Demand for RFID professionals exceeds supply

By James A. Cooke -- Logistics Management, 4/1/2005

DALLAS—There's a serious shortage of individuals who are trained in managing radio frequency identification (RFID), a situation that will affect companies' ability to support current business initiatives, said a logistics professional who's involved in efforts to deploy that technology. Michael O'Shea, director of corporate identification at Kimberly-Clark Corp., made those remarks at last month's RFID World Conference in Dallas. O'Shea knows what he's talking about: The former director of North American logistics is spearheading his company's efforts to apply RFID technology to its shipments.

O'Shea said he has begun talking to universities and colleges about adding RFID courses to their curricula. "We don't have enough trained people to support the demand for RFID," he told the audience. "We need to develop the intellectual capital in this area."

The Department of Defense and retailers such as Wal-Mart have begun requiring their suppliers to mark cases and pallets with radio frequency tags to increase shipment visibility. Most of the concerns suppliers have raised relate to the cost of the technology.

Because RFID is not "plug and play" technology, users still must face integration issues when linking RFID with existing computer systems, O'Shea said. The reliability of readings of the tags also remains a concern.

O'Shea also said that RFID standards are needed to drive adoption of the technology. "We have to have a global platform such that it doesn't matter whether we use [RFID] in Asia, Europe, or North America," he said.

Despite his concerns, O'Shea remains a staunch supporter of RFID and recommends that companies adopt the technology as way to re-engineer their supply chains and reduce their logistics costs. "It's in the re-engineered business process that you will see the value [of RFID]," he said.