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That used to be the first question buyers asked a potential supplier. But in the brash young RFID technology market, it no longer seems to matter.

It's not often that a simple lot number saves the day. But during this summer's spinach scare, a lot number and the supplier's ace product tracking system helped lead FDA investigators to the source of the deadly E. coli outbreak.

Think RFID chips are the obvious solution for tracking two million items without labor-intensive scanning? Think again.

There's high-density storage and there's narrow-aisle storage, but Schenker's gone one better: no-aisle storage. Its ultra-dense system stores pallets 24 deep and requires no human intervention.

For small truckers, an out-of-service rig means an out-of-work driver. One truckmaker is borrowing distribution techniques from the retail world to get repair parts right out to dealers and trucks back on the road.