SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2003--Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG - News; AEX:PHI), today announced that it has joined forces with LAB ID and Psion Teklogix to provide Benetton with the world's largest and most comprehensive item level tagging implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the fashion industry to date.

Clothes produced under Benetton's core brand Sisley have been fitted with RFID-enabled labels based on Philips' I.CODE semiconductor technology. These labels are part of a complete system solution by LAB ID -- the Italian system integrator -- and are being used by Benetton to track its garments throughout the company's entire supply chain. As part of this initiative, all garment box shipments from United Colours of Benetton are also to be labeled with I.CODE-based smart labels. These are tracked using I.CODE-compatible readers and wireless LAN netpads developed and manufactured by LAB ID and Psion Teklogix respectively.

"Benetton has thousands of retail outlets worldwide and therefore wanted to put in place a future-proof technology to bring clear cost benefits to the business whilst seamlessly enabling garments to be tracked throughout their lifetime," said Terry Phipps, electronic data processing (EDP) director at the Benetton Group. "Working with Philips and LAB ID has allowed us to create an integrated system that encompasses our entire business from the initial manufacturing stages right through to assisting our retail staffing with in-store tracking, ordering and inventory control."