RFID technology performs a similar job as a barcode, it stores data about an asset, piece of equipment container or vehicle. A barcode is a simple visible data storing tag that is read by a scanner device. An RFID tag is a chip that can be accessed remotely using an RFID reader, it stores data about the item it’s attached to and then sends it to the reader. The RFID reader uses radio waves to read the data off the chip regarding the asset.
In spite of the fact that, radio frequency idenfitication for 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. New passports, public transport payment methods, libraries and museums are just a few of the services that use the RFID tags. A large number of the users are government run.
A large number of companies haven’t yet bought into RFID, despite knowing why it’s so useful. In the past decade, the importance of tracking your assets has become vital. However, a great deal of companies are finding that auditing assets takes time and can lose the business money. Some companies find that several months after auditing, they have missed a large amount of their assets.
Implementing RFID tagging chips to your items, you are able to remotely track hundreds of your assets all at the same time. This simplifies the process of managing your assets.
Just one company that is using RFID tech is Unilever. They have added the RFID tags to over 20,000 assets across their production lines. These tags mean that the company can audit their items remotely, avoiding having to shut down the production line for a manual audit.
This is just one example where RFID tracking can help your business and avoid you loosing money. There are many other examples. Another example is in the fire service, they can track equipment to save vital time. It also ensures that a rescue vehicle doesn’t travel to an incident without the required equipment.
Unfortunately, tracking your assets with RFID is not cheap to do. Generally the advanced tags cost around $50, definately not making it cheap to track your companies assets. Hopefully costs will fall as the technology becomes cheaper to develop. Once this method of asset tracking becomes more well known fixed asset tracking programs will become more widely used.
