In the post-COVID era, many businesses have had to reform their existing supply chain systems and adopt emerging technologies to keep up with the new health regulations, as well as the changing customer needs and demands; RFID is one of these emerging technologies. To stay ahead of their contemporaries and deal with the new challenges that have arisen due to the pandemic, more and more companies across the globe have integrated RFID devices into their supply chain management processes to streamline the operations. Notably, as per a recent RFID market report, the global market for RFID tags, readers, and software is expected to reach $17.4 billion by 2026.
RFID can help with process complexity, data accuracy, and yet more key performance indicators that have become integral to the success of a supply chain in the post-COVID times. Companies using RFID devices in supply chain management are improving visibility and accuracy throughout the supply chains in question, while also accelerating their picking, packing, and shipping procedures. With the way things are going, it only seems natural that we will continue to see RFID integration in supply chain management on an even broader scale in 2022.
In this post, we discuss six key RFID trends we will most likely witness in supply chain management in the upcoming year.
Six RFID Trends in Supply Chain Management for 2022
UHF Tags for Long Distance Transmission
The UHF or ultra-high frequency sub-segment of the RFID market across the globe reportedly has the maximum growth rate; in fact, this particular sub-segment even accounted for an astonishing $4,773.5 million by itself back in 2019.
Now, this popularity of the UHF tags comes from the range of functionalities it offers. Benefits of UHF tags include:
- UHF tags come in a number of sizes and designs
- They can be attached to a board variety of surfaces
- Out of all the RFID tag frequencies made available till date, UHF tags possess both the swiftest reading speed and the longest reading range. A passive UHF tag can cover a distance of 20 to 40 feet, while an active one can cover distance of over 100 feet
- UHF tags allow the reading of multiple tags at once, thus saving up on precious time
- What’s more, passive UHF tags are more cost-effective than passive tags in the low- and high-frequency ranges
We expect UHF tags to be one of the biggest uses of RFID in supply chain management we will be seeing in 2022. To find out more about various kinds of UHF tags you can use in supply chain management, do give the Bar Code India webstore a visit here.
RFID for Employee Credentials
A specific use of RFID technology that has the potential to become another huge RFID trend in supply chain management in the upcoming year is utilizing RFID to develop customized employee credentials. Health concerns have become one of the biggest factors to keep in mind for organizations as employees return for in-person work to warehouses and suchlike in these post-pandemic times. Which is why, already, quite a few businesses are doing away with the use of passwords or PINs to password-less authentication with the help of IAM or identity access management solutions. These systems can easily be built with secure smart cards that make use of the RFID technology.
RFID for Touchless Interactions
Of course, contactless interactions are a priority in the times we are living in right now. RFID in supply chain management is helping with touchless interactions in a variety of ways: from online shopping for raw material to contactless payments to automatically collecting goods and recording data regarding products to tracking items at the point of sale. In 2022, RFID is expected to continue being used to reduce the need for human contact in overall supply chain management.
RFID for Logistics
When it comes to logistics, RFID devices are used to track goods being transported by road, air, or the sea; moreover, RFID is also helping with monitoring the environmental conditions of the goods during transport. This way, in the case RFID tags are reporting suboptimal environmental conditions, immediate action can be taken to remedy the situation in any way possible. The use of RFID in logistics is only expected to grow in 2022, hopefully introducing newer, even more innovative use cases in the process.
RFID for Smart Shelving and Better Inventory Management
Smart shelving, empowered by the RFID technology, is being adopted across supply chains for more accurate inventory management. Plus, with RFID scanners, organizations can track the movement of goods throughout the supply chain and warehouses in real time, further aiding in flawless, automated inventory management. RFID in inventory management is among the top projected supply chain RFID trends for the coming year.
RFID as an IoT enabler
Along with RFID, supply chains around the world are also relying on the IoT (internet of things) technology to improve operations during the pandemic. With RFID enabling the use of IoT devices in supply chains, the two technologies can combine for the full optimization of every supply chain functionality; RFID readers connected to IoT devices can help with better visibility, reduced operational costs, automatic identification of goods, improved inventory management, and a lot more across supply chains in 2022.
RFID technology presents some of the most promising, ever evolving, and cost-effective solutions to deal with many of the pain points of traditional supply chain management. Amidst the rise of e-commerce and m-commerce in the past few years, RFID has provided businesses with a way to increase the ROI, meet consumer demands faster, and improve reliability and accuracy throughout supply chains. However, RFID integration in supply chain management is only getting started, and in 2022 and the consecutive years to come, we can expect the scope of RFID to only grow in rich, flexible, and inventive ways when it comes to supply chains.
Visit the Bar Code India website to learn more about RFID solutions that can be customized to serve your particular supply chain needs!
