Not long ago, nearly all major businesses in warehousing and supply chain completely depended on manual operations and barcode-based inventory management and control. This led to inaccuracies, diminished productivity, and immensely complex warehouse operations, requiring lots of manpower. However, that was the norm. Businesses lacked clear visibility into their inventory, and more often than not, it resulted in lots of products becoming a waste. They couldn’t implement FIFO effectively and often took losses as part of their operations, especially when it came to perishable goods.
This has changed since the last decade.
With the rise of AIDC technologies like RFID, IoT, BLE, and various networking technologies like LoRa, LPWAN, NB-IoT, and LTE-m, it has become easier to enhance visibility of each item on the warehouse floor. By accurately tagging each item with a small RFID label and implementing an RFID-based inventory solution, warehouse managers can now precisely track which items they have in the warehouse, when they entered the warehouse, and the expiry date of each item.
RFID is now transforming the way expiry tracking is accomplished in warehouses, enabling organisations to automate their inventory management activities, improve accuracy, and reduce waste for perishable goods. The sheer extent of RFID technology's capabilities for tracking and managing items with expiration dates is vast, as organisations can now effortlessly monitor and track processed products in real time, and even receive alerts for stock rotation.
How Does RFID Help Track Expiry of (Perishable) Goods?
An RFID-based solution to keep track of expiry dates of goods, perishable and non-perishable, leverages smart RAIN RFID labels. These labels use the UHF RFID frequency to communicate and share data with an RFID reader and are cost-effective for large volume applications, as in a large warehouse with countless goods.
Perishable goods such as food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products can be tagged with an appropriate RFID label, and a unique ID is allotted to each product. Against this ID, various information related to the products is saved in the inventory management software system.
While the software can easily flag items that are nearing their expiry dates, an RFID reader can help you locate that exact item in the warehouse.
Real-Time Expiration Date Tracking in Warehouses
Various RFID systems allow for the dynamic, automatic tracking of expiry dates by automatically collecting information from RFID-tagged inventory items as they travel through the warehouse.
RFID provides real-time data collection and tracking with limited or no manual checking, thereby reducing human error associated with the tracking of expiry dates.
1. Warehouse managers would have immediate access to the status of their inventory, including the ability to prioritise the shipment of goods nearing expiry, thus preventing spoilage or waste.
2. Real-time expiration data can also help with inventory turnover. With RFID, warehouses may avoid situations where there is either too much stock or too little stock, and also aid in the proper ordering based on real data to properly manage reordering.
3. The ability to scan tags on several items quickly and accurately suggests that large quantities of perishable inventory can be monitored in an expedited manner without holding back the flow of goods.
4. If tied to warehouse inventory automation, alerts for inventory nearing its expiry date or reporting for the same could be generated automatically to allow for actions or interventions to be taken, such as putting discounts on expiring inventory and/or disposing of non-saleable goods to minimise losses.
RFID Technology Simplifies Recall Management
Another benefit of RFID-based inventory management is recall. When product recalls are needed, RFID expiry tracking enables accurate traceability. With traceability, warehouses can isolate separate batches to be recalled and physically mark them, preventing the dispatch of any expired or potentially unsafe products to consumers. In these scenarios, traceability will not only ensure that they are complying with safety but also protect brand reputation and consumer interests.
RFID tags and trace ensure that warehouses and distribution centres have enough data to ascertain whether the item is fit for use or has expired. If any of these items are picked up during dispatch, an RFID-based gate system can easily prevent dispatch by verifying the products one last time.
RFID Tag Placement: Best Practices for Tracking Expiry
To ensure that the RFID-based inventory management and expiry tracking work efficiently, it is important to understand tag placement for distinct types of goods. Not all RFID labels work on all kinds of products. For example, for metal and electronic goods, which have a certain manufacturing and expiry dates, it is important to use RFID anti-metal tags, as normal RFID labels don’t work well with metal assets. Similarly, for vaccines, blood bags, etc. RFID flag tags are used.
To receive maximum effectiveness from RFID tags, Tags should be placed vertically or at least above damaged surfaces, where a tag is still close enough to the surface of a completed order when packing, as it is placed on a shipping pallet.
The ideal tag position is directly on the product packaging surface and even on pallets. This proper placement will avoid damage to the tag and interference with reading actions. Knowing and placing the tag correctly will help with effective expiry tracking and continuation of activity, and ultimately the effectiveness of overall inventory management performance.
In short, the accurate tracking capabilities provided by RFID allow for the safe and efficient management of recalls to safeguard consumer safety and brand reputation. Furthermore, with proper placement of RFID tags, these technologies can be highly effective, and the capacity to track the expiry date of items enables warehouses to make smart use of RFID technology to improve supply chain logistics and asset tracking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: What types of RFID tags are best for monitoring expiry dates in warehouses?
Passive RFID tags are typically the most cost-effective for monitoring higher volumes of perishable items. Active RFID tags and semi-passive (or battery-assisted passive) RFID tags have greater range and may also include monitoring devices to help ensure items are stored and managed as required when stored. This is important particularly for expensive products, temperature-sensitive products, or items with expiration dates.
Q2: How does RFID improve the monitoring of expiry dates versus traditional methods?
RFID provides the capacity to automatically and accurately capture data on expiry dates, such that there is no manual scanning or entry. This enables warehouse managers to oversee expiring products proactively, while also increasing the software capture of date codes for the monitoring of products and item management to reduce spoilage and waste.
Q3: Can RFID systems use existing warehouse management software?
Yes, RFID systems can be integrated with existing WMS software to improve automation of all expiry dates, alerting users or the businesses to items that are 'near expiry', and also provide user reporting and data auditing for improved inventory management.
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