BEYOND THE MANDATES

摘要

Jack Link's Beef Jerky Last Week Shipped Rfid-Tagged cases filled with 1-pound beef-jerky packs to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. For many companies scrambling to meet Wal-Mart's January deadline, radio-frequency identification's use may end there. But at Jack Link's, things are just getting started. The 2,000-employee maker of snacks such as jerky and beefsteaks is kicking off the next phase of its RFID project, first by using the technology to track its products as they move through manufacturing lines. Next, the company, whose formal name is Link Snacks Inc., will tag raw materials—particularly meat—as soon as they arrive from suppliers. Finally, Jack Link's expects to collect all the data produced by those tags and turn it into useful information that can be shared with retailers.