FAQ's

Q1: What Is RFID?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that allows information to be read wirelessly over (relatively) short distances.

Q2: What Benefits can RFID bring to my business?

RFID brings benefits to businesses in a number of ways through cost reduction, revenue generation and reduction of business risks:

• Providing better utilisation of assets through improved asset identification, so saving costs.
• Speeding internal processes by automating identification of items, allowing for staff savings.
• Allowing innovation in product design and customer service, contributing to improved revenues.
• Linking people, places, events and things automatically, improving accountability and helping conformance with regulation and internal processes.
• Reducing the costs of demonstrating regulatory compliance by automating identification and audit aspects of the process.

Q3: What can I use RFID for?

RFID can be used in a wide range of business applications – virtually anywhere that there is a need for IT systems to know about the things around them. Common business uses for RFID include:

• Identifying stock items and stock locations.
• Identifying staff, customers and event attendees.
• Tracking work-in-progress through manufacturing.
• Managing compliance to regulation by identifying those responsible for tasks and confirming that tasks have been completed.
• Tracking the movement of goods from suppliers and out to customers.
• Controlling the use of packaging allowing re-use and re-cycling.
• Controlling access to locations and systems for security or safety purposes.
• Time recording applications.
• Auditing assets.
• Helping to simplify the maintenance of assets.
• Simplifying equipment and tools usage and return.
• Improving the quality of shipment by ensuring complete orders.

Q4: How can I implement RFID?

RFID implementations have much in common with other technology implementation projects but there are some unique aspects. Our experiences show that the best ways to implement RFID in business are based on a combination of careful evaluation and practical experiment.

CoreRFID recommends a five step approach:

1. Start with a clear idea of what the objectives are. Is it to save costs or to improve information? Is it to solve a problem in an existing application or to make possible a new way of working?
2. Find someone to work with that has experience of real-world implementations. There are so many different technologies and standards that it is easy to make the wrong choices.
3. Think carefully about the environment(s) in which the systems will work. Success with RFID depends on having a good understanding of the human and physical factors in the workplace.
4. Pilot the selected technology. Carrying out a trial can be inexpensive and will provide sound data on which to base a business case and an implementation plan.
5. Learn the lessons of the pilot BEFORE planning the roll out!

Q5: Is RFID reliable?

RFID is a well proven technology with a pedigree stretching back to the 1940’s. It is also a technology where innovation is common, with new approaches and new systems becoming available all the time. Many RFID technologies have demonstrated their reliability with millions of tags and thousands of readers being used in some applications.Equally some RFID technologies are very new and have yet to demonstrate their practicality and reliability. For that reason it pays to take expert advice when planning to use RFID.

Q6: What standards are in place?

RFID technologies are standardised in a number of areas. Broadly speaking standards have been developed regarding:

• The various electrical characteristics and frequencies used by readers and tags.
• The protocols for information exchange between readers and tags.
• The information formats used for storage of data on tags.
• The codes to be used by different organisations in supply chains.
• Electrical emission and radiation safety standards.

A number of organizations are active in the standards arena including those developing industry standards and those working in collaboration with the International Standards Organisation (ISO). Although in the past there were many competing approaches, one of the encouraging aspects of RFID over the last few years has been the increasing use of international standards.
Standards for different areas are controlled by bodies including:

• ISO (electrical, frequency & protocol standards)
• EPC-Global / GS-1 (coding, data & protocol standards)

A focal point for the development of European standards is the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Among other work ETSI has been responsible for publishing a harmonized set of standards covering the full breadth of frequency spectrums for shirt range devices such as RFID. They are also working with EPC Global on standards for UHF devices.

Q7: Why choose RFID rather than barcodes?

Both technologies let IT systems know about the things around them. RFID has the following advantages over barcode which may mean that it is the best technology for a particular application:

• Information on tags can only be read electronically whereas bar-coded information is directly readable.
• Information can be read without a line of sight between the reader and the tag.
• Information can be read at distances up to 10 metres.
• Information from a tag can be read at rates up to 1000 tags per second compared with a second or more for a barcode.
• Cloning of RFID chips is much more difficult than cloning barcode labels.
• RFID tags are less easy to vandalise or damage (especially since they can be located out of sight)

Q8: Can we update our existing barcode system to RFID?

The short answer is “yes” but it will need careful planning. Updating a barcode system will need new reader devices, new procedures for tagging items and, probably, new ways of integrating the data available into information systems.It is sensible to take the opportunity to think about the best way to address the business with the technology rather than to simply replicate the old system with new technology.

Q9: Can we do an RFID pilot before rolling out a complete solution?

Not only can you, CoreRFID thinks that you should! The availability of a low cost “pilot pack” means that a simple example of the planned application can be developed and trialed.