 supplier lists for Wal-Mart and the DoD are long, and integration solutions must conform more than differentiate if these projects are going to roll out to specification and on time. Still, many of RFID's shortcomings are gradually being resolved as the industry's vendors join together to make the technology more attractive to businesses. RFID standards covering agriculture, vehicle management, postal items, and freight containers are at various stages of maturity. Industry ASSET TRACKING observers are hoping that a basic support framework allowing interoperabil- ity between vendors' products will take shape within the next couple of years. Costs are gradually coming down as the technology matures. Frequency con- flicts are also becoming less of an issue, as vendors and government agencies work together to smooth out global differences. As a result, although an RFID boom isn't in the wings, steady growth appears likely. Businesses have much to gain by adopting RFID. The technology provides key information more efficiently than bar codes in a variety of environments (even in hurricanes and blizzards) with little or no human intervention. RFID tags can also contain more information than bar codes, making it possible to retrieve information about an asset's type, configuration, version, location, history of location and maintenance, and other facts. The added speed and rich information provided by RFID can lead to significant savings. "Early imple- mentations have shown a 3 percent to 5 percent reduction in supply chain costs and 2 percent to 7 percent increases in revenue from inventory visibility," says Peter Abell, director of retail research for Boston-based AMR Research. 6.4.1 RFID Components An RFID system consists of two components: tags and readers. Tags (also known as transponders) incorporate a chip and an antenna. Active tags, which include a battery, can transmit hundreds of feet and cost upward of $5. Passive tags are smaller, require no battery, and usually have a range of only a few feet. Thanks to t