Wal-Mart mandate or no, radio-frequency identification technology is gradually expanding beyond the retail world. But those seeking to adopt RFID solutions can learn much from what retailers have accomplished—and what they plan to unveil. Imagine you're standing with Bob, a vintner, among golden, rolling hills embroidered with bright green grape arbors. Bob owns several large vineyards in Napa, California; each is several hundred acres. When he inspects the acres of grapes in his vineyards, he's confident that the networked web of battery-operated RFID tags attached to sensors is relaying conditions that affect growth—weather, soil conditions and chemistry—to computers in his winemaking plant. When it gets too hot, the system automatically activates fans, irrigation and other tools. These tags also communicate with each other and map conditions to global positioning data.
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