The benefits and ROI on RFID for inbound logistics are starting to take shape. In a recent report, Marlo Brooke of Avatar Partners says, "The real value of RFID for inbound logistics is that it offers total accuracy and real-time visibility of inventory. This in turn eliminates costly instances when systems do not show item visibility and delay the production process."

Brooke's report points out that high-tech giant Hewlett-Packard has RFID deployed at 26 sites globally and is reaping internal benefits beyond the outbound mandates from retailers. "We have sites where the incoming material is already RFID tagged as part of the output at the outbound site," says Frank Lanza, global RFID director for HP. "We use the tagging to automate the receiving process, which not just a matter of labor savings, but an advantage of optimizing the timing of inbound shipments."

In other RFID news, technology firm VeriSign beefed up its services offering with the $15 million acquisition of R4 Global Solutions, a provider of consulting services for companies evolving their supply chains with the implementation of RFID , electronic product codes, and other data sources.

And consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. announced it has signed a joint development deal with RFID analytics and applications developer T3Ci to identify and build RFID applications that leverage the EPCglobal RFID standards. The two companies aim to jointly develop a range of strategic RFID applications as learning continues behind RFID programs at multiple retailers.