The truth about RFID

Although it has been around since the 1940s, only recently has RFID technology become mature enough for wide-scale deployment, thanks to increasingly reliable and robust tags and readers.

This new level of reliability has spurred technology producers to experiment with a wide variety of applications, which in turn generated a great deal of interest and led to the publication of articles about the phenomenal potential of the technology.

Interest in RFID has also been driven by mandates from large retail groups like WalMart in the US and Metro in Europe as well as the US Department of Defence to their supply chains to include RFID tagging in all goods delivered.

Unlike barcoding, RFID delivers a coding and tracking mechanism that does not rely on line-of-sight or special orientation for scanning. RFID tags are less susceptible to damage, multiple tags can be read very quickly, and some tags can be re-used. A far higher level of automation is possible.

Another benefit of RFID is that it removes the human factor, delivering zero human intervention operations. Advocates say by fully automating processes, RFID takes fallibility out of the equation to deliver accurate and authentic data.

RFID`s ability to generate this kind of data is at the heart of its potential to achieve supply chain visibility and enable cost savings through reduced shrinkage and accurate stock management.

If we accept RFID`s potential for delivering increased business value through supply chain visibility and trace ability, why have we yet to see any significant implementations?

This week`s RFID World conference convened by Terrapinn in Sandton provided some answers to this question, with RFID specialists from around the world debating with local RFID technology developers and manufacturers.

Although conference speakers alluded to the cost and technical challenges of RFID in every session, the lack of a universal technical standard emerged as one of the biggest stumbling blocks.

For some speakers, like Mark Dinning, project analyst supply chain engineering at Dell at Round Rock in Texas, the standards issue is in fact the most significant obstacle to RFID.

Most current and planned implementations of RFID around the world are within single locations or companies. Dinning points out that an international standard is indispensable to achieve the promise of supply chain visibility when those supply chains extend across international borders.

Without an assurance that tags and readers throughout supply chains can communicate, it seems almost pointless to debate the cost of tags, implementations and support systems, or the limited range of low frequencies, the scattering effect of metal and the absorption effect of water.

Advocates say by fully automating processes, RFID takes fallibility out of the equation to deliver accurate and authentic data.

Warwick Ashford, Journalist, ITWeb

If a universal standard is all that is required to get RFID out of the starting block and rolling down the hill so that it can begin to gather momentum and benefit from economies of scale, why is there no such standard?

At the conference, Lynne Stewart, global standards manager of the Consumer Goods Council, detailed the history of EPCglobal, an organisation that was established in September 2003 to drive the worldwide adoption of specifications and standards for RFID, including Electronic Product Code (EPC).

If we have an international organisation driving standards, what is taking so long to achieve a universal standard for RFID and why does the adoption of the latest proposed standard, widely known as G2, continually keep being delayed?

It appears no agreement can be reached on various technical specifications, as technology companies compete to have their standards and specifications included in G2.

Unfortunately, disagreement among members of the EPCglobal initiative is not the only hurdle RFID has to face in achieving a universal standard. Even if the current target of adopting G2 by the end of the year is achieved, there is no guarantee that all major world economies will subscribe.

It is widely accepted that China will soon emerge as the most powerful economic trading bloc in the world, but there are also indications that China may not accept G2.

While RFID technology is reaching maturity and is generally considered to be making good progress with significant development taking place around the world, particularly in SA, it is time to get real about the status of RFID.

It would seem RFID is not going to replace the barcode for a long time to come, RFID will and should be applied only where a business case can be made, and RFID will be limited to closed loop applications until a universal standard can be achieved to guarantee interoperability.

Finally, there is also the nagging consideration that another new technology may come along that will supplant RFID before it ever has the chance to achieve any of its much-touted potential.

Given the worldwide drive towards employing RFID to derive a wide range of business benefits, it would seem unwise to ignore developments. At the same time, however, it would seem a lot safer to wait and see.