RFID wave coming

Tag You're It from Technology Review has an article about some creative uses for RFIDs, including the recently announced Delta Airlines plan to tag all luggage with RFIDs, and the example of Coors UK, which bought into a plan to tag all their beer kegs used for delivering beer:

"RFID implementation by the British breweries also had some positive unintended consequences. Because the technology provided an audit trail for each keg, the breweries were able to claim tax credits on the amount of beer left in each keg. Typically, a brewery is taxed on the amount of beer shipped out. With an airtight audit trail now in place, breweries weigh the kegs upon their return and receive tax credits on the bottom swill or, if the keg was defective, the full keg. 'Companies save roughly $1 to $12 per keg, depending on how much beer is left in the container,' says Thomas Ryan, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group.

The tax credit alone paid for the early implementations of this system,� says Adams. "

Interesting article. The mountain of data produced by RFIDs and their audit trails will have mountains of knowledge for cost savings, process reengineering, and possiblyy even revenue generation.