White paper: RFID in supply chain

Aug. 20, 2010 - PRLog -- RFID: the supply chain’s greatest evolutionary step  

As retailer demand for RFID rapidly increases, it’s gaining visibility in the marketplace: Target, Sam’s Club and many other retail giants are stipulating that manufacturers include RFID tags on their products, and manufacturers of all sizes are taking notice. The bar code is still in use at checkout, but RFID tags ride alongside or are combined with bar codes to deliver better inventory visibility and fewer stock-outs, as well as increased security and shrinkage reductions of up to 10%. For retailers, those are impressive gains…especially considering that all they need to do is make a small investment in RFID readers and put the squeeze on manufacturers.  
Manufacturing efficiencies
But things have begun to change for manufacturers as well. Jorma Lalla, CEO of Finland-based RFID handset manufacturer Nordic ID, is finding that manufacturers are now beginning to employ RFID in their own processes to create internal efficiencies, notably with custom manufacturing. “One of the greatest gains with RFID in manufacturing comes with component tracking. Automated processes can apply an RFID tag to a component that informs a fixed RFID reader what combination of other components must be added to end up with a finished product. In this way, products can be custom-built with less error, and assembly can involve more automation, saving cost.”
How it works
While bar codes identify products or components at the item class level, RFID tags can store great quantities of information specific to the individual item including serial number, point of origin, and details of its journey from manufacture (or harvest) to point of purchase or use. And since tags don’t require line of sight to function, readers can be installed in ceilings and floors. What’s more, ultra-high frequency (UHF) tags can be read up to distances of 8 metres or more. So in many applications, every item in each box on every pallet can be automatically scanned and entered into an inventory system as it is wheeled from trailer to warehouse.  
RFID tags come in read-only and read/write formats, the latter allowing some or all information to be erased and new information added. With this kind of tag, you could scan a packet of fish fillets and see where and when they were processed, when they were put on a truck, how long they spent there, and what their temperature was at every point along their journey. Tags can be as small as a grain of wheat or as large as a brick. They can be weather, acid and shock-resistant, or small and pliable enough to form part of an adhesive label. They can be passive, requiring the energy from a reader to release data, or active, including a battery that enables them to broadcast. Tag prices are falling, but can range from a few cents to tens of dollars, depending on specifications.  

The whole white paper an be found here: http://www.nordicid.fi/en/press/white-papers.html

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Nordic ID provides mobile devices for professional use enabling customers to improve their inventory management, customer service, communication and supply chain control.

Nordic ID also has self monitoring in its product category.