DHL has announced that beginning in late 2008, it will equip all shipments to 89 Metro Cash & Carry self-service wholesale stores in France with RFID (radio frequency identification) transponders. Nearly 1.3 million pallets per year will be fitted with the RFID tags to facilitate automated monitoring of the supply chain.

"This project is setting the trend for the whole logistics industry as it brings the era of pilot projects in the RFID technology to an end," said John Allan, chief financial officer at DHL parent group Deutsche Post World Net.

Compared to conventional controls using barcodes and barcode scanners, the contactless RFID process speeds up loading/unloading operations. In addition, the automated reading technology increases the accuracy of logistics processes, while visibility grows as a result of the improved pool of data, according to DHL.