Welcome

I am delighted to introduce the case studies of the companies who participated in the Chipping of Goods Initiative.

The Home Office invested £5.5m in launching the Chipping of Goods Initiative in March 2000. The UK was the first country in the world to embrace the use of Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) or 'electronic tagging' to deal with property crime. The programme has been led by the Police Scientific Development Branch and the Business Crime Team and was established as a result of the need to reduce the incidence and cost of property crime and to reduce the burden on police resources in tracing the ownership of stolen goods. It was also established to show the clear business benefits that can be gained from adopting such technology.

You will find enclosed case studies for each of the 8 demonstrator projects, showing how each one benefited from the use of RFID within their business. Manufacturers, retailers, consumers, the police and other enforcement agencies will all benefit from the wider adoption of this technology. In fact the only group not to benefit are the criminals.

The 8 demonstrator projects are world class implementations and have received 5 awards for technical excellence and outstanding achievement, including 'Retail Technology Team of the Year' and the 'European Supply Chain Solution of the Year'.

The Chipping of Goods Initiative has been immensely successful in delivering what it set out to achieve and I am pleased that we have made excellent progress in this particular area of business crime. The Initiative is an excellent example of partnership between government and industry, delivering real benefits to both.

I hope you will find these case studies both interesting and useful.

Hazel Blears MP
Minister of State for Crime Reduction,
Policing and Community Safety