Last year Wal-Mart asked their suppliers to start using RFID tags on pallets and other large containers. Wal-Mart set a date of Jan 1, 2005 to get it working. Now, it looks like Wal-Mart’s suppliers won’t make the deadline. There are apparently technical hurdles, and the cost of the RFID devices is always an issue, but more daunting are the business case hurdles that many companies can’t get over. Rather than going for an expensive integration of RFID technology into their entire operation, about 70% of the suppliers are doing what’s called “slap and ship.”