Standards at issue in RFID reports, new product development, technology agreements
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 8/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Enter the reusable tag
Intermec now offers what it calls a rugged reusable RFID tag capable of withstanding extreme temperature and hazardous material exposure. The Intermec RFID Large Rigid Tag can be rewritten multiple times, effectively reducing the cost of tracking materials through such environments. Two versions using different frequencies are available: one based on EPCglobal Gen 2 specifications; the other on ISO 18000-6B specifications.
"The key application for this tag is reusable asset tracking: containers, carts, vehicles, capital assets," says Chris Kelley, Intermec director of RFID business development. "The usage is infinite. There is nothing that can wear out."
Though the cost of a tag is several dollars, its reusability greatly reduces total cost of ownership, Kelley adds.
HF versus UHF
With the release of Gen 2 UHF-based tags—and the push for item-level tagging—a partisan divide among RFID enthusiasts centers around which frequency should prevail: high, or ultrahigh (HF/UHF).
At issue is keeping infrastructure costs to a minimum by standardizing on one or the other.
Pharmaceutical interests favor HF for its robustness, unaffected by liquids or metals. On the other hand, Wal-Mart endorses UHF for the high read rate at variable distances. But while EPCglobal recently formed two working groups to access requirements for each, the issue of infrastructure costs is likely to be moot relatively soon.
"We need to be careful to separate marketing messages of companies that have product to sell," says Sue Hutchinson, EPCglobal U.S. director of industry adoption. "Both technologies have experienced marked improvement recently, where the distinction between HF and UHF is shrinking. The goal is that one hardware infrastructure can support both. We're well within the planning horizon for that to happen."
This just in:RFID really does reduce stock-outs
Conservative, preliminary findings of an RFID study conducted last year by the University of Arkansas RFID Research Center have been restated following further analysis and control of variables.
An initial finding of a 16-percent RFID-related reduction of out-of-stock instances has been reassessed, resulting in nearly twice that—at 30 percent for items selling 0.1 to 15 units daily. When calculated for the tighter range of seven to 15 items, for items considered fast sellers, RFID generated 62-percent reduction in out-of-stock instances.
"The fact that it was 30 percent was a surprise," says Bill Hardgrave, director of the Fayetteville, Ark.-based research center. "Intuitively, though, it makes sense, as fast sellers will stock out faster. RFID-automated pick-list generation would help that group the most."
New wireless architecture supports RFID
As wireless technology gains favor, requirements for a more robust architecture are front and center, especially around security for mission-critical applications. Symbol Technologies offers a new wireless architecture—called Wireless Next Generation, or Wi-NG—that addresses these issues.
Wi-NG is capable of managing RFID, Wi-Fi, Voice over Wireless LAN, mesh, and WiMAX networks in one integrated RF switching platform, and enables more cost-effective deployment and centralized management of voice, data, and infrastructure devices throughout the RF spectrum.
"In general, wireless is deployed as a network of convenience, not for mission-critical applications, says Chris McGugan, Symbol Technologies' senior director of marketing. "But in larger organizations, security is critical as RFID becomes more common. Wi-NG allows us to take any RF technology and more easily deploy, integrate, control, and secure it."
