Mobile Phones are definitely the biggest phenomenon since the PC era. They form an integrate part of our lifestyle, whether for business or private. That said, it is not surprising that in 04 Nokia launched phones with built in RFID technology. At another website, I read recently that ABI Research predicted RFID is increasingly gaining traction in phones. The estimated number is somewhere in the region of 50% of all manufactured phones by 2009. A few days ago, I was asked to suggest some RFID ideas for the hopitality industry. Yearly I do abit of traveling, so the idea was formed on that basis that I can enjoy its benefits some day.

This may happen some day in a future not far away. From the comfort of my home, I logon the Internet and make a room reservation over the Internet. When performing payment, RFID scanner in my computer negotiates payment information stored in the RFIDed mobile phone. This causes a payment signature to be sent to the hotel’s designated payment gateway. Upon completion of payment, the hotel Internet server sends a SMS to my mobile phone containing Hotel Access Code information. The resident RFID module installed in the mobile phone accepts and stores the access code. Up till here, my hotel reservation is settled. Although it sounds complicated, but all I really need to do is click “OK” for payment, and a second “OK” for receiving the Hotel Access Code SMS. Way cool. So you may ask, what is so good about having RFIDed phone to get around the hotel? In one of my travels, I flew for 20 hours halfway around the world and on arrival at the hotel I had to wait almost an hour to finally get to my room! If I can just suggest this scenario with RFID. On reaching the hotel, instead of going up to the service counter get in the queue and wait to be checked in, I can walk straight for the elevator. Placing my mobile phone over a RFID scanner in the elevator, the system validates the access signature stored in my phone and takes me to the right floor (level) where my room is located. At the door of my room, I will only need to wave my RFIDed phone like a magic wand and BINGO the door opens for me. The wonderful thing is I DONT HAVE TO WAIT, minimum delays to get much needed sleep! On the hotel backend system, the RFID enabled system detects the hotel access code on my mobile phone and checks me in automatically as a new visitor. The building wide RFID enabled system continues to provide me immediate access to all the other services provided. This means I can use my RFIDed phone to access other amenities like the gym, pool, business lounges etc - almost without any hotel assistance or anyone to validate if I am a “real” customer.

Using RFID, hotel services can be enhanced and geared towards providing highly personalized experience for the visitor instead of clogging its capacity with routine impersonal tasks. Streamlining operational processes using RFID technology can further enhance and shorten time to respond customer’s needs. This can include waiting to access certain services as mentioned, or assigning the closest “tagged” hotel personnel to attend to the customer. Case in point, early this year I went on a vacation at a nearby resort in Bali. In order to gain access to Internet services, I had to register myself and show proof that I was truly a patron of the resort at the Business Service Centre. That did not take much out of me, but I thought it could have been faster to get me what I need. If RFID was in place, I could simply walk to a free Internet station, wave my RFIDed phone over the keyboard which automatically validates “I AM A PATRON” access and logins me into the Internet immediately.

Love it or hate it, RFID is making its rounds into every room of human existence. From backend processes, to mid level processes to interacting with customers direct. The further the international community advances towards a common RFID platform, language and sets of protocols enabling different RFID devices to intelligently communicate with each other, the greater the level of innovation for meaningful technology for us. These will be interesting to watch…

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I am not sure if it has happened, but I am sure it can. In reality, as RFID makes its way into retail stores it is fairly trivial to built systems that recognize customers, record shopping behaviour and recommends alternate purchases etc. In 2003, MetroAG opened the “Store of the Future” that showcased RFID among other technologies. The system uses a combination of pallet level tagging and itemized level tagging for its entire supply chain. The part of the story that interests me the most is how it uses RFID within retail spaces. Metro AG employs a form of “proxy” tagging of customers. Customers are not tagged directly, however each shopping cart is RFID tagged. The shopper scans his ID card via a computer screen attached on the cart, and WALA he automatically places himself under the scope of “marketeers”. The system will be able to record his shopping behaviour as he pushes the RFID-ed cart about. So why will he do that? Well, a compelling benefit to any shopper is when he can save himself from long queues while the cashier takes his time barcode scan one item after the next and chats with his next hop neighbour. At “Store of the Future” by the time the shopper pushes his cart alongside the payment counter, he is immediately greeted for payment. This is because all the items are already scanned, recorded and sent wirelessly to the counter before he was even halfway through his shopping list. There are various other “niceties” to the RFID system as a shopper at “Store of the Future” but I guess I have only mentioned the ONE benefit that I will be suckered into.

There has been many debates surrounding privacy. More has to be done on the issue of privacy surrounding RFID. Part of the privacy problem may just be resolved with a formulation of an open protocol, agreed on by an international standards committee. This protocol can empower the user to give “grants” to the extent of information the system can use of his credit card, identity card, passport, buying history, and anything one can think of that inflict on privacy of the individual. This way the system places the power of choice back into the hands of its users. Let the users decide how much of their information will be known. At the end of the day, to enable RFID systems to make intelligent recommendations (or guesses) for purchases, alert dangers, advise alternatives it has to know something about the shopper. Lastly I must add it is our right to privacy as it is equally our right to useful technology that could add quality into our lives.

Anyway that said, this is worth a few laughs …

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For me, integration of technology stops at the point where it transgress my human form. It disturbs me alittle to know there are willing volunteers who choose to embed foreign tracking devices into their body while it is not absolutely necessary. The link here takes you to x-rayed photos showing RFID implants of Amal Graafstra.

This is a video that shows a real life RFID chipping. Please do not try this at home.

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RFID has alot of possibilities for retailing which we only dream about in the 90s. For example, RFID enables retailers to track customer shopping behaviour, and essentially deduce how well the shop real estate space is maximized. Having this data which was traditionally difficult to acquire in the context of a store that displays thousands of products, has enormous potential at enhancing sales revenue. Ultimately what this means is the company is rewarded with greater profits for successfully enabling RFID in its operations. In the past, retailer relied on guesswork or historical data to predict product trends. With RFID-ed stores, the retailer is empowered with real-time marketing information that is associated with each product. The retailer could know the “shelf-life” of the product, the number of times the customer has viewed the product relative to the product physical positioning, and the number of remaining product items in the shelf. Based on real-time information dynamic pricing strategies may be implemented to further enhance sales results.

Using RFID for consumer data collection and analysis, far outweighs the cost benefits of using the technology solely for inventory management. Of course combining the applications of RFID will most certainly enhance the entire business performance.

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I found this this online video recorded by Intermec Education Services, on google the other day. It has good video content that describes companies that have successfully implemented RFID for their supply chain management and warehousing operations.

Watch Video here

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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.

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As the title describes, this post is about RFID tag orientation. As trivial as it sounds for those who are RFID experts, this is the first lesson for all who freshly stumble onto this part of the wireless world. So before I continue, welcome! Now as far as the rule goes, just because the darn reader is not responding it does not mean the tag does not exist! Of course you know that, what am I thinking?!. Often the newbie struggles to explain the mystery of disappearing tags or so it seems. What I mean is, at most positions the RFID tag can be picked up by the reader fairly nicely. However when the tag is oriented a certain way (even just above the antenna), there is a dead silence from the reader. No, this is not a case of a The Twlight Zone.

EXPLAINATION : Tags receives power by magnetic coupling and receives maximum power at the best orientation. For maximum power induction, the magnetic field lines radiated by the reader antenna must be perpenticular to the RFID tag. In practise the tag can be rotated about 40 degrees either side of its optimal position and will still be read. However if the tag is placed parrallel to the magnetic lines, the waves are simply skimming on the surface of the tag and will not power it. In the video demonstration, it is using the Single Loop Single Panel configuration. There are several configurations such as Figure-8 Single Panel; as the name implies, the magetic waves flow in a Figure of 8 shape.

The diagram above illustrates the Single Loop Field Radiation pattern created from a single panel. The RFID tag is best positioned when

• RFID tag is closest to the radiating antenna, and
• RFID tag is interrogated right angle to the magentic lines passing through it

At the this optimal position, the RFID tag receives the maximum number of the magentic lines and receives maximum electrical induction. In the design of the RFID jewelry smart shelf for example, all possible orientations of the tag are considered during the design phase. For that we customize antennas for all shapes and sizes to effectively induce the RFID tags at varying orientations.

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I apologise for the poor video quality. It was done by one of the engineers…Give some time and we will redo this. This video basically shows a standard desktop antenna that reads about 20 jewellery items. With a specially made antenna, we could scan hundreds of jewelry items in the store all at the same time. Cool!

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John Shoemaker a noted RFID entrepreneur commented on the following about RFID customization solutions,

“This is not going to be an area where you just license some software — there has to be integration and collaboration”

“Vendors really are going to have look at requirements and structure software plans that address those requirements. It’s not a case for canned software,“.

For more, read the article The Failure of RFID.

I have been talking with our partners, and they all have this alikeness about RFID Solutions ~ “What are the standard RFID solutions packages to introduce to clients?”. Unfortunately RFID solutions rollouts take alot more than clicking the INSTALL button. Likely there will be existing software to talk to, defining data exchange protocols, cross platform integration issues, middleware issues etc.

In addition, the deployment environment may pose some challenges in a RFID rollout. If you forget everything else just remember what I am going to say now because it will save you from frustration while you are trying to figure “WHAT THE HELL WENT WRONG??”. Iron, steel and ALL ferrous metal attenuate RF fields. See below for 2 common stumbling blocks …

• On placing the antenna at a particular table, there are problems getting accurate readings. Why? TIP : Look under the table. If the table frame is made out of metal bar forming a closed loop, it is a deathstar to your setup. The close loop actually behaves like a bigger antenna that couple the RF signals.
• After connecting the antenna to the reader, and the reader to the computer via the serial where do you place the antenna? Usually… next the box itself while staring at the screen for some readings. What happens next is a total failure. What had happened? The JINX of RFID must surely be metal materials. In this case, the metal case had blocked out all the forward/return path of the flux lines resulting in total RFID reads failure.

There are probably a dozen other things on the subject of RFID rollouts. The point is, RFID solutions require more detailed design and planning to make the money worth.

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We have been talking to our customers as early as 2002 on implementing RFID based jewelry software management systems. We believe RFID can profoundly improve the efficiency of the jewelry business, that we have seen happen for some. The initial resistance to RFID adoption is not very different from what we hear now. Of course when they experienced 70% savings in costs relating to manpower costs, barriers to theft and other tangible benefits of having such a system, the stories changed inevitably.

I like to touch on one of the MAIN sound of resistance :

RFID is expensive, considering the equipment and tags investment. - TRUE? False.

1. In the case of Advago Jewellery, we partnered a software integrator sometime in 2003 to customize a RFID based solution. Previously Advago had employed more than 7 persons for inventory management, processing and handling transactions and among other manual tasks. Their operations personnel usually spent up to 2 to 3 days to account for all the inventory. When the RFID based solution was rolled out, the inventory process reduced for the company almost 70% of the time they would have taken before to complete the tasks.
2. Another key benefit : The RFID based solution opens up the entire supply chain for detailed scrutiny of which every jewelry item is tracked, yes even its location. At Advago, in one particular instance, loses arising from potential thefts were uncovered ahead of time by an automated detailed audit trail. Of course the management on discovering the loophole scrambled to put in extra checks.
3. Finally about the costs of the tags. Each tag costs about 1% and even less the retail value of each jewelry product in most cases. Amortize that tag cost over the many lifetimes of many jewelry pieces by tag reuse, you will see it further drives the overall costs lower. Compared to the capabilities that RFID enabled for a jewelry business, the costs-benefits are simply overweighing on benefits. In addition, we have observed the costs of RFID tags have steadily fall due largely to more efficient processes that manufacture them.

There are a few other common objections I hear, which I may cover in future posts. But I think I will stop here for now…

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