Multibillion-dollar investments in radio frequency identity (RFID) tags will affect four million US employees by 2007.

According to research by analyst Yankee Group some of these workers will lose their jobs, but most will see them migrate from mundane to 'more value-added' positions.

The analyst predicted that, over the next three years, manufacturers will spend approximately $2bn on RFID tags and $1bn-$3bn on infrastructure, with consulting and systems integration accounting for the largest portion of infrastructure spending.

In the later stages of an RFID rollout, local and wide area networks are expected to play an ever more important role in providing end-to-end visibility into supply chain operations.

On the device front, bar code scanners will give way to RFID readers, said Yankee Group.

"With no line-of-sight requirements, automatic data capture and read/write capability, RFID technology offers numerous advantages over bar coding," said Adam Zawel, Yankee Group wireless/mobile enterprise and commerce director, in a statement.

Zawel said RFID has the potential to dramatically improve supply chain management by reducing manual operations associated with data collection, providing real-time supply chain visibility, and enabling real-time changes in the field.

"Vendors providing RFID tags, readers and networking equipment will clearly benefit as RFID adoption increases," added Michael Dominy, Yankee Group business applications and commerce senior analyst.

"In addition, the opportunity for vendors in the database, enterprise application, B2B communications, and systems integration markets is substantial."

ERP and supply chain software vendors such as SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, i2 Technologies, Manugistics, Manhattan Associates and RedPrairie will drive migration of the technology, predicted Yankee Group.