Highlights from Baird’s RFID Monthly for Jan.

RFID Update has this from wealth and asset management firm Robert W. Baird & Co., that has published the January edition of RFID Monthly (updates are published on a rolling basis on its site – rfidmonthly.com), the highlights of which are:

• IT data standard creates opportunity – Potential for adoption of RFID in enterprise data centers in a wide number of vertical and horizontal markets, based on FSTC coming out with the RFID Data Center Asset Tracking Standard in December
• In 2009, we expect the year will begin slowly, but we still see growth – Expectation of increased activity in the second half of 2009, even if the economy remains sluggish, based on the industry progress made in the last year, particularly with respect to the positive ROI pilot activity that has been occurring in the past six months
• We see several key trends to look for in 2009 – Advancements in IT data centers, electronic vehicle registration and healthcare will drive RFID adoption, while the apparel industry may move more slowly even though it has a large number of pilots
• Retail shrink will likely help drive opportunity – While most of the early use case development have centered on out-of-stocks and inventory management as they have a direct impact on revenue as well as operations, loss prevention/security will come to represent a sizable problem and a good incremental RFID use case in the retail space

So, the overall message coming from a well-respected firm operating in the RFID space is that 2009 will not be that bad for the industry in spite of the global unfavorable macro-economic climate and this may well set the stage for a significant thrust in RFID-based investments by enterprises, looking to cut costs, improve productivity and increase their bottom-line.