Radio frequency identification or RFID is an old idea that has quietly become a big part of everyone's life. RFID has been around for at least 90 years and was initially put into practice about 70 years, but not many people realized it. These days, you yourself are most likely scanned every day by an RFID reader and the items you buy 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 invented in order to combine stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has seen this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the till takes the items 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 as big as the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They triumph over the bar code because they can hold loads of data, such as where and when and by whom an article 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 stacked .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that chip using an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the cash register... No more reading each individual item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, emits its own data on its own unique radio frequency, so as long as the RFID reader is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the basket.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most people pay with a credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the scanner with your basket, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another scanner; if you are happy with it, you approve the payment and the barrier raises for you to proceed to your car. You only have to have a check out clerk for the people who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being done away with 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 invented in order to combine stock control with point of sales processing.
Everyone has seen this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the till takes the items 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 as big as the tiniest coin in your change and cost about five cents. They triumph over the bar code because they can hold loads of data, such as where and when and by whom an article 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 stacked .... ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that chip using an RFID printer.
And when it comes to the cash register... No more reading each individual item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, emits its own data on its own unique radio frequency, so as long as the RFID reader is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the basket.
In fact, no more check out clerk. Most people pay with a credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the scanner with your basket, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another scanner; if you are happy with it, you approve the payment and the barrier raises for you to proceed to your car. You only have to have a check out clerk for the people who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being done away with soon anyway.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on several topics, but is now 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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