The first place in the Wal-Mart supply chain to feel the fee is the Texas Sam’s Club warehouse outlet distribution center. In Wal-Mart’s view, the fee “is to cover Sam’s Club’s cost to affix tags to each pallet. It’s really designed as a short-term solution for those suppliers that may need a little more time to implement their own tagging solution.”

Estimates are that as many as 15,000 suppliers have yet to meet Wal-Mart’s mandate. The retailer’s stated objective is to have product level RFID tagging for all of its 22 US distribution centers by 2010.

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