Beacontree Technologies

Menu

The Possibilties are Endless!

What is RFID?

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a technology that incorporates the use of electromagnetic or electrostatic coupling in the radio frequency (RF) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum to uniquely identify an object, animal, or person.

Why Use It?

Applications that currently use barcode technology are good candidates for upgrading to a system that uses RFID or some combination of the two. RFID offers many advantages over the barcode, particularly the fact that a RFID tag can hold much more data about an item than a barcode can. In addition, RFID tags are not susceptible to the damages that may be incurred by barcode labels, like ripping and smearing. These makes RFID a great candidate to locate and use for inventory and shipping purposes to reduce mistakes and speed up the process of doing tasks.

Advantages of using RFID Technology

  • No line of sight necessary for reading
  • No particular orientation of the RFID tag needed
  • No need of manual scanning
  • Convenient reading distances
  • RFID tag IC memory available in different sizes
  • RFID tag information can be edited and/or locked
  • Possibility of reading many tags simultaneously
  • RFID tags act as a portable database for item tagged
  • Tags for extreme environment available (e.g. Metal Tags, High Temperature Resistant Tags)

How RFID can benefit your business

RFID systems can offer a business many benefits ranging from better tracking of work in process to speeding up throughput in a warehouse.

When a business has pain points, such as asset tracking and visibility issues, RFID technology can enable an organization to have automatic visualization of objects with no line of sight or human intervention.

The use of RFID technology can benefit a business through reduced administrative errors, labor costs associated with scanning bar codes, internal theft, errors in shipping goods and more efficient inventory levels.

RFID systems can be used just about anywhere, from clothing tags to missiles to pet animals to pharmaceuticals – anywhere that a unique identification system is needed.

RFID VS BARCODE

The primary benefit of RFID tags over barcodes is the fact that information stored on multiple RFID tags can be read simultaneously and automatically, while barcodes must be optically visible and scanned manually one-by-one. RFID tags can be read or written to at distances of up to several feet, while in motion, in any orientation, through intervening objects, and without the need for line-of-sight.

RFID BARCODE
Read rate
High throughput. Multiple(>100) tags can be read simultaneously
Very low throughput. Tags can only be read manually, one at a time
Line of Sight
Not required. As long as items are in the read range of reader or antenna, they will be read and direct line of sight is not required
Required. Scanner must physically see each item directly to scan, and items must be oriented in a very specific manner
Human Capital
Low. Once up and running, the system can be completely automated or requires low human intervention.
Large requirements. Each item must be scanned individually and manually to get correct orientation of bar code and scanner.
Read/Write Capability
More than just reading. Ability to read, write, modify and update
Read only. Ability to read items and nothing else.
Durability
High. Much better protected, and can even be internally attached to items and read without being visible.
Low. Easily damaged or removed; cannot be read if dirty or greasy or not in line of sight.
Security
High. Difficult to replicate. Data can be encrypted, password protected , or include a “kill” feature to remove data permanently, so information stored is much more secure.
Low. Much easier to reproduce or counterfeit.
Event Triggering
Can be used to trigger certain events(like door openings, alarms etc.)
Not capable. Cannot be used to trigger events