diff --git a/archetypes/simple-cli/src/main/java/example/ExampleItemWriter.java b/archetypes/simple-cli/src/main/java/example/ExampleItemWriter.java
index 18d4116aa..28e4ae20b 100644
--- a/archetypes/simple-cli/src/main/java/example/ExampleItemWriter.java
+++ b/archetypes/simple-cli/src/main/java/example/ExampleItemWriter.java
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import org.springframework.batch.item.support.AbstractItemWriter;
 /**
  * Dummy {@link ItemWriter} which only logs data it receives.
  */
-public class ExampleItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter {
+public class ExampleItemWriter extends AbstractItemWriter<Object> {
 
 	private static final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(ExampleItemWriter.class);
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
index 6652ce0a0..3ccb48695 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
  * @author Robert Kasanicky
  * @author Dave Syer
  */
-public class FlatFileItemWriter extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements ItemWriter, ItemStream, InitializingBean {
+public class FlatFileItemWriter<T> extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements ItemWriter<T>, ItemStream, InitializingBean {
 
 	private static final String DEFAULT_LINE_SEPARATOR = System.getProperty("line.separator");
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements I
 
 	private LineAggregator lineAggregator = new DelimitedLineAggregator();
 
-	private FieldSetCreator fieldSetCreator;
+	private FieldSetCreator<T> fieldSetCreator;
 
 	private boolean saveState = true;
 
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements I
 	 * 
 	 * @param fieldSetCreator the {@link FieldSetCreator} to set
 	 */
-	public void setFieldSetCreator(FieldSetCreator fieldSetCreator) {
+	public void setFieldSetCreator(FieldSetCreator<T> fieldSetCreator) {
 		this.fieldSetCreator = fieldSetCreator;
 	}
 
@@ -203,14 +203,14 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements I
 	 * line (recursively calling this method for each value). If no converter is
 	 * supplied the input object's toString method will be used.<br/>
 	 * 
-	 * @param data Object (a String or Object that can be converted) to be
+	 * @param item Object (a String or Object that can be converted) to be
 	 * written to output stream
 	 * @throws Exception if the transformer or file output fail,
 	 * WriterNotOpenException if the writer has not been initialized.
 	 */
-	public void write(Object data) throws Exception {
+	public void write(T item) throws Exception {
 		if (getOutputState().isInitialized()) {
-			FieldSet fieldSet = fieldSetCreator.mapItem(data);
+			FieldSet fieldSet = fieldSetCreator.mapItem(item);
 			lineBuffer.add(lineAggregator.aggregate(fieldSet) + lineSeparator);
 		}
 		else {
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/FieldSetCreator.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/FieldSetCreator.java
index 4df3d864f..5e926f674 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/FieldSetCreator.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/FieldSetCreator.java
@@ -25,12 +25,12 @@ import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.LineTokenizer;
  * @author Dave Syer
  * 
  */
-public interface FieldSetCreator {
+public interface FieldSetCreator<T> {
 
 	/**
 	 * @param data an Object to convert.
 	 * @return a {@link FieldSet} created from the input.
 	 */
-	FieldSet mapItem(Object data);
+	FieldSet mapItem(T data);
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/PassThroughFieldSetMapper.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/PassThroughFieldSetMapper.java
index c755ad08e..6c798d05d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/PassThroughFieldSetMapper.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/mapping/PassThroughFieldSetMapper.java
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ package org.springframework.batch.item.file.mapping;
  * @author Lucas Ward
  * 
  */
-public class PassThroughFieldSetMapper implements FieldSetMapper<FieldSet>, FieldSetCreator {
+public class PassThroughFieldSetMapper implements FieldSetMapper<FieldSet>, FieldSetCreator<Object> {
 
 	/*
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/CompositeItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/CompositeItemWriter.java
index 170e20933..ff7cffb2a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/CompositeItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/support/CompositeItemWriter.java
@@ -13,31 +13,31 @@ import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemWriter;
  * 
  * @author Robert Kasanicky
  */
-public class CompositeItemWriter implements ItemWriter {
+public class CompositeItemWriter<T> implements ItemWriter<T> {
 
-	private List<ItemWriter> delegates;
+	private List<ItemWriter<? super T>> delegates;
 
-	public void setDelegates(List<ItemWriter> delegates) {
+	public void setDelegates(List<ItemWriter<? super T>> delegates) {
 		this.delegates = delegates;
 	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Calls injected ItemProcessors in order.
 	 */
-	public void write(Object item) throws Exception {
-		for (ItemWriter writer : delegates) {
+	public void write(T item) throws Exception {
+		for (ItemWriter<? super T> writer : delegates) {
 			writer.write(item);
 		}
 	}
 
 	public void clear() throws ClearFailedException {
-		for (ItemWriter writer : delegates) {
+		for (ItemWriter<? super T> writer : delegates) {
 			writer.clear();
 		}
 	}
 
 	public void flush() throws FlushFailedException {
-		for (ItemWriter writer : delegates) {
+		for (ItemWriter<? super T> writer : delegates) {
 			writer.flush();
 		}
 	}