Evaluating RFID For Your Clients
As a RFID solution provider, one of the first things we do is to understand what customers like RFID do for their business. The final outcome of the design rest on several variables such as the tracking velocity requirements, reading distances, tag sizes, antenna size, frequency of monitoring, the volatile environment. Often there are some tradeoffs between them, depending on the project requirements.
To illustrate an example of tradeoff, I will share on a common requirement I hear often. In the jewelry industry context, the RFID tags have to be very small. Understandably, the aesthetic features of the displays are the keys to healthy store sales. Absolutely nothing must obstruct or disrupt the view jewellery in all its “glaring” beauty. Most people only SIN when they look at the object of their desire long enough, or should I say lust. Haven’t you realized jewelry stores always install spot lights? Its like a hypnosis going on in there 
Anyway, to satisfy that requirement, the choice of tag sizes are retricted to 15mm x 32mm or 30mm (diameter types), small enough to tuck the tag into the jewellery holder or under a flap. The tradeoff is at those sizes the antenna read distance strinks to between 5cm - 15cm depending on the effects of attentuation. Usually this is not a problem if the requirement is only to optimize inventory. However in order to maximize IT investment, store owners like to have RFID lookout for possible thefts, via RFID Gate Antennas. With that read distance, it is not going to happen. The good news is there are more than one solutions to most problems. Our team had designed a jewellery software system that aims to prevent thefts at the operations level, way before anyone gets a chance to snatch a jewelry piece and make a dash for it. Come on guys, it will be too late by then. And if they are seriously comtemplating on robbery, they will come with their grenades, M16, GPMGs! No system in the world can save your jewelry, we have the cops for that.
|