RFID or RFIT?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Posted in: RFID
In today’s edition of RFID Solutions Online, AIM Global Editor Bert Moore has (as usual) said it best. RFID has evolved far beyond being just “identification” and has entered the world of “information technology” and hence RFID should now be RFIT.
Those of us who have followed this technology for the past ten years have watched in fascination as this has occurred. The evolution has been so steady and so dramatic that it has eclipsed what was once the interesting debate about RFID succeeding barcodes. They are becoming distant cousins.
The distance between them is so much more than data capacity—although this too is a broad gulf. RFID is becoming part of the larger IT functionality, not just a tool on its belt.One example of this is integration of an RFID controller into a shipping container. No longer is out-bound freight scanned at a choke point as it leaves the warehouse and enters the container. It can now be logged as it enters the container. Furthermore, it is logged when it is actually in the container—not just scanned at the choke point and possibly diverted before reaching the container. Yet further, the controller can continue to query its contents to make sure everything is still there. And further still, if the controller is GPS enabled, the container can disclose its location as it progresses toward destination.
RFID enabled sensors that could signal a container being opened, or container temperature, or humidity, or shock from drops or rough handling.Perhaps most exciting of all, however, is the fact that this is just a new plateau that this technology has achieved. Not long ago we thought of RFID as the new barcode. It has progressed light-years from that comparison, not by actually replacing barcodes, but by acquiring new functionality and utility that barcodes could never achieve.
Without doubt there are problems and obstacles to be overcome with RFID. Perhaps there will be newer technologies that will better address these challenges. Perhaps there will be improvements in RFID tag technology that will clear away these problems and obstacles from RFID. Time will tell, but it is an exciting time for us and we will all enjoy the benefits.
