A new survey conducted by Boston-based market research firm Aberdeen Group, in conjunction with Logistics Management, has found that 60 percent of the 230 operations, customer service, and supply chain executives surveyed are actively planning to make investments in radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to track logistics assets.

Aberdeen Vice President of Value Chain Research Thomas Ryan says nearly two-thirds of survey respondents are planning investments in RFID technology within two years to improve the visibility of their assets in transit. Many are expecting to make those investments very quickly. "Half of them are looking to place RFID tags on their assets over the next 12 months as part of their improvement strategy," Ryan says.

The study also found that some 43 percent planned to invest $500,000 in the next 24 months in information technology to support asset management operations. Another 15 percent said they planned to spend $500,000 to $1 million, while 6 percent expected to lay out between $1 million and $2 million. The biggest spenders will be the 5 percent who indicated plans to invest more than $2 million.

Not everyone is jumping on the RFID bandwagon right away, however. Just under one-third (32 percent) of the respondents said they did not plan to spend anything on the new technology.