Post by Watchman on May 18, 2006 12:16:25 GMT -5
An RFID system set up correctly can result in a "seamless" tracking of goods from one area to another. The technology can also cut down on human errors that result when workers forget to sign out tools or scan a bundle of goods -- such as utility poles -- as they leave a warehouse.
How does a power company lose 40 utility poles? According to Geoff Mochau, it happens more often than it should. "People lose stuff you'd be shocked at," said Mochau, a field engineer with Evansville-based Tacit Solutions. "People being people, things get misplaced. For whatever reason, you don't know where it is."
Keeping track of things like utility poles, shipping containers and pallets of goods is a task that's traditionally been left to an employee with a clipboard or a hand-held bar-code scanner.
But more often, due in part to mandates from the Department of Defense and Wal-Mart, businesses are turning to Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to track the flow of goods from assembly line to store shelf.
Mitali Prasad, an analyst with Babson Capital Management of Boston describes RFID as "a bar code that talks."
Objects containing an RFID "tag" -- composed of a paper-thin computer processor and a small antenna -- are able to bounce information back to a special reader. Once decoded, the information conveys details such as location, identification or a product description, Prasad says.
By placing an RFID tag on a shipping container, box or pallet of goods, businesses can keep track of goods faster and more accurately than by using bar code labels, Mochau said.
Tacit Solutions has worked with companies across the United States to customize RFID technology for their distribution operations. Locally, Tacit has worked with Ameriqual Foods, PPG Industries, Berry Plastics and others.
"The problem with bar codes is it actually requires a line of sight -- it might require a specific orientation to read the bar code," Mochau said. "With RFID, I don't have to have the line of sight. RFID is also less sensitive to box shape."
Mochau uses a standard mailing envelope as an illustration. As the envelope makes its way through a sorting center, the bar code label on the front must face a certain way in order to be picked up by an optical scanner. If the bar code is turned at a different angle or is not visible, it cannot be picked up by the scanner and tracked.
Items containing RFID tags do not have that problem, Mochau said. The same envelope with an embedded RFID tag can be scanned at many more positions. The reader can also pick up information from several tags at once, eliminating the need to scan.
An RFID reader can also be installed on a forklift, allowing pallets and boxes to be identified as soon as the forklift picks them up.
In addition to tracking goods, companies can also track the containers the goods are shipped in. For some products such as paint, each container can cost several thousand dollars. A company can reap significant savings by knowing where the containers are and whether they have returned to headquarters for another shipment, Mochau said.
According to Babson's Prasad, the timeliness and quality of information provided through RFID technology can automate several functions and help companies become more efficient.
Prasad says managers can easily identify when and where items are out of stock through RFID.
"Demonstrable improvement in return on investment is convincing news for manufacturers that until now have believed RFID to be a burden, not a benefit," Prasad wrote in a recent newsletter.
The Department of Defense and Wal-Mart have required suppliers to begin using RFID in their shipments. Those requirements mean RFID is poised to continue to grow in popularity, Mochau said. The technology, which traces its roots to World War II, is also becoming less costly.
While most RFID applications are used for distribution operations, there are also consumer uses. Some common applications include security tags placed on retail goods such as clothing, and express lane passes placed on vehicles allowing drivers to zoom through toll plazas without stopping.
The Food and Drug Administration has also approved an RFID chip that can be implanted in people. The chip could be used to convey medical information to emergency doctors.
"So watch out," Prasad writes. "With the advent of the implantable chip, the day may not be very far when you get tagged ... as the final link in the supply chain."
© 2006 Evansville Courier & Press. All rights reserved.
© 2006 CIO Today. All rights reserved.