November 2003 was also notable for another Walmart technological initiative. It announced plans to implement RFID to all products by January 2005, a goal that had still not been realized by 2010. RFID, as its name implies, involves the use of tags that transmit radio signals.· It had the potential to track inventory more precisely than traditional methods and to eventually reduce much of the labor involved in activities such as manually scanning bar codes for incoming _goods. Some analysts estimated that Walmart's cost savings from RFID could run as high as. $8 billion. Some information technology observers suggested that Walmart had only experienced lukewarm results from RFID as many suppliers struggled to comply with the company's demands. Walmart focused its RFID implementation efforts on tagging pallets for Sam's -Club stores and promotional displays in Walmarts. Reportedly some Sam's Club suppliers were warned they would be assessed a stiff fine for every pallet that was not tagged
·with RFID, but by 2009 the fines had been reduced to just 12 cents a pallet.