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Are RFID Applications Always The Best Solution
By Neil Jones
Till very recently, barcodes were predominant and organizations tried to invest in the most expensive barcode scanners to get the best results. Barcodes gradually became so common place that today barcodes and barcode scanners are found everywhere, even though they pose many limitations which come into the limelight due to the creation of better and more efficient and accurate alternatives that help save both time and money in the long run. Does it mean that barcodes are on heir way out? Not really. Barcodes are here to stay though their use and application will be restricted to areas they serve best where information on product identities and details do not need to be extensive. Barcode systems have also made place for RFID as a better and more mechanized method of gathering and storing information. Both involve storing this information in a tag that can be accessed at any point of time except that they use different technologies. Barcodes use optical technology while RFID uses radio technology.
The following chart displays the comparative advantages and features of both: BARCODE RFID
Uses optical technology Uses radio technology
Requires line of sight Can read through layers of material
Reads one barcode at a time Can Read multiple labels
Limited Memory Expandable memory
Information stored once Information can be rewritten multiple times
No radio interference Faces radio interference RFID is preferred because it can read multiple tags at the same time through materials without needing a direct line-of-sight. RFID systems being highly mechanized require little or no human participation, and this makes recognition and distribution systems easy to run. They can handle large volumes of businesses in lesser time with lower costs, lesser labor requirements and minimal errors due to little or no human involvement. RFID is the preferred choice for all high value applications of asset tracking. Moreover it is suitable for products that are sensitive to shock, temperature and are time bound. Despite all these advantages RFID cannot completely replace barcode technology, especially in applications where some human participation is essential. Many projects require human validation and here barcodes are preferred. Organizations need to access their needs and expected results before investing huge amounts into RFID technology for their applications. Seeking expert opinion would help to access their benefits and applicability, and also analyze the returns on investment. It has often been found that a “pilot program” helps in a proper assessment of a technological tool by getting a “real world experience”. This will help in understanding the benefits of a big investment and the expected time frame needed for implementation and the kind of results to expect. The following questions would hen be answered:
• The read range required for the application
• The number of items that can be read within that range
• The write performance
• Impact of signal interference and noise levels
• Deciding on tag location for optimization of processes
• Speed at which items cross the reading area
• The advantages of readers in specific cases
• Mandatory compliance issues
• Environment for scanning and reading- temperature, humidity levels etc Seeking an answer to all the above mentioned issues can enable a business to make the right decision about RFID technology and whether it alone can deliver the desired results. Only then will it be a valuable investment.
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This intel was contributed by ntjones
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May, 2012
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