RFID NEWS Text size: T T T

RFID Helps Malaysian Museums Track Artifacts

In the first phase of the project, CBS is training DMM staff how to tag weapons. The staff is currently in the process of applying the high-frequency tags, which are made of flexible plastic, come from various makers and conform to the ISO 15693 standard. The staff hangs them on weapons using custom-designed string that won't harm the artifacts. Each type of string is approved for a specific weapon. When plastic tags are used, the string cannot break through the hole as easily as it does with cardboard. All interrogators in the project come from Omron.


Ken Lee
To tag an artifact, a staff member sits at a desk and employs a stationary RFID interrogator to register the item in the database and encode information to its tag. The artifact's ID number, type, owner and storage location are all encoded to the tag. When a relic is returned to the proper storage shelf, an employee uses a handheld reader to scan the item's tag, then links it, within the database, to the proper shelf number, indicated on the shelf tag.

When the National Museum receives a loan request from another institution, it notes the request in its computer system, which indicates the location and tag number of the shelf on which the item is stored. A staff member then goes to the specific shelf with a handheld RFID interrogator, reading all items in the area upon arrival. In the past, since many relics look the same, the process of locating a specific item could take up to two hours.

Once it identifies the proper relic, the interrogator beeps and the worker takes the object to a staging area, where a manager approves the loan on the computer system. The item is packed for shipping, and its tag is interrogated again before it leaves the premises, via a desktop reader near the exit. The computer system notes the date when the item was shipped, as well as the museum to which it was sent.

Upon the object's return to the National Museum, workers interrogate the tag once more before returning it to storage. Lee says the DMM has not calculated an ROI for the project, but that the RFID-based system will increase productivity and enhanced efficiency.

post a comment


Login and post your comment!

Forgot your password?


Not a member?
Signup for an account now to access all the features of RFIDJournal.com.




PREMIUM CONTENT
TOOLS & RESOURCES
Opt-RFID
RFID Journal's Fashion Retail ROI Calculator

sending it your way

Sign up for one of our E-Newsletters.

Enter Your Email Address:

take the poll

On what criterion does your company base its RFID decisions?

RFID EVENTS

RFID Journal LIVE! Europe—Scandinavia
Oct. 24-25, 2012
Oslo, Norway

RFID Journal LIVE! Europe—UK
Oct. 30, 2012
London, England

RFID Marketing Services
Cost-effective marketing now available.
rfidjournal.com/marketing
Get Pay-Per Click Ads on RFID Journal
More qualified leads than Google.
rfidjournal.com/textads