RFID Tags And What They Are Used For
Radio frequency identification or RFID is an old concept that has quietly become a large part of everyone's life. RFID has been around for at least 90 years and was initially put into practice about 70 years, but not many people realized it. These days, you yourself are most likely scanned every day by an RFID reader and the things you purchase are certainly scanned at least once a week.
So what is RFID? Well, you can think of it as the update of the bar code although in fact, it is older than the bar code by 50 or 60 years. Bar codes were developed in order to combine stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has witnessed this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the cash register takes the goods from your trolley one at a time, looks for the bar code, flashes a light or a bar code reader over it and the cost of the item is added to your receipt.
What you do not see is that the computerized stock records for that article are lowered by one and the sales price is recorded along side it. That system worked well for 40 years, but now there is a requirement for more data to be recorded than a bar code can accommodate and there is need for more stock control and even more speed at the check out. Nobody has any time anymore.
Enter RFID, an old technology brought back to life. RFID is the technology that they used to put in Second World War aircraft in order to identify friendly aircraft to the RADAR-controlled anti-aircraft guns. The same equipment, fundamentally, that they still use in airplanes today to identify it to air traffic control. The difference is that until pretty recently, these radio signal emitters or transponders were the size of a suitcase and cost a lot of money.
These days they are the size of the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They win over the bar code because they can hold loads of information, like where and when and by whom an article was manufactured; how much it cost and how much it should be sold for; its colour, weight and description; which shelf and in which shop it should be kept on .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that tag by means of an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the check out... No more reading each separate item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, sends out its own data on its own exclusive radio frequency, so as long as the RFID scanner is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the trolley.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most shoppers pay with a credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the scanner with your trolley, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another scanner; if you are satisfied with it, you authorize the payment and the barrier lifts for you to carry on to your car. You only need a check out clerk for the people who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being abolished soon anyway.
So what is RFID? Well, you can think of it as the update of the bar code although in fact, it is older than the bar code by 50 or 60 years. Bar codes were developed in order to combine stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has witnessed this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the cash register takes the goods from your trolley one at a time, looks for the bar code, flashes a light or a bar code reader over it and the cost of the item is added to your receipt.
What you do not see is that the computerized stock records for that article are lowered by one and the sales price is recorded along side it. That system worked well for 40 years, but now there is a requirement for more data to be recorded than a bar code can accommodate and there is need for more stock control and even more speed at the check out. Nobody has any time anymore.
Enter RFID, an old technology brought back to life. RFID is the technology that they used to put in Second World War aircraft in order to identify friendly aircraft to the RADAR-controlled anti-aircraft guns. The same equipment, fundamentally, that they still use in airplanes today to identify it to air traffic control. The difference is that until pretty recently, these radio signal emitters or transponders were the size of a suitcase and cost a lot of money.
These days they are the size of the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They win over the bar code because they can hold loads of information, like where and when and by whom an article was manufactured; how much it cost and how much it should be sold for; its colour, weight and description; which shelf and in which shop it should be kept on .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that tag by means of an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the check out... No more reading each separate item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, sends out its own data on its own exclusive radio frequency, so as long as the RFID scanner is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the trolley.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most shoppers pay with a credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the scanner with your trolley, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another scanner; if you are satisfied with it, you authorize the payment and the barrier lifts for you to carry on to your car. You only need a check out clerk for the people who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being abolished soon anyway.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is now concerned with the RFID asset tracking. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
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