RFID author to Wall Street Journal, "What do you know?"

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 07 Mar 2007 14:12

Mar. 6, 2007 RFID -- Switchboard President Andy Kowl took the Wall Street Journal to task in an open letter for misrepresenting ROI and hedging facts.

"I was saddened to see last weekend’s WSJ article taken at face value and circulated by at least two RFID newsletters," wrote Kowl. "Right up front it alleges "some suppliers" do not expect ROI, but neglects to mention even one source. In the authors’ attempt to hide the lack of true reporting, there is hardly a definitive statement to be found: "Retailers are likely to…"; "tagging is likely to…"; "it might be justified…"; "benefits of RFID could be…" This is not selective reading – it is difficult to find a paragraph not full of this inconclusive hedging.

"There are only three examples of companies actually stating results about their use of RFID first hand to the authors. Synthesis Exports, Vauxhall Motors and Hewlett-Packard each report successful ROI – which may be as high as an 80% labor savings for HP. Yet the balance of the article, with no mention of sources, talks about questionable value at best."

No reply from the Journal.

Comments on this story

click here to add a comment