The Myths of LF vs. HF

ISO Standards. Many users assume that by adopting HF RFID technology, they can better mitigate risk, because HF hardware based on ISO standards is available from multiple sources. In reality, however, conforming to ISO standards does not always equate to interchangeability.

Cost. Many assume that LF cannot compete in cost with HF—again, a fallacy.

Let's go into more depth on these points, beginning with the issue of metal and a very specific application: pharmaceuticals. I'm not referring to the well-publicized e-pedigree pharma app that has had some push and media coverage in recent years. There is a very large market for the home delivery of medicines and prescriptions from mail-order pharmaceutical companies—an application that has been dominated by LF products for 15 years. Briefly, the application involves the identification of pill bottles as they sit in a small, specially designed carrier called a puck. In the bottom of that puck sits an RFID tag, thus enabling the pill bottle to be transported throughout a warehouse facility on a small conveyor, from the initiation of an order to the routing and filling of the bottle at automated dispensers that count out the number of pills, to the end of the process, where a vision system examines the contents for correctness and a pharmacist double-checks that the proper drugs are being shipped to consumers. The puck is also married to another, larger tote carrying the remaining pieces toward the order's completion, such as the pill bottle label, the mailing label, the size and specific cap for the bottle, prescription instructions, and the package in which the order is to be mailed. Yes, 100 percent accuracy and 100 percent read rates are demanded. It is a deadly serious business, due to the fact that if a mistake is made, someone could die.

An HF competitor stepped into the fray several years ago, and the ensuing installation was a disaster. To make a long story short, the project was plagued by missed reads and cross talk prevalent in the highly metallic environment of small conveyor systems, where readers are often close to one another. The HF installation resulted in a year-long delay of plant start-up, litigation, contractual fines for claims of non-performance, and project leaders and management heads who curiously took employment elsewhere—a disaster so huge that HF will never again be considered in this application. When I interviewed both the project's integrator and end user, neither had any knowledge of the points discussed herein regarding LF vs. HF. Yet, the fact remains that 99 percent of all mail-order pharmaceutical applications employing RFID tags have employed LF technology since the inception of the market, almost 20 years ago. Why? Because LF outperforms HF in meeting the demands of that particular application, and remains the prudent choice.