According to Steve Banker, service director for supply chain management at ARC, "The impression conveyed to the public by many pundits is that all Wal-Mart SKUs bound for three of the retailer's Texas distribution centers from the top 100 suppliers will be RFID tagged starting January 1. This is incorrect." In fact, Banker states, in negotiations with its top 100 suppliers, "Wal-Mart has shown more flexibility than many anticipated."
Wal-Mart has mandated that by January 2005 its top 100 suppliers must apply passive RFID tags based on EPC-global standards to cases and pallets headed toward three specific distribution centers (DCs) in Texas.