5 Ways RFID Is Transforming Supply Chain and Manufacturing

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a type of wireless communication that integrates the application of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal or even people. In other words, this is a tag that, when attached to an object, helps identify it. RFID is used in many applications and industries, including pharmacy, retail, agriculture, and medical care, as well as tracking vehicles, pets, and livestock. For example, a warehouse equipped with RFID readers can scan an object, embedded with RFID tag, through the various stages of production line. This will mean that the progress can be tracked automatically. This technology has continued to improve over the years, and the cost of implementing and using an RFID system has continued to decrease, making RFID a cost-effective and efficient alternative to conventional scanning.

RFID applications and usage

The usage of RFID dates back to the 1940s. However, it was used more frequently in the 60s and 70s. For a long time, the high cost of the tags and readers didn’t allow widespread commercial use. But with time, the hardware costs decreased, and the usage of RFID has increased. Some common uses for RFID applications include pet and livestock tracking, inventory management, asset tracking and equipment tracking, cargo and supply chain logistics, vehicle tracking, customer service and loss control, improved visibility and distribution in the supply chain, shipping, healthcare, manufacturing, retail sales, tap-and-go credit card payments and many others.

Pros and Cons of RFID

Like every technology, RFID too comes with its share of pros and cons that the industry needs to take into consideration while adopting the tags.

Pros

• Doesn’t require line of sight to be scanned
• Readers can read lots of tags in no time
• Tags can be reused
• Tag data is encrypted
• RFIDs can carry more data than its competitors
• Tags can be integrated with other internal systems

Cons

• RFID can be susceptible to environmental factors
• Initial cost is higher than optical scanners
• Partners may not use the same tech, causing disconnect
• Can be targeted with malwares
• Privacy concerns

Benefits of RFID

1) Improved quality and high levels of transparency

Process inefficiencies can be easily solved with accurate data is available. ‘Distributed data’ comes with highest reliability and availability which can be implemented to get results. Here, it means live data which can be directly attached to an object and can be modified at process checkpoints. It will help in answering the essential questions like What? Why? Where? and When? RFID application gives this very essence to the industry.

2) Implementation of a flexible manufacturing system

Competitive nature means that in production, you produce more from the same production unit. When looking to make the process more flexible, there must be flexibility in delivery of data to various manufacturing cells. RFID comes into play here as it can read and write data directly to a tag on an object in real time. This capability can make the idea of flexible manufacturing a reality.

3) Efficient inventory management

It is a general practice to count inventory manually, which can be time-consuming, inefficient, and often inaccurate. But RFID can be used here to reduce and even eliminate the hand-scanning process to improve inventory tracking.

4) Tracking and tracing in all conditions

RFID doesn’t need direct line of sight and or standard barcode labels (which can be ruined in extreme weather conditions), and that means that there can be encapsulated RFID tags. This will take care of reading or writing data to an object. The encapsulated tags are designed to perform in all conditions like high humidity, drastic temperature swings, exposure to chemicals and paints and the like.

5) Time and cost efficient

In closed loop systems, RFID works wonders. The real-time visibility feature of these tags allows monitoring of the products and process closely, which allows quick redressal in process that have major impact on quality of the product. This process is done with laser point precision and can potentially save millions of dollars. Barcode India and its subsidiaries have been providing the RFID solutions to different industry verticals using a combination of hardware and software solutions. Right from automating inventory and asset-tracking, identifying the source of products, enabling intelligent recall of defective or dangerous items such as tainted foods, defective toys and expired or compromised medication to improving the shopping experience for consumers, with fewer out-of-stock items and easier returns, the solutions have come in handy for all industry types. Additional Read: How RFID Asset Tracking Solutions Can Increase Business Efficiency?Have any questions?

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