By Gene J. Koprowski
UPI Technology News

Published 1/14/2005 11:36 AM
CHICAGO, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- More and more food and other product manufacturers and distributors are successfully embedding wireless radio frequency identification devices in unobtrusive labels and affixing them to boxes and containers. This practice is helping companies keep track of their inventory in real time and keep down the cost of shipping and, consequently, the products. It also helps manufacturers and others keep an eye on terrorists by detecting whether anyone has tampered with products and placed them back in shipping bins unnoticed. "Due to industry initiatives, suppliers began implementing data synchronization solutions in earnest in 2004," said Michael W. Ferro Jr., chief executive officer and chairman of Click Commerce Inc., an industrial software developer in Irvine, Calif.
-- Wireless World is a weekly series examining emerging wireless telecommunications technologies, by Gene J. Koprowski, who covers technology for UPI Science News. E-mail: sciencemail (at) upi.com