How to Select a Real-Time Locating System
These four steps will help you determine the most cost-efficient solution for managing assets and improving the bottom line.
By Mary Catherine O'Connor
Dec. 14, 2009—Real-time locating systems (RTLSs)—which employ RFID tags to automatically identify assets and individuals, as well as determine their locations in real or near-real time—have come of age. The benefits have been proven: RTLS technology improves visibility, which, in turn, enables companies and organizations to save money, manage assets, reduce labor, and boost safety and security. In addition, industry standards related to RTLSs have been ratified in recent years, enabling supply chain partners to share information.
Today, RTLSs are being employed in a wide range of industries, from defense to health care, logistics and manufacturing. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) alone is investing nearly $430 million in the technology, to track cargo and assets as they move around the world, including through war zones.
As RTLS technology matured, more RFID vendors entered the market (see the table below). The good news is that now there's a solution to meet your business needs. The problem is finding it among the many different options available. A wide range of RFID tags—from simple, low-cost, ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) passive RFID labels to sophisticated, high-cost active tags with embedded sensors—can be used as part of an RTLS. Some systems use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, while some are based on the Wi-Fi standard and others employ proprietary protocols.
Dec. 14, 2009—Real-time locating systems (RTLSs)—which employ RFID tags to automatically identify assets and individuals, as well as determine their locations in real or near-real time—have come of age. The benefits have been proven: RTLS technology improves visibility, which, in turn, enables companies and organizations to save money, manage assets, reduce labor, and boost safety and security. In addition, industry standards related to RTLSs have been ratified in recent years, enabling supply chain partners to share information.
Today, RTLSs are being employed in a wide range of industries, from defense to health care, logistics and manufacturing. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) alone is investing nearly $430 million in the technology, to track cargo and assets as they move around the world, including through war zones.
As RTLS technology matured, more RFID vendors entered the market (see the table below). The good news is that now there's a solution to meet your business needs. The problem is finding it among the many different options available. A wide range of RFID tags—from simple, low-cost, ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) passive RFID labels to sophisticated, high-cost active tags with embedded sensors—can be used as part of an RTLS. Some systems use ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, while some are based on the Wi-Fi standard and others employ proprietary protocols.
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