Radio frequency identification or RFID is an old idea that has stealthily become a big part of everyone's life. RFID has been around for at least 90 years and was first put into practice about 70 years, but not many people realized it. Nowadays, you yourself are probably scanned every day by an RFID reader and the items you purchase are certainly scanned at least once a week.
So what is RFID? Well, you can think of it as the update of the bar code although in fact, it is older than the bar code by 50 or 60 years. Bar codes were developed in order to integrate stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has witnessed this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the cash register takes the goods from your basket one at a time, looks for the bar code, flashes a light or a bar code reader over it and the cost of the item is added to your bill.
What you do not see is that the computerized stock records for that item are reduced by one and the sales price is noted along side it. That system worked well for 40 years, but now there is a need for more information to be recorded than a bar code can accommodate and there is need for greater stock control and even more speed at the check out. Nobody has any time any longer.
Enter RFID, an old technology revamped. RFID is the expertise that they used to put in Second World War aircraft in order to distinguish friendly aircraft to the RADAR-controlled anti-aircraft guns. The same equipment, fundamentally, that they still use in aircraft today to identify it to air traffic control. The difference is that until pretty recently, these radio signal emitters or transponders were as big as a suitcase and cost a great deal of money.
These days they are the size of the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They win over the bar code because they can hold masses of data, such as where and when and by whom an item was made; how much it cost and how much it should be sold for; its colour, weight and description; which shelf and in which shop it should be kept on .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that chip using an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the check out... No more reading each separate item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, sends out its own data on its own exclusive radio frequency, so as long as the RFID scanner is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the trolley.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most shoppers pay by credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the RFID reader with your trolley, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another reader; if you are satisfied with it, you approve the payment and the barrier raises for you to proceed to your car. You only need a check out clerk for the shoppers who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being abolished soon anyway.
So what is RFID? Well, you can think of it as the update of the bar code although in fact, it is older than the bar code by 50 or 60 years. Bar codes were developed in order to integrate stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has witnessed this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the cash register takes the goods from your basket one at a time, looks for the bar code, flashes a light or a bar code reader over it and the cost of the item is added to your bill.
What you do not see is that the computerized stock records for that item are reduced by one and the sales price is noted along side it. That system worked well for 40 years, but now there is a need for more information to be recorded than a bar code can accommodate and there is need for greater stock control and even more speed at the check out. Nobody has any time any longer.
Enter RFID, an old technology revamped. RFID is the expertise that they used to put in Second World War aircraft in order to distinguish friendly aircraft to the RADAR-controlled anti-aircraft guns. The same equipment, fundamentally, that they still use in aircraft today to identify it to air traffic control. The difference is that until pretty recently, these radio signal emitters or transponders were as big as a suitcase and cost a great deal of money.
These days they are the size of the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They win over the bar code because they can hold masses of data, such as where and when and by whom an item was made; how much it cost and how much it should be sold for; its colour, weight and description; which shelf and in which shop it should be kept on .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that chip using an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the check out... No more reading each separate item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, sends out its own data on its own exclusive radio frequency, so as long as the RFID scanner is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the trolley.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most shoppers pay by credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the RFID reader with your trolley, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another reader; if you are satisfied with it, you approve the payment and the barrier raises for you to proceed to your car. You only need a check out clerk for the shoppers who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being abolished soon anyway.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is currently concerned with the RFID asset tracking. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.
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