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  RFID Web Special

RFID Kits

This section is something of a misnomer-but it is here because many people approach RFID Technology as if it were available in kit form. In fact there are some equipment resellers offering what they refer to as RFID kits. While they do contain tags, controllers and antennas, virtually no one can use these kits to install a usable RFID system.

Integrating RFID into, for example, a manufacturing system or creating a tool tracking system, while not necessarily complicated, is almost always highly specific to the user’s environment and especially to their data management environment.
One size definitely does not fit most.

We engineer installations with client-specific integration pre-designed into it.

Working from an exhaustive client requirements survey, our equipment arrives as a kit with everything needed  and pre-assembly already completed, so installation is quick and seamless.

Custom RFID Kits:
As long as you came here thinking you could get a kit, let us tell you how to build an RFID Kit that will almost assuredly fit your specific situation. From this you should be able to specify a kit that will fit you-and most importantly work for you-very well.

Start with the most important part-the tag. This is where most pre-fab kits go wrong. But in real-world RFID, the tag is what contains and conveys the data. It is the most important single part. Ask yourself these questions, and answer them carefully:

1. What are you trying to accomplish with RFID technology?
    a. sorting products so they get inserted into the correct package
    b. automate data collection in an inspection system
    c. track assets throughout a (small) (medium) (large) facility
    d. track items as they are manufactured
    e. automate a manufacturing process
    f. other
2. Based on what you’re trying to do, what are you going to put the tag on?
    a. the item itself (the tag will be removed/reused at the end of the process; or, the tag will leave the facility with the tag still on it)
    b. the fixture, puck or holder that the item sits in/on
    c. other
3. What is the environment in which the tag is expected to operate?
    a. normal environments where humans work
    b. very hot, like a paint oven or bakery
    c. very cold like a freezer
    d. very wet with water or solvent wash-down
    e. very dirty
    f. gamma radiation sterilization chamber
    g. other
4. Where should the antenna be mounted? Depending upon your application, it might need to be as close as 2" from the tag.
5. Is there enough space to bolt the antenna directly to the controller? If not, where will the controller be mounted?
6. What system is in place that the controller will communicate with? How will the controller communicate? Ether? RS232? USB?

Let Fotel provide your RFID Technology!

Family owned and operated for over 40yrs!