![]() ![]() Many procedures that you have previously optimized may need to be re-optimized once the RFID system is in place. For example, you may need to adjust the speed of a particular conveyor belt, or perhaps the rate at which your delivery trucks are loaded. It takes time to put the system into place, work out the bugs, and then adapt your existing business processes to accommodate the RFID application. While improving efficiency is a strong motivator for many companies to adopt this promising technology, it's important to note that RFID may be initially disruptive to business processes. Inevitably, the implementation of an RFID system will have some impact on your business processes. Lastly, tag recycling is better suited to business operations that are housed in one facility, as opposed to those that span multiple geographic regions. Additional time, and thus personnel, may be required to process the tags, and the personnel will need to be trained in order to prevent damage to the tags from improper handling. On the surface, recycling RFID tags may appear to be a money-saving activity, but that is not always the case. Some applications in the automotive industry, for example, do not warrant the recycling of tags because they contain critical information that must remain "attached" to the vehicles at all times (e.g., vehicle identification numbers, or VINs). ![]() To realize a cost of about five cents per tag, however, you may be required to purchase several million tags.Īnother factor to consider when evaluating the cost of RFID tags, or chips, is whether or not you plan to recycle them, which in turn depends on the application. As with most items that you may purchase in bulk, you can usually negotiate volume pricing for your RFID tags. Passive RFID tags, which draw power from the reader in order to transmit data, are much less expensive than active RFID tags, which have an on-board power supply (e.g., a battery). The cost of RFID tags varies greatly depending on the type of tag and the volume purchased. These include licensing, upgrades, and maintenance costs. Recurring costs associated with the equipment may be incurred, though. In terms of cost, RFID equipment is usually a one-time investment. Therefore, your (or your consultant's) understanding of the physics behind RFID will be instrumental in properly deploying your RFID application. In addition, choosing the appropriate hardware often depends on the physical environment where the RFID system will be installed. Before you make a purchase, however, be sure that the hardware, software, and middleware are all compatible and that you have thoroughly investigated the impact that this new equipment will have on your existing IT infrastructure. Rarely can the interface and software be used out-of-the-box they will likely require customization to your particular application, and you may need to hire programmers to accomplish this if you lack in-house expertise.Ī quick search online for RFID hardware components will prove that there's no shortage of vendors eager to sell you their RFID wares. Will you be placing large RFID portals at your dock doors, or would you prefer the mobility and flexibility offered by portable readers? You also need to consider the costs of the middleware and software that will communicate with the hardware. As you might infer from the assortment of readers alone, the type of hardware that you choose will depend not only on your budget, but also your business processes. RFID middleware facilitates the flow of data from where it is captured (the reader) to where it will be stored and analyzed (the database and related software). ![]() RFID hardware includes devices such as antennas, hand-held RFID readers, fixed RFID readers, mobile RFID readers, RFID portals, and RFID printers. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to make you aware of the major variables that should be considered when assessing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your RFID application: The RFID application's "system" consists of both the RFID network itself (hardware, software, tags, etc.) and everything that needs to accommodate the RFID network: personnel, IT infrastructure, business processes, and the facilities in which the application will be installed.īecause there are so many system variables that in turn vary according to industry, it's difficult to provide a definitive cost breakdown for implementing an RFID solution. Determining the cost of deploying and maintaining a radio frequency identification (RFID) application is not a trivial matter, as the magnitude of your investment will depend on several factors that may or may not influence the cost of other components within the system.
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