The RFID Advantage

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Not long ago, the now ubiquitous bar code scanner seemed alien and even unwelcome, an expensive investment with an uncertain future. Today, of course, it’s impossible to imagine contemporary business – from procurement, operations and inventory management to wholesale distribution and retail sales – without it.

Like the bar code systems that proceeded it, RFID adoption is being driven by a handful of important sectors, including retail and government contracting. And like bar coding, RFID is an automated method of collecting information. Both hold data that are accessed by an interrogator.

The key difference is that bar code is an optical technology and RFID relies on radio. This distinction in the way they transmit and receive data determines their respective advantages:

Bar Code • Optical • Requires line-of-sight • Reads one at a time • Limited memory capability • Write-once-tags • Not subject to radio interface

RFID • Radio Signal • Can be read through many materials • Reads multiple tags simultaneously • More expansive memory sizes • Write new information/data to tags on demand • Subject to radio interface

The principal advantage of RFID is that it can read multiple tags in a field with no line-of-sight requirements. End users can apply RFID technology to create identification and distribution systems that operate with greatly reduced or zero human intervention. These characteristics are especially valuable in high-volume shipping & receiving operations, high-value asset tracking and access control applications, and in any organisation with high labour costs and costly human error.

In addition, RFID’s read/write capabilities may be especially valuable in maintenance and service functions, or in managing products/items involving time, temperature or shock-sensitive materials.

Yet RFID will not replace bar code technology; it simply offers an enhancement to bar code-based data collection systems. First-person validation, readable information and bar coded data will still be required for many years. That’s why it’s important to carefully evaluate the business case for RFID before making any investment in specific RFID technologies.

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