Yet another difficult-to-remember high-tech abbreviation is poised to make an appearance in your life. Don’t worry though; this technology is sure to become so ubiquitous that you won’t even have to remember its name. Radio Frequency Identification, RFID, may soon become the bar coding and identification method of the future. RFID use extremely small, barely detectable flakes, or tags of silicon. Some are no bigger than a grain of salt. These silicon tags use radio frequencies to transmit a code that uniquely identifies the tag, and therefore, the item to which the tag is attached.
The technology behind the tags has been around for awhile, but prices are finally dropping making the use of RFID tags possible for mainstream applications. Currently, these tags can be produced for five to ten cents a piece, and that is expected to drop considerably in the future. For a technology to really take off, as the price drops, demand must build. RFID tag technology is following in the footsteps of its big brother, bar coding in that respect.
The patent for bar codes, which are almost ubiquitous today, was issued in 1952. Although bar coding was a great idea, it didn’t catch on until 1984 when Wal-Mart required all it’s suppliers to use bar codes. This made bar coding spread like wild fire, and the rest is history. The same may now be happening with RFID tags as large manufacturers get behind this technology. Wal-Mart recently announced that its 100 top suppliers will be using RFID tags by 2005. So it looks like RFID tags will become the bar-coding of the future. Alien Technology, a RFID tag manufacturer predicts that within three years the company will be selling 10 billion tags a year.
RFID tags, however, can do much more than bar codes. Applications are varied, with many being extremely beneficial for end users and manufacturers alike. Right now RFID tags are already being used for things like pet ID tags, and EZPass toll booths.
Two large chains, Wal-Mart and Target are currently testing tag-enabled items for their drug sections. The RFID tagged items and shelves can alert store employees when items on the shelves run low enabling them to initiate the restocking procedures sooner that would otherwise be possible.
Delta is testing RFID on some flights for tagging baggage. These tags are used to identify airline baggage making it easy to match up passengers and their luggage for better security. They could also reduce baggage loss and make it easier to reroute bags if a traveler’s flight plans changed. At the grocery store, the tags could transmit their identification codes to scanners without the items being removed from the shopping basket. RFID tags could make inventory control much easier to manage as products would never have to be unpacked or hand-counted for inventory control. RFID tags could be embedded in smart cards, cell phones and other objects. These could be set up so they allow a person to make a purchase without even removing the card or phone from his or her pocket. RFID tags could be used to keep track of children, Alzheimer’s patients, and the mentally ill. They could be embedded in important documents to verify authenticity. The applications for this technology will be varied and far reaching.
