Posts Tagged ‘RFID’

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Benefits of RFID for Supply Chain and Logistics Operations

Friday, December 11th, 2009

RFID is not just a replacement for the bar code. There are many more benefits to RFID for supply chain and logistics operations than just improving identification of products, shipments, and assets. RFID technology has the additional benefits of reducing the decision-making cycle and optimizing the supply chain as well as improving the overall customer experience. Below are the reasons why RFID offers so much promise for logistics and supply chains:

Reduces Clerical Errors, Increase Data Quality. RFID gets the human out of the loop where clerical errors are about eliminated in terms of inventory levels and asset visibility.

Improves Asset Visibility and Utilization. RFID can give you complete situational awareness. If you know where an asset is, you can use it.

Increase Efficiency. No more point and scan labor-intensive tasks that are associated with bar codes. Also, people no longer need to be always looking for stuff, nor do they have to do inventories by hand. This frees them up to do their real job.

Reduce Theft. Theft can be a significant cost to businesses. RFID can provide near-real-time and historical information to reduce and prevent theft of products. By having near-real-time visibility of product, businesses can pin-point and eliminate theft that occurs along the supply chain as well as in retail stores.

Improve Customer Experience. RFID items enables businesses to further integrate service offerings, automate customer tasks, and anticipate customer needs. RFID technology can be integrated with smart shopping carts, kiosks, and Point-Of-Sale terminals to improve the customer’s shopping experience. RFID tags enable businesses to up-sell and cross-sell other products and accessories in real-time.

Improves Decision-Making. RFID technology gives real-time information that enable better decision-making as well as reduces the decision-making cycle. Improved decision-making results in:

  • Reduce Inventory. RFID technology improves inventory accuracy. This enables businesses to eliminate excess and missing inventory as well as reduce losses and write downs. RFID technology enables physical inventory in stores and warehouses to match what is in the system.
  • Improve Forecasting and Planning. RFID enable businesses to gain visibility of the entire supply chain to include supplier visibility, in transit visibility, and customer visibility. With better and expanded current and historical information, businesses can improve forecasting capabilities.
  • Reduce Out-Of-Stock Conditions. Out of stock items cause missed sales, and will eventually lead to lost customers. RFID tags enable businesses to prevent out-of-stock conditions in warehouses and in retail stores. Businesses can get near-real-time and better historical information to eliminate conditions that cause out-of-stock conditions.

Help me to improve this posting on the Benefits of RFID by providing comments on other benefits or clarity of the benefits that I have listed above.


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Why RFID is Harder to Implement Than Bar Codes

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

You would think that with the cost of RFID tags getting down to a reasonable level that bar codes would now become obsolete. The ongoing problem with RFID over bar code solutions is implementation. This is not just an inertia problem. The challenge is that RFID technology has a lot of functionality. More functionality means more “moving parts” and “flavors” with RFID than the “good old” bar code.




Implementing a RFID Versus Bar Code Solution.


Physical Implementation. Bar codes implementations do have physical environment challenges. These challenges include environment (hot, cold, wet, etc.), placement, and the label quality to assure that the bar codes are readable by the scanning devices. RFID tags have the same environmental challenges as bar codes, plus with RFID tags you have to choose the level of functionality you need for a given project.

RFID tags has several components and add-ons that can be added to the RFID tag depending on functionality required. Physically RFID tags can range in size from smaller than a grain of rice to bigger than a brick. The challenge is picking what flavor of RFID tag that you need such as active tag versus passive tag. There may be scores of different types of RFID tags to pick from based on cost and functionality for a given project.

Data Structure. Bar codes basically have two different data structures. The regular bar code and the 2d bar code. RFID tags can have a lot of different data structures plus they can have read-write capabilities. For simple RFID implementations, data on the RFID tag can just consist of an unique identifier. RFID standards for unique identifiers such as EPC are maturing, but these standards have a lot more implementation challenges than just slapping on a bar code with a stock number. More advanced RFID tags can store about any type of data. This can include product data, status data, event data, and so on. The evolving data standards and functionality for RFID can make for very complex data integration strategies.

Application Interfaces. The application interfaces for bar codes are fairly simple. There is usually a fixed number of data elements and there is usually a fixed number of events that an application needs to capture about the bar code. Examples of events include warehouse events (put-away, pick), shipping events (pick-up, delivery), retail store events (receipt, stock), and so on. With RFID tags there can be more complex event scenarios. Possible event scenarios can include things like do you just need to record simple events at chokepoints such as with bar codes, or do you need real-time location tracking? Additionally, the application may need to deal with data “wrappers” that are used to transport the RFID reads and writes that are coming over the RFID network. Depending on functionality the application may need to interact with the RFID network and RFID tags such as querying multiple tags for a given data element, writing to a tag, and so on. If the RFID tag has sensors, then this type of data needs to be handled as well. Questions come up on how much data to store on the tag versus how much data should be stored and shared by the application. RFID technology offers a lot of opportunities over bar codes, but application integration can be frustrating. The art of implementing a good RFID solution is maximizing functionality while keeping things simple.

The Air Interface. With bar codes communications, you just need to figure out what type of bar code scanner you need. With RFID technology there are a variety of RF frequencies that you can use depending on transmission distances and environmental considerations. These RFID air standards are starting to mature with ISO DASH7 standard for active tags and ISO standards for passive tags. Even though RFID communications does not require line-of-sight like bar code scanners, there are many communications challenges with RFID. This includes reading many RFID tags at the same time, wireless interference, and power requirements for RFID tags.

Business Requirements. Because RFID offers the promise of much more functionality than bar codes, the need for good business requirements is essential. You need to do your homework. There are a lot of choices and one-size-fits-all solution will not work with RFID technology. For a RFID project to succeed, you need to pick the right RFID tag, the right data structure, the right applications, the right RFID reader network, and the right wireless RF interface.


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Where Does RFID Fit Within the Supply Chain?

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

We keep on hearing about Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, but where do they fit in supply chain operations. For decades, supply chain professionals have used bar codes to tag everything from a retail-level item to a shipping box to a pallet, and even trailers and railroad cars. Now with the advent of active and passive RFID tags, will bar codes be replaced? Will RFID tags work in conjunction with bar codes and other ID technologies such as GPS and biometrics? Or is RFID a fad that will soon fade away with all the hype.

The Promise of RFID Technology. With the advent of active and passive RFID tags, bar codes have the potential to be phased out for tracking and tagging everything from boxes of items to ocean containers. Even if RFID tags live up to their potential, bar codes will continue for at least for now. The return on investment (ROI) in most cases is still not there for RFID to completely replace bar codes at the retail item level. RFID is now getting past the hype and starting to be a good ROI for supply operations. See posting, RFID Logistics – the Tempest is Moving Out of the Teapot, for more information on RFID emerging role within Automatic Identification Technology.

The Key Criteria For Using RFID Technology in Supply Chain Operations. The key criteria for using a bar code versus passive RFID versus active RFID tag is cost and functionality required for a given supply chain situation. Generally, bar codes cost less and have less functionality than RFID tags. Passive RFID tags cost less and have less functionality than active RFID tags.


Where Does RFID Fit Within Supply Chain Operations?


Below is how to best leverage bar codes, RFID, and GPS for logistics and supply chains:

  • Vehicle Movement – GPS. Track vehicles that move assets using Global Position System (GPS) satellite systems. Most expensive, but provides best communications in terms of interactive communications and continuous communications. Also, requires less terrestrial communications infrastructure than active RFID tags.
  • Containers – Active RFID Tags. Track containers real-time in yards and docks using active RFID tags with RF ranges of 300 feet. Active RFID tags provide more functionality than passive RFID in terms of communicating with RFID readers from hundreds of feet away versus a few feet with passive RFID tags. Active tags are smart and can do such functions as store a lot of data, read-write capability, make audible sounds, connect to sensor instruments, and so on. Active RFID does need a terrestrial communications infrastructure of RFID readers located at “chokepoints” such as ports, terminals, and docks to track containers with RFID tags.
  • Asset Management – Active and Passive RFID Tags. Manage tool rooms, security items with active or passive RFID tags based on RF range required and affordability. If you just need to check-in and check-out assets such as with tools in a tool room, passive RFID tags should work. If you have expensive or need immediate visibility over items such as medical equipment on rollers or material-handling equipment, then active RFID tags would be a better choice.
  • Pallets – Passive RFID Tags. Track pallets using affordable passive RFID tags with 3-15 foot RF range. By setting up a series of “chokepoints” at dock doors as well as forklifts equipped with RFID readers, passive RFID tags can save a lot on labor and optimize inventory management. Bar codes and active RFID tags may be viable for some, specific applications for tracking pallets.
  • Boxes – Passive RFID Tags or Bar Codes. Track boxes with passive RFID tags or bar codes. Passive RFID tags are now affordable to track boxes with costs of under ten cents a RFID tag. Passive RFID tags provide the ability to automatically track boxes all along the supply chain from the supplier, to the distribution center, to the retailer, and inside the retail store. Active RFID tags can also be an option for niche solutions such as environmental monitoring of boxes containing perishables or medical-related items.
  • Items – Bar Codes. Bar codes are still the best option for tagging individual retail items. At some point, passive RFID tags may replace bar codes. Passive RFID tags hold the promise of automating in-store inventories, automating Point-Of-Sale (i.e. no more hand-scanning items at checkout), and duel use of RFID tags for supply chain tracking as well as a retail theft-prevention devices. Active RFID tags can also be an option for niche solutions such as tires where a lot of data needs to be stored with the item as well as the value-add of monitoring temperature and tire pressure during use.


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