We all know technology has transformed every industry in the last decade. It changed how we do so many different things and the types of ventures that even exist today. While you may find tech troublesome at times, it can help you move your organization forward and make it easier to achieve your goals.
It pays to keep an eye on all the latest trends in this arena and look for ways to use tech tools to assist you and your team, plus your customers. One thing worth investigating, if you haven’t already, is RFID technology. It’s increasingly utilized by corporations globally and has many uses. Here is the lowdown on RFID and some of its key benefits.
Understanding RFID
Radiofrequency identification (RFID for short) is a wireless system using radio waves to identify people or objects. RFID uses two components, tags and readers, to work. The reader possesses one or more radio-wave emitting antennas to receive signals back from a wireless tag. This process happens from a distance without requiring line of sight or physical contact. The reader reads information in the tag that communicates identity and other details. This can be a single, simple piece of data like a serial number or several pages’ worth of information.
Readers can be mobile and carried by hand or set up in a stationary manner, such as attached on a post or built into a building or room. People use RFID in everything from security access cards and car keys to highway toll tags, merchandise, and medical parts.
Increases Worker Efficiency
The benefits of RFID are many. One is using RFID tracking to enable workers to be more efficient in their days. Since RFID systems can automatically track items and upload information in real-time to inventory, financial, or warehousing systems, this lessens the need for employees to fill out so many forms, spreadsheets, reports, etc., manually.
Processes become more efficient because of this automatization, and resources get freed up. Just as importantly, captured and analyzed information is more accurate as manual errors have less chance of happening along the way.
Speeds Up Supply Chain Movements
RFID systems are handy for speeding up supply chain movements, too. For example, since hundreds or even thousands of goods can be identified and tracked at a time, quickly and easily, there’s much less backlog at warehouses and other destinations. Staff members don’t need to spend so long receiving and processing items or dispatching them since identifying information transfers automatically in real-time. With less manual handling, comparing supplied products against order orders speeds up.
Plus, goods can be tracked easily in transit, with less likelihood that parcels will get sent to the wrong locations and then have to be re-routed, leading to roadblocks in supply chains. On a production line that utilizes fixed RFID readers at key points, there are also time savings since manual intervention should no longer be needed.
Makes Lean Inventory Management Easier
If you want to free up your venture’s cash flow by running a lean inventory management system, you’ll find RFID beneficial. Thanks to RFID technology, it’s viable to keep just the right amount of material or products on hand at all times because accurate item status is captured and forwarded to company information systems frequently.
This situation means you can monitor and plan production processes company-wide and track materials and goods in transit and warehouses using RFID solutions. There’s no waiting for months for a lengthy stocktake update to find you already have more of a particular product than needed, or trying to locate which warehouse or other location stock is housed in when it’s required. Order popular parts or products as soon as levels get low rather than not realizing there’s a shortage until you run out and have to wait for ages for new deliveries.
RFID tech captures data in real-time at different stages in an item’s lifecycle, so it’s much easier to perform audits, control “shrinkage,” and generally manage inventory. In turn, you can minimize the amount of cash you have to invest in stock.
Tracks Assets More Effectively
Similarly, RFID is beneficial for tracking assets such as computers, smartphones, vehicles, tools, equipment, and more. Many organizations find it challenging to keep track of valuable gear, especially when it’s used by different staff members or otherwise moving about a lot over time. Use RFID systems as a fast, reliable method of locating lost or even stolen assets.
These are just some of the benefits of incorporating RFID technology into your organization. These systems help manage different access permissions and user identification for security cards, logins, entry, and exit points. RFID reduces loss and theft and saves money, too. You’re sure to find many reasons to use this tech in your business in 2021.