Opinion: Battery-Assisted RFID: A Game-Changer
By Ivan Hofmann
Industry Adviser
Blue Spark Technologies
This Opinion piece appears in the Jan. 25 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
When passive radio frequency identification began its rise almost a decade ago, hopes ran high that the new technology, which offers hands-free operation and doesn’t require a direct line of sight, would help to free the shipping industry from labor-intensive bar-code tracking, which often requires handheld devices to read labels and is consequently much prone to human error.
An RFID chip and antenna encoded with a unique number and other information could be embedded inside an adhesive shipping label and interpreted by fixed-position readers mounted in strategic locations, such as warehouse portals or dock doors.
Passive RFID technology was very successful in some parts of the supply chain. Mass retailers Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club currently use it, and it’s been tested by Best Buy and Target, among others.
However, less-than-truckload and parcel-delivery carriers found passive RFID technology lacking, with its inconsistent reading rates and failure to achieve the near-100% accuracy required for a clear return on investment.
Much of the problem can be attributed to the inherent nature of LTLs and parcel-delivery carriers, which must pick, sort, handle, ship and deliver products of all shapes and sizes, pack them on trucks and route them through prescribed lanes across the continent.
Passive RFID also has had problems with certain product categories, notably liquids and densely packed metallic items, such as tools.
The LTLs considered trying active RFID — a technology in which the tag itself contains a battery to power it and its communications circuitry — but dismissed it as too complex and costly to be a sensible option.
Now, however, a viable compromise has emerged — battery-assisted passive RFID, sometimes dubbed “semi-passive” RFID.
The thin, flexible, printed batteries required for BAP-RFID tags can be manufactured in high volumes using traditional printing processes, so they are cost-effective to make and volumes can be scaled easily to meet demand.
BAP-RFID’s relatively simple architecture and small, flexible form make it easy to integrate into existing RFID smart-label manufacturing processes and infrastructure. They even are ecologically friendly and can be disposed of safely because they contain no toxic or hazardous substances.
BAP-RFID tags now are being developed and produced by two major players and their industry allies:
• Blue Spark Technologies, Cleveland, a manufacturer of thin, printed batteries, has partnered with UPM Raflatac, a global developer of RFID tags and inlays and self-adhesive label materials. UPM Raflatac’s North American headquarters are in Westmont, Ill.
• PowerID, a maker of thin and flexible microelectronic products, including smart tags, is a technology spinoff from Power Paper Ltd. Both companies have headquarters in Petach Tikva, Israel, and Power ID has a North American base in Houston.
In independent testing of various BAP-RFID smart label tags, read ranges in excess of 150 feet have been observed using traditional UHF (ultra-high frequency) EPC (electronic product code) second-generation readers, and overall “read rates” are close to 100%.
And because the tags are less susceptible to “detuning” and less affected by surrounding materials, including liquids and metals, reading sensitivity and accuracy are im-proved. This advantage is significant when you compare it to the typical read range of 20 to 30 feet for passive EPC second-generation RFID shipping labels.
These enhanced capabilities are likely to spur renewed interest in the transportation logistics arena, particularly because semi-passive RFID tags perform much like the active variety but are much closer to the cost of the passive tags. (Active tags typically start at $25 and climb from there.)
BAP-RFID’s potential for parcel-delivery carriers and LTLs is clear — everybody wins:
In the warehouse, longer reading ranges will enable forklift operators to work faster and more safely because the need to dismount and remount vehicles repeatedly to scan pallets and cases is eliminated. Heightened productivity also may lessen labor costs and capital expenses by reducing the number of forklifts required.
Shippers and carriers will experience similar productivity gains by speeding up the loading and unloading processes in the yard and at the dock and by eliminating many of the errors that can lead to misplaced loads and goods arriving at the wrong destination.
Delivery service providers will be able to improve productivity and raise customer service levels by ensuring real-time, up-to-the minute information on shipment status, as well as improving fulfillment accuracy and on-time delivery schedules.
Because of rapid advances in printed electronics technology, we can expect to see many more next-generation RFID solutions and applications soon. In fact, NanoMarkets, an analyst firm in Glen Allen, Va., predicts RFID applications will dominate the thin-film and printed-battery market, generating $4.6 billion by 2015, primarily because of their low cost and the ability to ramp up RFID performance.
One solution gaining traction in the food and pharmaceutical supply chain and transportation sector is battery-powered, RF-enabled sensors. Time-temperature data loggers designed to protect consumer safety, as well as product integrity and quality, monitor from point of origin to points of delivery.
BAP-RFID is a transformative technology that, for the first time, allows parcel and LTL service providers to achieve the right balance of price, performance and return on investment to justify investing in the system. Carriers using the technology stand to gain unprecedented visibility and to be better equipped to deliver higher service levels to shippers, and to those receiving their goods and parcels.
Blue Spark Technologies, located in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake, Ohio, manufactures thin printed batteries. Before retiring, the author was chief operating officer for FedEx Ground.
