Ever since the day radio waves were discovered, various uses for them have been implemented in the scientific and consumer technology sectors. Over time, they became a way to identify and track various things throughout different sectors. RFID tags are a popular choice for tracking, especially when shipping cargo along your supply chain. RFID—radio frequency identification—stored and retrieves data through electromagnetic transmission an RF-compatible integrated circuit (a microchip). It’s become a popular tool in a variety of industries for its ease of use, durability, and versatility. Choose the right tags for the job, and you’ll be ready to take advantage of all the wonderful benefits of using this phenomenal training tool. If you’re wondering how to use RFID at your organization, here are a few of the many unique ways these tags can be used today.
Document Scanning
The idea to scan documents with modern technology isn’t new, but RFID renders it quicker and more efficient. Instead of requiring a line of sight like a barcode or QR code does, RFID smart labels can be read remotely. Now, let’s say you want to audit documents or track packing slips. If an RFID smart label is attached to these items, you can use the combination of the reader and the tags technology to monitor it at all times. This way, you can keep track of these items with ease. If an item gets lost, your data can tell you where it no longer tracked it and you might be able to assess the whereabouts of that particular document. This basic concept can cross apply to many different industries, including medical records and financial documents. Who knows what the extent of this technology might be down the line? Perhaps it can extend to health and life insurance policies or benefits documentation tracking at some point in the future. The possibilities are limitless and with technology expanding everyday, RFID is poised to become a significant technology that will see prominent interdisciplinary use across numerous different industries.
Managing Inventory
Inventory management can be challenging on the best of days. Fortunately, RFID tracking and smart labels can do the same for inventory management that they do for document tracking. Since an RFID label can be placed pretty much anywhere in an almost seamless integration, it means you can track inventory in real time. By using UHF RFID tags, you can track these assets over longer distances than if you used low frequency or high frequency RFID tracking. Each of these offers its own benefits. For instance, low frequency tags can be tracked short distances but offer the ability to track through metal or water. The wavelengths these frequencies use are stronger and have higher amplitudes. High frequency is ideal for retail inventory management, because the tags can be placed on clothing or other items and be red within the proximity of the store. For larger inventory matters, ultra high frequency tags are going to offer most value for the cost.
Supply Chain Management
RFID tags operate on different frequencies. In that respect, they’re just like those old CRT (tube) TVs you had when you were a kid, except instead of just a VHF (very high frequency) and UHF (ultra-high frequency) range, they run the entire gamut of very low frequency to ultra-high. The best ones to use for supply chain management are going to be UHF RFID Tags every time. UHF RFID tags aren’t just high-quality; they’re extremely functional and versatile. These passive RFID tags don’t require a power source. Instead, they’re powered up by electromagnetic waves from the transmitter. When placed on cargo, these tags offer a real-time monitoring system for cargo.
Contactless Payment Processing
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless payment processing took off by storm. Smart cards use RFID technology to facilitate contactless payments. With near field communication (NFC) functions on payment processing units (card readers). Contactless payments make transactions easier for both the consumer and the business. Having an RFID-enabled card near a close proximity reader makes the all-important identity information on the card easier for the reader to securely process. They’re also a lot more reliable than other payment systems and can protect everyone from fraud. Security and privacy are a major concern for any business (and consumer), so using RFID to enforce privacy/security policies is an exceptional use of the technology.
Libraries And Video Rental
Libraries and video rental are great places to set up some RFID tracking. No, we’re not talking about resurrecting Blockbuster video for the modern age. Libraries and DVD/Bluray rental kiosks use RFID tags for tracking and security. It might seem a bit antiquated to today’s savvy streaming audiences, but renting physical media is still very much a thing. DVD/Blu-ray rental kiosks like Redbox still exist at just about every grocery store, bodega, and pharmacy entrance. And they’re quite popular. More interesting, however, is their use of RFID tags. Every piece of physical media has its own unique barcode. The company uses a combination of RFID tags, unique barcodes, and algorithms to manage its supply chain without any inventory control. It’s just another way RFID can be employed in modern business. RFID has already been implemented in grocery check-outs and self-service kiosks as well as libraries for managing returns/checkouts. As technology changes, RFID tech is poised to be implemented across more industries and products as we steadily move into the future.
