, printer and reader manufacturers, TI has accelerated Gen 2 market adoption by consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.