Watch this short video to learn more about the practical applications of RFID as well as the advantages of this applied technology.
For additional information on how RFID technology works, please read our RFID Technology Primer.
Radio frequency identification–RFID–is an applied technology that is used to discover and record the presence of tagged objects using radio signals. Common RFID applications include inventory control, asset management, theft prevention, and such new areas as the timing of running events and keeping track of students in schools. Many new applications involving RFID are currently being developed to exploit this technology.
Some of the advantages of RFID technology include the ability to uniquely identify individual items, locate items that are not in direct line-of-sight, and to recognize many tagged items concurrently.
RFID applications are implemented as an ecosystem of core components of hardware and software. The RFID ecosystem includes the tags that identify what is being recognized, the readers and antennas that are used to discover and communicate with the tagged items, and the software that controls the readers and acts as middleware to store the tag information and provide input to ERP systems as required.
An RFID application involves deploying an RFID system of tags, antennas, readers, and software. Typically, installing a system requires basic hardware-including attaching the tags in their proper places, powering the readers and reader antennas-as well as running the reader control and application middleware. System integrators and solution providers can help to set up the system.
RFID system applications can help improve the quality of business operations in a variety of ways for many industries. With RFID an enterprise has the ability to decrease reliance on manual processes, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, improve asset inventory and traceability, reduce overall operations costs, and provide useful data for business analytics.
RFID is a proven technology that scales for future growth in many directions.