What is RFID and how it is used in asset tracking?
RFID stands for Radio-frequency identification.
For asset tracking, there are several technologies available; RFID is one of those technologies. It is one of the advanced technologies used for asset tracking. RFID technology is more reliable and cheaper compared to other technologies. It uses tags and labels to track or identify assets.
An organization has lots of assets that are essential for the company. To maintain the stock flow is a tedious and tiresome process and there is a high chance of human error and pilferage. In order to monitor these pilferages, an RFID tag is used. It provides location tracking which assists in physical verification during periodic auditing. Other than this, it is also helpful in maintenance, data analytics, etc.
Benefits of RFID
RFID has its own benefits such as the tags will be read even from a fair distance. To increase the scan range antennas are fixed to amplify the radio waves coming from the RFID reader and RFID tag. RFID Reader can scan multiple times in a single scan. It consumes less human time and makes it easier for us to manage data audits. Furthermore, when a tag is scanned it automatically detects the asset tag number and the item associated with the tag, so human does not have to verify manually.
Assets, in this instance, are tangible property belonging to a business, such as computers, copiers, and so on. Keeping track of these properties is significant to the financial well-being of the company. Mislaying or replacing such equipment can be expensive. An RFID label attached to it helps to reduce such loss, be it misplacement of equipment or unintentional pilferage, or just put somewhere unexpected inside the premises, and searching for it itself takes considerable time.
RFID Reader can be used to “locate” equipment in and out of various doors (knowing a laptop entered an office door and never came out certainly reduces search time to locate it). It can also identify the asset movement “to and fro” from the building, often associated with an employee’s ID card number.
Use of RFID Tags
RFID utilizes Radio Waves it can go through containers in emergency clinics and lodgings. It can monitor hardware inside a shut container and racks. RFID Tags are fixed in the items that an organization offers to distinguish the validness of the item, which then, at that point, decides the amount to charge for the item.
Finally, RFID tracking can be used by stores to reduce pilferage, and possibly charge a customer for their purchase by merely having the customer walk through the establishment’s doors, without the necessity of joining a check-in and check-out.
In Shipping and Logistics, the active tags (tags that have their power supply) are been used. When the RFID tags come in contact with the Active tags the power source gets activated and beacons of radio waves are generated, so that the handheld or fixed reader can detect it from a fair distance.
How to identify a RFID tag?
It takes only a few milliseconds to read a tag. You can detect approximately 150 tags per second. For a large number of tags, it could take several seconds. Tags need to be in proximity of the reader antenna. The range is around 10 meters max.
To know more about RFID uses cases visit our webpage.
We the OTELTECH provide various SAS (Software as Service) to various hotels, hospitals, corporates, and manufacturers to manage their assets.
