Introduction
There is no question that radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology has made a resurgence in recent years, from retail to airline logistics and baggage tracking, and even in healthcare. It is even being used to in the fight against COVID-19!
The increasing use of RFID technology across a variety of industries proves that it is a valuable asset to many businesses. The RFID system has the potential to save various businesses time and money by delivering real-time traceability, identity, communications, temperature, and location data for people and resources.
What is RFID System?
RFID refers to a wireless system made of two components: tags and readers. The reader is a device that emits radio waves and receives signals from RFID tags through one or more antennas. Tags, on the other hand, broadcast their identity and other information to adjacent readers through radio waves.
They are divided into two types: passive and active. The main difference these two is that passive RFID tags are powered by the reader, whereas active RFID tags are powered by batteries.
RFID is part of a technology category known as Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC). This system uses radio waves to automatically identify items, gather data about them, and enter that data into computer systems with little to no human interaction.
Brief History about the RFID System
RFID technology may be traced back to World War II, when radars were used by the German, Japanese, American, and British forces. Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, a Scottish physicist, discovered this in 1935 to warn of approaching planes when they were still miles away.
In 1973, Mario W. Cardullo claimed to have been granted the first US patent for an active RFID tag with rewritable memory. The same year, a Californian entrepreneur named Charles Walton was granted a patent for a passive transponder that could be used to unlock a door without the use of a key.
In the 1980s, RFID technology was completely used in Europe and the United States for transportation networks, animal tracking, and corporate applications.
Presently, the usage of RFID has greatly benefited from enhanced technology. Due to technical advancements, many components of these systems have been made smaller, allowing them to be more portable and easily accessible.
What are the Benefits of RFID System?
RFID is a very adaptable technology that has considerably helped a variety of industries. This system has been used in various applications, including manufacturing process regulation, equipment maintenance and inspection, asset management, and item distribution monitoring.
This resulted in increased efficiency and cost savings by automating processes and improved asset usage and quality.
Here are some of the benefits of an RFID system:
⦁ Track Assets Tracking and Manage Inventory
Most businesses struggle to keep track of their assets and resources, whether it’s a component in a production line, delivered finished products, industrial containers, or other equipment and devices.
With the aid of an RFID system, you can instantly know how many products of each category you have, as well as their location or stage in the process. You may also trace items from the time they are received in shops until they are sent to production and used in a final product.
Furthermore, it helps in the recovery of misplaced things on the premises. This allows for simple inventory management, stock management, and auditing performance.
⦁ Save Time and Money Through Automation
Through the RFID system, you can monitor the movement of items automatically and send the data to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or financial management system. This setup can also eliminate the requirement for manual form filling and replace old spreadsheets as a result.
If the RFID system uses fixed readers at crucial places, it can save even more time and may eliminate the need for all manual intervention, particularly in a manufacturing line.
⦁ Data Accuracy and Availability
Because the data is acquired and uploaded electronically, the RFID system prevents transcription mistakes, data duplication, and missed items. This is especially useful when collecting data on a large number of products at the same time. Using this approach allows everyone to access the most up-to-date information on the location or status of goods. Customers can also be given access to this information.
⦁ Enhances Health and Safety
Companies may use the RFID system to track when equipment and vehicles have been inspected. They can also use it to limit their use if certain conditions are not satisfied.
Even before the pandemic started, the RFID system has been helpful for various medical institutions. For example, it has been used in managing scrub inventories. RFID trackers are attached to scrubs to prevent hoarding and ensure that workers are not rummaging through the supply to locate their correct sizes.
RFID trackers may also be used by businesses to aid with contact tracing. An RFID tag or wristband may be used to track staff movements. The ability to track people’s locations and interactions is critical for mapping an outbreak.
⦁ Better Production Control
Individual goods or components may be correctly identified by the RFID system, making it perfect for complicated or customized manufacturing processes.
For example, in the wine making business, employing an RFID system may help ensure that individual bottles are filled with the proper volume of liquids and kept for the appropriate amount of time. Specific components are sent to the relevant production line. Using this technique reduces waste and increases efficiency.
⦁ Improved Quality and Traceability
The RFID technology may help verify that products have gone through all of the necessary inspections and processes. It removes the need for a straight line of sight to the object’s identification. This technique could even replace ordinary barcode labels with enclosed RFID tags.Attaching these components can ease the demand for reading or writing data to an item, particularly when process conditions are severe.
High humidity, dramatic temperature fluctuations, exposure to chemicals and paints, and grime may all wreak havoc on traditional paper barcode labels. It’s a good thing that carefully enclosed RFID tags can survive and operate consistently in even the most extreme conditions.
⦁ Increased Revenues
Using an RFID system may significantly improve any business’s inventory management, which could then lead to higher efficiency, productivity, and overall success. They could also contribute to enhanced customer satisfaction, more significant sales, and better profits.
⦁ In-Depth Management Information
The RFID system can gather data in real-time at various phases of the asset’s or product’s life cycle. It improves management information for planning and operational objectives. These insights can also be used to promote additional efficiency gains by businesses.
The RFID technology also eliminates the risk of human errors. Each asset or tagged object is automatically detected and recognized. Once completed, the discovered data may be easily compared to the information in the database. Manufacturers may now keep a totally accurate inventory of all tagged assets and account for existing ones as well as future supply chain, planning, or equipment demands.
⦁ Shorter Processes
Businesses can combine RFID systems with other production or supply chain technologies to shorten the time it takes from purchasing items to dispatching and delivering them.
The RFID technology can also be used in the medical field to track patients at COVID-19 testing facilities. Some patients have to wait for hours to be seen at a testing facility. With the aid of this system, location providers may detect and address the causes of bottlenecks in their processes.
Aside from that, RFID tags on specimens and supplies may be used to gain a better understanding of the location of in-demand equipment and indicate things in need of replenishment.
⦁ Rapid Payback Time
The RFID system is a cost-effective technology since the savings and increased revenues soon pay for the original investment.
According to a study conducted by Asghar Sabbaghi and Ganesh Vaidyanathan, the RFID system was valuable in enterprise systems, particularly in demand management, order fulfillment, manufacturing flow management, and return management.
Sabbaghi and Vaidyanathan found that the RFID system enables process automation in picking, shelving, cross-docking, and implementing consolidation. This finding resulted in a reduction of costly logistic mistakes, such as sending an item to the wrong destination or not dispatching the item at the right time.
Furthermore, they discovered that the RFID system helps an organization enhance its efficacy by increasing the mission performance and strengthening the implementing organization. As a result, they may assign various responsibilities and respond to customer needs that support supply chains and other applications.
Where Can You Avail RFID System in the Philippines?
The RFID technology is available in the Philippines. Internet of Things Philippines Inc. provides a varied range of RFID system products and solutions for the wireless and non-contact usage of radiofrequency waves to successfully transport data.
Our exceptional combination of product expandability, quality control, and customer service delivers an unmatched degree of customer satisfaction in the market. We offer small smart devices with embedded microchips, RFID tags, and environmental sensors to provide you with the most security and access control over your facilities.
We carry the following brands of RFID systems and products that cater to various sectors:
⦁ Impinj
Impinj includes the Speedway Revolution and Speedway Antenna Hub to provide a large, low-cost, and continuous RAIN RFID read zone. They are connected to a single reader, supporting 4 to 32 antennas for a robust RFID monitoring application.
We also offer other Impinj products such as the xPortal Reader, xArray RFID Gateway, xSpan Gateway, and many more.
⦁ Times7
IOT Philippines Inc. has partnered with Times7 to provide RFID solutions for your business. We provide ultra-low profile UHF RFID antennas that are suitable for various applications. They can also be installed on the flush wall or mounted on the door frame if space is constrained.
We also have a unique and versatile range of UHF RFID ground antennas to track people or assets. You can install them on doors, entrance or exit ways, or portals.
⦁ ATID
IOT Philippines Inc. and ATID have partnered to provide handheld RFID and Bluetooth readers to record data for your inventory management through your mobile application. They have a 1D laser or 2D imager barcode scanner with 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, and a 1.0GHz dual-core system. You can use these handheld devices to detect your assets and monitor their status quickly.
⦁ ThingMagic
IOT Philippines Inc. has collaborated with ThingMagic, a JADAK company, to deliver EPC Gen 2 embedded and fixed RFID systems for a variety of industrial and consumer applications.
ThingMagic products include the Mercury6 4-Port Enterprise UHF RFID reader, the SARGAS 2-Port UHF RFID reader, and the USB Pro UHF RFID Reader Writer. They are entirely programmable and can read and write levels ranging from -5 to 30 dBm.
⦁ Omni-ID
We provide a wide range of Omni-ID products in different categories: FIT, EXO, IQ, ADEPT, and DURA.
The FIT range is famous for its small form factor and is designed for metal surfaces. It is ideal for hand tools, medical instruments, and metal IT assets. Meanwhile, the EXO range is optimized with a rigid yet flexible encapsulation. This is to sustain high impact and vibration for harsh industrial and outdoor environments.
The IQ range is composed of ultra-thin labels that are easy to deploy for thermal barcode printers. The ADEPT range is designed for attachment to pipes and fixed assets in remote productions.
Lastly, the DURA range is a heavy-duty, long-range tag that is suitable for harsh industrial applications.
⦁ HID-IDT
HID’s Identification Technology has a wide range of RFID tags that can help you track objects and activities in different applications. This includes laundry tags, livestock glass tags, medical health tags, key chain tags, SlimFlex tags, epoxy tags, key tags, bin tags, plug tags, nail tags, world tags, and BLE tags.
⦁ Elpas
IOT Philippines Inc has teamed up with Elpas to offer a wide range of goods, including RFID tags and security wristbands. They are intended to improve the safety, security, and visibility of your product as well as the actions of your personnel.
Asset Management System
IOT Philippines Inc. provides the IOT Asset Inventory Management & Monitoring Information System (IOT-AIMMIS) for your organization as a solution for tracking fixed assets and inventory.
The IOT-AIMMIS can readily monitor consumables, particularly those in distant workplaces. This system makes it simple to organize, track, and audit products that need to be shipped or refilled. They can also automate their repair and maintenance routines.
You can watch how you can use the IOT-AIMMIS mobile application on a mobile RFID handheld device through this link for more information.
Tool Tracking and Inventory System
IOT Philippines Inc. provides a wide range of solutions that help reduce expenses by tracking everything—from planned maintenance and monitored upgrades to measured depreciation and established history—using RFID scanning devices. These tools may be managed on work pages or per job. You may also organize all of your data on rental and consumable equipment.
Laundry Management
Our Laundry Management System is focused on a particular laundry store’s day-to-day operations and processes. This system will keep track of all the staff’s daily interactions with customers as well as all of the clients’ laundry information.
The Laundry Management System is also useful for hotel and motel companies that use third-party laundry services for their linens and beddings.
Animal ID Tracking
We provide an animal ID tracking system to help you meet your animal tracking goals, whether you’re keeping an eye on a large group of animals or a single pet. Our RFID tags can readily differentiate the owner information, pedigree, and medical information of each animal and submit the acquired data into the program.
Returnable Transport Item (RTI) Asset Management
The IOT Returnable Transport Item (RTI) Tracking System is intended to provide a comprehensive technological solution for your business by utilizing RFID goods and custom-fit software.
This solution allows you to establish an effective logistics planning and monitoring system that will track your moving assets from the facility to the trading affiliates and vice versa.
Inventory Management System
IOT Philippines Inc. understands how RFID technology may benefit a business. This is why we provide RFID devices that aid in the inventory management system of your organization.
Because radio signals are activated from the reader, this technology allows hundreds of product tags to be scanned every second. As a result, the time required to scan a large number of items can be substantially decreased.
Furthermore, we have provided basic guidelines on using an inventory with RFID and choosing the proper RFID tags for your merchandise.
Conclusion
The RFID system has been continuously improving the way we live, especially now that we can enhance contactless transactions under the pandemic. If you require RFID systems, connect with us at IOT Philippines Inc. today so we can provide you with specific solutions that meet your needs and specifications.
