Education is key to good RFID deployments.

I am one of those people that have been involved in RFID technology for a long time. Most people feel it is a new technology but my first introduction and deployments date back to the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. So thirty years and hundreds of deployments later I find it is a simple technology that once you understand the physics that control its performance envelope you can deploy very successfully with tremendous results.

I have written many articles and spoke at numerous conferences on the subject of the cost of supporting infrastructure and labor to install. Without a doubt this is where most of the time and money is going to be spent in a RFID deployment. Many times a “cheap” tag or solution is selected to save cost upfront only to cost much more on the supporting backend then if they had selected a higher priced product up front. This is where the education part comes in and the customer has to understand the total cost of deployment, not just the tool someone is trying to sell them.

Addressing the software side, let’s face it, “RFID is a Tool”; a location, passage, presence, activation, or a host of other functions can be placed on the triggering capabilities of RFID. So the customer and vendor needs to spend some time value streaming the process map to know what needs to be recorded and what information needs to be passed forward. We use a large cross section of software providers that have a proven track record in these and specific environments. You really need an RFID vendor with Open API’s and industry standard access to data to be cost effective if you want to connect to backend ERP/WMS systems.

Bottom Line is we get involved in hundreds of RFID deployment worldwide every year. Like and good consultant or deployment specialist we test and retest from the time we start to finish. Remaining agnostic to technology and software we make sure we select the correct solution for the customers’ needs. One tool will never fit every need and customers need to understand this. When they are talking to a vendor one question they need to ask is how many different solution and configurations they can provide. A company selling one product format should be honest and let customers know what their product can and cannot do and help educate the customer to the options.

Have fun and go locate something.

Byron