Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is rapidly becoming a cost-effective technology. This is in large part due to the efforts of Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense (DoD) to incorporate RFID technology into their supply chains. In 2003, with the aim of enabling pallet-level tracking of inventory, Wal-Mart and DoD followed a suit and issued the same mandate to its top 100 suppliers. This drive to incorporate RFID technology into their supply chains is motivated by the increased shipping, receiving and stocking efficiency and the decreased costs of labor, storage, and product loss that pallet-level visibility of inventory can offer.

RFID now became a tool for helping visibility, but that feature does not stand alone as a defining characteristic. The ultimate value of RFID is the knowledge it provides, which must be integrated with other valuable information in cross business communication systems. Practitioners want to know not just where their products might be but how that knowledge can be used to be more effective in their business processing and eventually to sell more products.

The real benefit will come when RFID is integrated as part of a drive for supply chain optimization, full network connectivity, and ERP-to-ERP communication that tells the business partners what the supply might be, where it is, and how it can be brought to the point of need, in quantities that match the actual demand. When it also helps in the data analysis that leads to generating new revenues, the cake will be iced. In short, the use of RFID technology is expected to grow significantly in the next five years, and it is predicted that someday RFID tags will be as pervasive as bar codes.

This publication addresses core RFID technology and solutions as well as evolving market and products.  It evaluates the possibilities for developing and deploying RFID systems and applications.
 

Audience:

- RFID hardware, software, and solution vendors and related professional services companies
- Outsourced RFID solutions and application providers, and RFID service bureau operators
- Personnel responsible for automating Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Inventory Tracking, Fleet Management, Yard/Dock     - Management and other business processes
- Healthcare management personnel responsible for tracking patients, staff personnel, equipment, inventory, and other critical resources
- Retailers and personnel responsible for merchandise inventory and ordering processes, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Merchandise tracking and fraud prevention
- Companies interested in optimizing their RFID business process strategies for Tracking and Telemetry with a special focus on large scale tracking.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


SECTION I - INTRODUCTION      


SECTION II - TECHNOLOGY OUTLOOK         

INTRODUCTION TO RFID

UNDERSTANDING HOW RFID WORKS           7

TYPES OF TAGS     8

Passive Tags            8

Semi Passive RFID Tags   9

Active RFID Tags     10

Active Tags with Sensors/GPS     10

Difference between Active and Passive RFID   11

APPLICATION FIELD         11

DISCRIMINATING THE VARIOUS TYPES OF RTLS   13

CLASSIFICATION OF  TRACKING SYSTEMS  14

ADVANTAGES RFID SOLUTIONS          15

Improved Productivity and Cost Avoidance        16

Decreased Cycle Time and Taking Costs Out    16

Reduced Rework     16

Reduced Business Risk and Control of Assets16

Improved Security and Service     16

Improved Utilization of Resources            16

Increased Revenues           17

Exception Management     17


SECTION III -FACTORS & EVALUATIONS   

THE COST FACTOR           18

Tags   18

Costs related to aquisitions            18

Cost of Readers       19

Additional Antenna Cost    19

Cost of Applications and related middlewares   19

Customization Costs           20

Installation Related Cost    20

Fine Tuning  20

INTEGRATION AND BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING      21

AFTER IMPLEMENTATION AND RECURRING COST           21

EVALUATION OF THE PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEM22

ISSUES CONCERNING THE SAFETY OF THE SYSTEM      23

THE SECURITY ASPECTS OF THE DEPLOYMENT  24

THE DEPLOYMENT FACTOR      26

SECTION IV - ANALYSIS OF RFID BASED SOLUTION      

RFID BASED VEHICLE IMMOBILIZATION        27

MANUFACTURING PROCESSES          28

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT         28

RFID BASED TRACKING IN HEALTHCARE    30

RFID BASED WRISTSTRAPS      31

RFID BASED TRACKING SYSTEM FOR HOSPITALS           31

PATIENT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING SYSTEM        32

RFID IN PROCESS MANUFACTURING            32

INBOUND RAW MATERIALS       32

Production Process33

Warehouse Management  34

RFID IN MARINE OPERATION    34

MULTI TERMINAL TRACKING OPERATION     35

RFID IN DEFENCE35

Logistics and Inventory Monitoring          36

Homeland Security  36

Field Combat            37

RFID in Military Training Applications     37

Friendly Troop Identification          38

RFID IN PAYMENT TRANSACTIONS     39

Advantages   39

Safety and Secure ATM Transactions     41

Digital Money           41

Drawbacks to the Current Approach        41

SECURITY ISSUES            42

RFID IN TRANSPORTATION        43

Automatic Vehicle Identification   44

Electronic Toll Collection   44

Electronic Vehicle Registration     45

Fleet Management  45


SECTION V - CONCLUSION