RFID ( Radio Frequency Identification ) is an identification technology that uses electromagnetic waves – radio signals – to transmit data stored on a microchip. A digital RFID system identifies data in real time without manual and visual human intervention, adding time, safety and efficiency gains in various applications to the information acquisition process.
This technology is used to identify, track and manage products, documents, objects, people, animals – without contact and without the need for a visual field. Pilot projects around the world have proven their functionality, which can be applied in security, access control and traffic in the public, pharmaceutical, medical-hospital, automobile, and retail sectors, among others.
RFID technology has wide application in logistics chain management. In addition to controlling the movement and storage of materials throughout the logistics processes, optimizing time, reducing costs with distribution and movement of materials, improving services and customer service.
RFID technology
The functionality of RFID technology facilitates management and adds value to products and services. Employees can act with a focus on activities that add greater value, which will have a direct impact on the results of the company with improved productivity and customer service. RFID applicability works to store product data; send indicators of humidity, temperature and, combined to a GPS, inform the precise location.
Depending on the environment, the technology can reach heights in excess of 10 m. It manages to read and record data – and the reading does not need to be static and in a straight line as in the bar code -, in addition to capturing the radio frequency of objects in non-uniform movements. The capture distance is greater than the optical reader And with that it manages to record a unique and non-alterable code of products and parts.
The importance of RFID technology
The RFID technology associated with temperature sensors makes it possible, for example, to report the temperature in small intervals of time. This data can be monitored by software and send alerts to control the situation of patients in hospitals. Temperature monitoring is also useful for manufacturing processes and product logistics. In the food industry, monitoring the temperature of perishable products during distribution and delivery may work as a way to ensure proper consumption conditions.
Another very common application in the system, identification of baggage at airports. The RFID tag located on the customer’s belongings manages to link the owner of the baggage, his flight and his destination. This monitoring helps avoid losses and delays, in addition to increasing safety and agility in the event of flight operations and redirections.
In the logistics field, applicability works to add flexibility, intelligence and security to processes.
- Optimization of manufacturing processes with integrated and planned automated reception, production
- control without the need to wait for notifications;
- Custom production of products on assembly lines;
- Automation, control and supply of stocks;
- Automatic registration of inputs and outputs of materials;
- Optimization of price checks, missing items, returns and expiration date of products;
- Practicality in the proportion of content located out of visual reach;
- Agility and reduction of errors in the delivery of customer orders;
- Time gains in material movements and locations;
- Agile and simultaneous capture of several tags with elimination of the “one by one” reading processes of the barcode;
- Guarantee of authenticity of the products with recording of unique, non-alterable code;
- Tracking of products, people, animals and objects;
- Guarantee of capture of the RFID tag with recording and recording of the date and time of the reading.
- Agility and reduction of labor to do the inventory of products and materials.
With wide functionality and multiple benefits, RFID technology can be a competitive differential in the sustainability of businesses, but it needs specific solutions in different situations, such as radio frequency band, range, interference, barriers to radio waves, hardware compatibility and standardized software , power sources, and code structures.
Some factors can make it difficult to use, such as obstacles in the propagation of radio waves and metals that affect the distance of the capture, as well as liquids and the human body itself, which can prevent the capture.
Effective applicability in quarries and global markets requires standardization of hardware and software , processes and information systems structures so that there is the necessary scale and system compatibility. Thus, to enjoy the many benefits of RFID technology, it is important to develop a comprehensive project, considering all the processes involved, in addition to doing this debugging before applying the tags to the materials.
