Over the last decade, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has become more popular and more advanced to help companies track and manage their fixed assets. However, RFID is still not completly optimised for use. Presently the technology is overly expensive and is only really used at the manufacturer stage or on more expensive products. The ideal use of RFID would be to track individual items off the shop shelves.
RFID is a form of tracking, very similar to barcodes. A barcode uses a visible tagging system to store data about the product, this is then read by a scanner. An RFID tag is a type of chip that’s attached to the asset and store data about the item, this tag is then activated and read by an RFID reader device. The reader uses radio waves to activate the chip which then sends the data about the item.
Despite the fact that, RFID asset tracking has yet to be univesally adopted by companies, in the US there are a large number of companies that are already using this tagging system for other purposes. Identity cards, travel ticketing systems, and inventory tagging for the likes of museums and libraries are just some of the many services that use RFID technology. A large number of the users are government run.
Although the majority of companies know why RFID is so important, but they haven’t got the money to buy into it. In the past decade, the importance of tracking your assets has become vital. However, all companies know that auditing their assets slows down business. Some companies find that several months after auditing, they have missed a large amount of their assets.
By implementing RFID tags onto the majority of your assets, you can track and read hundreds of your items all at the same time. This makes managing your assets a whole lot simpler.
One example of where RFID have become useful is in a Unilever factory. They have attached over 20,000 tracking tags to assets on their production lines. These tags make it easier for them to audit their assets remotely, if this was done manually, they would end up shutting down the production process.
This is just one example of where RFID can help your business save money. There is a huge amount of examples out there. Another example would be in the emergancy services, allowing them to track vital pieces of equipment, saving time. It also ensures that when the vehicle goes to the incident, it’s got the correct tools required.
Unfortunately, RFID tracking comes at a hige price. With the better RFID tags costing between $40 and $60, it’s not cheap to efficiently track your assets. Hopefully costs will fall as the technology becomes cheaper to develop. Once more industries adopt this method of asset tracking, fixed asset tracking software programs will become more widely used.
Tags: asset management, asset tagging, asset tracking, fixed assets, radio frequency identification, RFID, rfid asset tracking, rfid tags