In their endless quest to improve the efficiency of the supply chain, some publishing industry members are investigating Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.
RFID is a combination of a computer chip and a small radio antenna that allows almost any object to "self-identify." Originally developed for use in World War II, the chips plus antenna are now only a couple of millimeters square and can be applied to individual consumer products like books or used in the supply chain on cartons, skids and containers. Unlike bar codes, which require a clear line of sight, these information-rich radio waves can go through walls, clothing or paper, and the technology, theoretically, could be used to identify individually every single one of the trillions of products that circulate in the world, for any and all retail transactions. Already several companies, such as CHEP (www.CHEP.com) are profitably leasing RFID skids to supermarket, drug store and other retail chains throughout the world to facilitate distribution.
While the ability to track products through the supply chain makes RFID appealing to the book industry and the price of the chips is steadily declining, problems remain. Among the issues that need resolving are the need for publishers, distributors, and bookstores to add new software to their systems; the cost and deployment of radio readers; and managing the deluge of data suddenly rushing into companies' systems as cartoons, skids and all other RFID-bearing items move through the distribution chain.
And then there are the privacy questions. Last summer Gillette planned a consumer test on packages of razor blades in Boston, only to run into resistance on the issue of privacy. Gillette canceled the test. Especially in the era of the Patriot Act, as the American Library Association points out, carrying around products that can broadcast what you bought, or what you are reading, has raised concerns.
Publishers learned more about this technology last month during a program at the Book Industry Study Group's annual meeting, and BISG is continuing to investigate the technology. Just as Wal-Mart is driving the process in the consumer products market, the distribution companies and bookstore chains are bringing focus to the publishing value chain, at least for use in the distribution process. Intriguing as it is to have each book be able to identify itself as it moves from warehouse (or even printer) to bookstore, shelf and cash register, representatives of Barnes & Noble have noted that individual book tagging is many years off, particularly given the high cost of setting up software and "reader" systems on store shelves. By contrast, use on cartons, skids and containers is quite promising and something B&N is considering using in the relatively near future.
RFID tags are already being used on individual books in pilot programs in libraries in the U.S. and Canada. In these cases, grants are covering the cost of implementation by companies like VTL. The fact that books circulate drops the cost per book per use to a reasonable level. Once a person is identified as a library patron, check-out is easy. The patron walks past the check-out reader station, and without stopping the books are recorded as checked out. Similarly, a patron can check in any time just by dumping the books down the return chute, where a reader automatically records their return. A special wand that reads every chip on every book on the shelf allows librarians to know instantly which books are in or out or improperly shelved.
At this stage of its development, RFID has both useful and unsettling implications for publishing, but it is clearly a technology worth watching.
