For people who don’t know Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and are just starting to understand the know how of RFID, it’s a challenge to make a right decision while choosing a correct tag that helps your business. It is a fact that people want to experience more automation in menial tasks, from employees to customers, everyone wants better results.
Earlier barcodes were being used on everything from FMCG to retail to manufacturing materials to identify and stock these, but to scan each item manually using an optical scanner, employees taking hours to get things done, was a bad look for any business and it wasn’t fun either. You get the gist, right?
RFID is the most popular Automatic Identification and data collection (AIDC) technology now leaving behind the traditional barcodes.
Sure, QR codes (quick response codes) are now used more than barcodes but still RFID takes a lead here, since RFID tags use a micro-chip to store data.
What is RFID then?
RFID is a system of RFID tags, antennae, and Readers which come together to identify, trace, track and sort articles, without a clear line of sight to read/scan. Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID tags operate on frequency range of 860MHz to 960MHz but the most used frequency range for UHF in India is 865MHz-867MHz.
Using correct RFID tags and RFID readers business can move towards a great deal of automation and cut cost but to make a right decision is very crucial.
It depends upon the following factors:
• How big your store or warehouse is?
• Do you need long range scanning or close range?
• Do you need fixed screening points or just handheld readers are enough? Or a combination of both.
• Do you need tags that emit signals continuously (active RFID tags) or the passive tags?
• What kind of business it is?
Choosing a right RFID tag for your business:
Selecting a right RFID tag can transform your business. According to a survey report, businesses like retail and logistics are the ones that employ RFID greatly and are the great beneficiary of this technology.
According to Statista:
“In 2025, the market for RFID tags is forecast to be around 41.3 billion U.S. dollars and retail applications are expected to account for the largest share of the market.”
RFID UHF passive tags are the most used tags since these provide a long range scanning than low frequency (LF) and High Frequency (HF) tags. These are capable of being read from a short range, like scanning an article with a barcode, and also from a long range, like scanning a huge stock pile going up to 20 feet in one go.
The cost of employing UHG tags in bulk is not huge as well, which makes a fair case of using UHF tags greatly.
UHF RFID tags in retail:
UHF RFID tags (passive RFID tags here) are used in large no. in retail business. Apart from taking stock of inventory, identifying which articles is less in stock in warehouse or at the selves, which can be done automatically by use of RFID UHF tags; it can scan the contents of a shopping cart without manually taking out each item and scanning them. It will felicitate fast check out at POS (point of sale) and enhance customer experience as well.
UHF RFID tagging can also help retailers understand which items need to be cleared early and put on sale as well which will reduce losses and improve inventory control. Carrying cost will also come down as well.
Retail stores like Wal-Mart, Target, H&M, Zara, Gap etc. are using the RFID UHF tags for a long time and now that tag prices have come down from it were a decade ago, it only makes sense to adopt this technology.
UHF RFID tags in Logistics:
Logistics industry is another great beneficiary of RFID technology. Many businesses are employing UHF RFID tags to manage inventory and track their consignments.
In Logistics, client expectations have also only grown now. Customers need regular updates on their consignment, its status and the exact delivery date as well and RFID has helped in this department greatly.
Logistics businesses use UHF RFID readers at intersections to keep track of consignments passing through an intersection and manage inventory effectively. Businesses also employ RFID with other technologies to track consignments that are in transit. It has helped with identifying bottlenecks in supply chain as well.
- Last updated on Jan 27, 2023