Until only just recently, RFID or Radio Frequency Identification Tags and Labels were considered too costly and difficult to implement for mainstream item tracking purposes in the supply chain.
But there is now real potential to replace barcodes with this active tracking technology, over the last year or so these tags, labels and readers have been improved enough to move them from the bleeding edge to leading edge.
The economic rationale behind the use of RFID technology in supply chain applications is clear. RFID tags can survive some harsh environments better than bar codes, which either opens up a new tracking environment or increases the read rate in an existing one.
You can update an RFID tag more easily than you can print and apply a new bar code label, which lets you put variable data on a tag that might have resided previously on a remote network server and required expensive access infrastructures.
You can read RFID tags in groups, even if there is no direct line of sight between reader and tag, which eliminates material handling when tracking contents of cartons or palettes, it’s difficult to imagine a time when items flowing through a warehouse or distribution centre were not automatically sorted using bar code labels. It is possible, however, to imagine how that process could be improved with RFID tags.
In this application, RFID tags make a good process better with the economic impact depending on how "good" the performance of the current bar code system is, there are various companies who are implementing RFID technology into their business, for example Nedap Carlsburg Tetley, one of the UK’s largest brewers and drinks suppliers, has achieved a significant milestone in warehouse automation with fully working, mission critical, real-time warehouse management solution using a unique RFID-based tracking system that is already operational at the company’s Northampton brewery. Baggage Direct is an innovative new baggage delivery service that uses RFID smart labels to automatically track and route passenger’s luggage from Heathrow airport to their hotel, office or home, freeing passengers from all the hassle of baggage transportation.
So what is the future of the RFID market - as early adopters are finding, the opportunities are there - you just have to dig.
