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Safety Technologies:
Wastage and logistics under control
RFID
TRANSPONDERS CUT DOWN CHECK-OUT QUEUEING
The days of the bar code are over. Although it might seem
to be an excellent, efficient invention as you stand at a
check-out point, even more efficient methods are on the way.
The application generally called a smart label means, in
practice, a radio frequency identification (RFID) system that
transmits information between a product and a reader. It may
not necessarily be a label; a transponder can also be for
example inside a plastic card.
A transponder is much more diverse and efficient in terms
of its properties than a bar code. “Times were compared
in an English shop: receiving a load off a lorry into the
shop’s systems lasted 18 minutes with a bar code reader
and five minutes with the new RFID system,” says Peter
Gawley, the vice president of Business Unit Access Management
at Rafsec, which produces RFID transponders and is a subsidiary
of the Finnish forest industry giant UPM-Kymmene.
Information on radio waves
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is - like the bar code
- a data carrier. The difference is that the bar code reader
needs contact with the cluster of bars, whereas RFID operates
on radio waves and does not require a line of sight.
At its simplest an RFID transponder is a silicon chip (the
memory) mounted onto an antenna (the transmitter). Its information
is scanned by an RFID reader that sends energy in the form
of radio waves to the transponder, which can thus send its
information to the reader.
The reason for the reduction in the reception time of the
goods previously mentioned is that several hundred RFID transponders
can be read at the same time. This the bar code cannot do.
Wastage monitored
RFID will not replace the bar code immediately. One hurdle
is the price. Today a transponder costs from 20 cents to one
euro depending on the level of functionality and the package.
In any case even the cheapest transponder is around five times
more expensive than the traditional bar code. The effect of
the price cannot, however, be computed quite so directly.
“RFID can be used, for example, to monitor waste and
then it may pay for itself very quickly. A bar code can’t
be used for this purpose,” Mr. Gawley says.
Mr. Gawley goes on to say that there are three main security
uses for the transponder: protected transactions e.g. money
traffic and a public transport ticketing system; other transactions
such as improving passport identification; and putting shops’
movement of goods and stock management on real time.
Retail trade the most promising customer
“In our view, most of our customers will come from increasing
the automation of the supply chain at retail stores. Actual
applications are, however, still years away,” Gawley
observes.
Yet there are companies such as Marks & Spencer, Benetton
and Gillette that are already carrying out extensive testing
on RFID systems. Rafsec is actively involved in the Auto-ID
Center’s initiative, which is being sponsored by companies
such as Procter & Gamble, Wal-Mart and Unilever. The aim
is to improve the shops’ logistics so that in a few years
time it will be possible to automate the inventory management:
shelves that are emptying in a shop would make replenishment
orders automatically. Rafsec believes that this will be a
real possibility in the next five to ten years.
Rafsec itself develops new technologies with its technology
partners. “Our strength is we don’t use just one
technology but are a multi-protocoll and multi-frequency supplier.
For us the main point is that the technology works,”
Gawley says. There are just under 20 companies competing in
this field and Rafsec is at the forefront.
Photo: Rafsec develops and produces RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) transponders that can be used in many kinds
of security applications.
Published 2002
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