RFID - Case Studies and Articles About Radio Frequency Identification
RFID, or radio-frequency identification, has become a significant technology for functions like tracking and counting inventory, verifying identification, and, even, collecting trash. Read about how RFID technology is helping businesses in many industries.
RFID System Provides Equipment Identification With the Press of a Button - RFID and barcode technology are now becoming a fixture at construction site for the purpose of tracking equipment inventory. Through the RFID/GPS-location system, allows construction firms to track the movement of heavy equipment across multiple work sites. RFID chips are affixed to each piece of equipment or device, and tracking is done through a handheld RFID reader that can also transmit information about the age and origin of the equipment as well as whether the equipment is marked as defective.
RFID Helps Get Your Car Clean - Radio frequency identification systems are showing up in many different settings - including your local car wash. Customers purchase a rugged, tamper-resistant RFID tag to place on the vehicle's windshield. An RFID reader at the entrance to the wash line then scans the vehicle identification, account billing information, and selected wash package stored on the RFID tag. The customer is then automatically billed for the wash using a prepaid plan, club plan, fleet account or pay per use option.Car wash vendors have seen and increase in per-customer revenue since installing this type of system.
Firearm Vendors Have an Ally in RFID - Gun shows provide a great opportunity for weapons vendors to display their products. Unfortunately, shows present a significant issue for gun sellers: tracking weapons during the show. SimplyRFID presented an RFID-based solution at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference held in Philadelphia. Weapons vendors no longer need to manually verify each gun by serial number.
RFID Changes Trash Collection Practices - Waste management has never been efficient - and effective. The city of Grand Rapids, Michigan has implemented a new RFID-based pay-as-you-throw program, which has boosted routing efficiencies by 40% and stimulated a 63% increase in recycling tonnage. The program relies on reusable garbage and recycling carts embedded with rugged RFID tags. Since implementation, the program has spurred nearly a 40% increase in recycling, allowing the city to lower its waste disposal costs.
Best Practices for RFID Implementation - Have you wondered about how to best introduce an RFID tracking solution to your operations? There are several key considerations to cover prior to selecting a solution. Here are six RFID implementation recommendations from a popular RFID vendor.
Meat Packers See Value in RFID Tracking - RFID technology was originally used for animal identification, an inventory control tool. But today's food production regulations have introduced a new use for RFID tracking: tracking the lifecycle of animal meat from farm to table. The need for accurate and efficient tracking from packing house back to farm of origin drives the continued development of RFID tags and RFID readers.The tracking capabilities allow producers, meat packers, shippers and other stakeholders to create a seamless food chain.
Tracking Art With RFID Labels - Theft and loss are two concerns that plague art dealers, galleries and collectors. RFID and barcode tracking systems are helping to prevent those issues. In some cases, mounted antennae perform an inventory count for a multi-gallery dealer; in others, dealers use handheld RFID readers to scan tags. The results? A huge time savings and a lower incidence of lost or stolen artwork.
Five Ways RFID Improves Asset Tracking in Healthcare Settings - RFID tags have become popular for healthcare providers across hospital, clinic and private practice offices. RFID can be used to track medical equipment, enable inventory control of drugs and medical supplies, and transmit critical data from emergency responders to emergency room staff. Here are five crucial areas being addressed by RFID technology.
RFID Tags Provide a Solution for Managing Evacuations - Hurricanes Katrina and Rita proved highly challenging to Texas state officials trying to manage mass evacuations. As a result, the governor's Division of Emergency Management created the Texas Special Needs Evacuation Tracking System - a statewide citizen, pet and medical property tracking program. Using RFID tags connected to a tracking database to trace the movement of evacuees, Texas is now positioned to help residents escape danger without losing their loved ones, family pets or medical necessities.
Carwash Loyalty Never Looked So Good - Cruz Thru Express Carwash in Bakersfield, California was deciding how to implement a customer loyalty program at its carwash facility. The company developed its fastPass program with the help of a license plate recognition software package. But the system ran into problems from dirt, damaged plates and sun glare. So, the owners opted to install a barcode system instead. Using bar code lables attached to member vehicles, the program now is more effective and has driven customer loyalty "through the roof".
RFID for Inventory, Point-of-Sale and Article Surveillance - RFID tags have become an essential component for fashion retailer Gerry Weber. Tags are used in point-of-sale and electronic article surveillance systems to reduce theft and loss, and deployed in stores and distribution centers to reduce inventory count time and errors. Mobile RFID readers can track garments from its manufacturers' facilities to its showroom floors to checkout counters in Germany and throughout Europe.
File Tracking is a Perfect Use of RFID Technology - Businesses that handle a large volume of files, such as a legal office or medical facility, have been operating for years using a manual file management system. But many have a growing need for staff to have online access to file inventories as well as more robust automation of repetitive file-handling tasks. RFID provides an accurate and easy-to-use solution. File requests can now be made through online access, and file transfers and file access management have both been markedly improved through RFID technology.
Lost Surgical Sponges Drive Need for RFID Tags - Hospital infections cost the industry over $30 billion every year. Many of those infections occur as a result of retained sponges left in the patient following surgery. RFID tags affixed to surgical sponges help reduce the incorrect counts and lower the incidence of retained sponges.
The RFID-enabled Personal Rosetta Stone Connects a Loved One's Past With the Present - Object hyperlinking (the act of tapping an NFC cell phone with another object embedded with a barcode to reveal data) has been used in many applications. But the Personal Rosetta Stone is an unanticipated application that connects family with a deceased member. By tapping an NFC phone enabled with RFID against a small tablet designed to commemorate the life of the deceased, data about his or her life is displayed on the phone screen. In another application, a small RFID disc affixed to a cemetery monument sends information directly to a visitor's phone.
Zava Industrial Pumping Uses an RFID/GPS Solution to Reduce Downtime - Maintaining consistent uptime on its groundwater remediation pump systems is critical to Zava Industrial's bottom line. In the past, restoring pump flow required a technician to travel miles to the site only to learn a pump was down for an unknown length of time. Now, Zava's integrated GPS and RFID monitoring system from LogiBoxx saves downtime and technician hours.
Big Improvements as a Result of Implementing RFID Technology - As a producer of pressure-treated wood products, Cox Industries knows the importance of tracking goods from plant to building site. The company deploys a radio-frequency identification solution that has improved its shipping order accuracy to 99 percent. The benefits don't stop there: it has also realized an increase in worker productivity by 44 percent and increased inventory turns by as much as two times.
Wireless Communication Between GPS and RFID Gets a Boost - EarthSearch has positioned itself as a leader in the real-time tracking and management space. It's flagship product, the LogiBoxx Certified Solution, has been assisting shippers with not only locating RFID-tagged inventory but providing the ability to make routing decisions in real time. The company has been closing the gap between real-time location services (RTLS) and the delivery of actionable data.
RFID Provides Two Types of Standards-Based Information - For those who think RFID barcode tags can only be used to count or track inventory, think again. A case study that included such brands as Honda, Bridgestone, Alien Technology and Ohio University revealed that RFID tags are capable of carrying information critical to manufacturing, logistics and retail all within one tag.
What is RFID and How Does it Work? - Digital data is stored in a small label (called a "tag"), which can then be retrieved through the use of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader. These quirky-looking tags can be read outside the line-of-sight and transmit data through an integrated radio circuit and an antenna. Learn more about RFID tags and smart labels.
Is Nano Technology the Next Leap for RFID? - RFID tags will be much smaller in the future; in fact, they may appear invisible to the naked eye. A collaboration between a group of researchers at Rice University in Texas and a team from Sunchon National University in Korea has created a nano RFID-enabled printable tag that can be embedded in almost any product or good.
RFID Improves Point-of-Sale for American Apparel (VIDEO) - One of America's leading apparel retailers has adopted RFID for its point-of-sale displays. The technology is proving to be a strong asset to better manage inventory, expedite sales and improve overall productivity in its retail stores.
Bar codes and RFID Tags Help Nuclear Plants Comply With Regulations - Authorizing worker access is a tremendous security issue for nuclear power plants. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires strict access controls, and RFID tags and bar codes provide a customizable identification verification solution. Using RFID and bar codes helps comply with NRC regulations and enables plant managers to monitor staff movement.
Ski Lift Scammers Thwarted by RFID Smart Chip Technology - The Vail Resort in Colorado has seen its share of fraudulent ticket holders. Now, RFID "smart chips" allow the resort to catch scammers and move lines along quicker. Skiers can move through lift gates without showing a pass, but the RFID chips enable staff to detect which skiers have paid and which ones are fraudulent.
RFID Tags Help Reduce Hotel Shrinkage - Linens are one of the highest occupancy costs for hotels and resorts. When linens disappear, which is considered "shrinkage" by the industry, properties experience lower margins. RFID to the rescue. Now they have an tool in embedded RFID tags that can withstand commercial washing, drying and pressing.
International Travel With No Passport? - New York recently implemented RFID technology by embedding chips in its residents' drivers licenses. The embedded RFID chips can be scanned by border patrol agents in Mexico or Canada.
Distribution Partnership Expected to Drive RFID Sales - Technology Solutions, Ltd. (TSL) announced a distribution agreement with Tyco Retail Solutions (TRS) earlier this year. TRS will distribute and support TSL's mobile UHF RFID readers to retail enterprises worldwide. The readers are expected to enhance in-store mobility and optimize the shopper experience.
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