Not very long ago, few people knew about RFID tags. Label converters and electronic engineers were among this minority. Suddenly, it has expanded in the vast social consciousness. Stories about RFID have appeared in consumer and tech journals alike. The technology has been discussed in every form of media, and not always with praise.
As RFID gains popularity and people grow increasingly aware of it, the technology meets greater resistance. At the same time, it is working its way into more businesses and industries. RFID critics have been vocal, but there are many supporters on both sides of the supply and demand chain.
In health-care, RFID has life-saving potential. Consider dramatic reductions in fatal human errors by implementing RFID smart hospital bracelets. A report issued by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies estimated 1.5 million people are injured each year in medical errors. The report also said, “Four-hundred-thousand preventable drug-related injuries occur each year in hospitals.” RFID technology may be able to prevent many of these incidents. Some hospitals are currently testing such systems, explained Max Golter, vice president of sales at Bielomatik, a manufacturer of RFID production machines headquartered in Neuffen, Germany. “The Veterans Health Administration [with about 180 hospitals nationwide decided to] incorporate smart wristbands and smart labels on blood-bags across the board—all the hospitals—and they dropped death by medical error by [about] 86 percent.”
In the pharmaceutical industry, there is a strong desire to affix RFID tags to individual prescription drug bottles in order to verify the authenticity of drugs through tracking and coding. Counterfeit pharmaceuticals cost American companies both sales and legal hassles, especially if imitation drugs cause injury or death. In these cases, the companies whose names appear on the fake labels are often left with the burden of proving they did not manufacture the faulty products. Per-item-level RFID tags could easily provide such proof.
Bookstores, music and video stores have long used RFID, or tagging methods similar to RFID, as anti-theft measures. But, reductions in chip costs and developments in the technology could make more extensive inventory monitoring feasible and potentially eliminate the need for checkout employees.
Sports venues are also praising RFID as they distribute smart tickets, which leave most forgers absolutely baffled and help monitor attendance. Some expensive and large-scale sporting events have already successfully implemented RFID tickets.
Perhaps the most innovative uses may be the ones mainstream media never report. Freeman said many companies are using the technology to develop closed-loop systems. In these cases, companies may use RFID to track and/or monitor the status of sensitive files or products within their facilities. “People are really thinking outside the box on where to use [the technology],” said Mike Caulley, president of Plastic Printing Professions, a division of Document Security Systems based in Daly City, Calif.
For savvy problem solvers, creating or installing such custom systems could yield large profits. Specialized systems may also be considered intellectual property. For this reason, many such applications and developments are kept quiet. “We’re signing non-disclosures on [these jobs] before we can even touch them,” said Caulley, though he was obviously unable to reveal details about any innovations.
The applications are nearly limitless. Some industry analysts expect to see the RFID industry multiply from approximately $3 billion to nearly $30 billion over the next several years. However, Mark Freeman, president of Inspec Tech, a label solutions provider based in Valley Head, Ala., is hesitant to buy the hype. “Most everything in this market right now is a pilot of some kind,” he said, pointing out the lack of any regular implementation or large repeat orders. “I wouldn’t start a company solely producing RFID.” Even so, he admitted the industry has come a long way in a short time.
Only a few years ago, “on a good day, you’d have 70 [percent] to 80 percent functioning transponders on a roll, which isn’t overly impressive because that’s 20 [percent] to 30 percent non-functioning junk,” Golter said. Understandably, such numbers caused industry resistance to invest heavily in the technology. “Today, it’s not uncommon to hear 95 [percent to] 97 percent yield,” Golter said.
Some companies approach perfection. Caulley claimed his company is able to create RFID cards with 99 percent functionality. Others have had similar results. “The reliability coming out of our plant is 99.9 percent now,” said Freeman. “What happens to them once they get opened, ... put through a printer and run through a bunch of static fields is beyond us. There are a lot of things that interfere with RFID, but, for the most part, they’re getting very stable,” he further explained.
Perhaps one of the biggest hindrances to wide-scale, per-item RFID implementation has been cost per tag. In the last year, huge industry-wide price drops have expanded possible uses exponentially. According to Golter, “September of last year, one could typically expect a 21 cent per-transponder price from a transponder manufacturer.” But, big changes were approaching. “Two weeks later, the label event takes place in Brussels, Germany, and within those two weeks Alien announces 12 cent transponders, leaving the audience gasping.” Cost efficient uses of the technology have appeared nearly everywhere, and more continue to appear with each subsequent decrease in cost.
Uses have been further expanded by the development of UHF RFID tags. UHF is desirable chiefly because it allows for increased distance between the reader and the tag. Many RFID manufacturers and innovators had been hesitant to invest in UHF because standards had not been agreed upon. Freeman’s outlook is optimistic, though he notes the imperfections and realities of the technology. Gen 2 standards are now in place. There has been much excitement about Gen 2, but Gen 2 introduced its own problems. “We’ve encountered several bugs [in Gen 2 technology] and we’ve overcome them, but those are the things you run into,” Freeman pointed out.
Technological and manufacturing issues are not the only obstacles for RFID. Though many strongly support RFID, it is meeting criticism at key junctions. Some companies offer, or are working to offer, RFID implants to employees instead of key-cards. Other organizations want to use implants to store medical data. Uses of this nature sparked a wave of public concern and lend credibility to the critics. In fact, Wisconsin lawmakers recently created a law forbidding mandatory RFID chip implants.
The signs are difficult to read. As with any new technology, no one is entirely sure where it will be used and what its implications will be.
In a market still testing applications, no label converter is producing RFID tags to capacity. Freeman said most manufacturers are capable of producing 200,000 to 300,000 tags per day, and none are producing nearly that many. As a result of this overcapacity, RFID manufacturers have been forced to reduce their prices to remain competitive. And that means it may take a long time to see the investment become profitable. “The equipment will pay off, but no one knows when,” Freeman said.
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- Companies:
- Inspec Tech, Inc.