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Why Is RFID the Next Big Thing?
2 CommentsWhy do you believe radio frequency identification to be the future in technology?
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There are two main reasons. One is that the natural evolution of information technology is top-down, and the second is that there is no other way, besides RFID, for companies to become markedly more efficient. I'll explain both points.
If you consider the history of IT, it began with big mainframe computers where access to information was limited. With mainframes, only a small group of people had access to information. Minicomputers extended computer power into corporate departments, such as finance, marketing, engineering and so forth. PCs put access to information on everyone's desk. Now we have information on our phones and personal digital assistants.
The next step clearly seems to be to make objects smarter. This is already happening. My coffee maker can be set up to start the coffee as I'm in the shower. And my car tells me when the pressure in my tires is low. Why shouldn't boxes tell people when they've arrived, or where they are located in a warehouse?
Making objects smart also makes it possible to cut massive amounts of waste from our existing systems. Most companies will tell you they are highly efficient, but they aren't. People will spend hours each week searching for files in a law office, cartons in a warehouse, trailers in a distribution yard or medical equipment in a hospital.
When we have an outbreak of a food-borne illness, we don't recall the tainted product because we can't identify and track which products might be tainted. So we recall all beef or all greens that came out of a particular state believed to be the source of the outbreak. This is ridiculously inefficient and wasteful.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. So what technology out there can eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, this waste? It has to be a technology that is low-cost, non-intrusive and automatic. Some will say bar codes, and while bar codes have an important role to play, it is simply too expensive to pay people to scan a bar code each time an oxygen pump is moved in a hospital, for instance, or a book is moved in a library, or a box is moved in a warehouse. RFID systems can collect data automatically, and because of the advances in network technology, information regarding the location and status of just about anything can be made available to people instantly. This will bring unprecedented efficiencies.
That RFID is the next wave in the evolution of IT is so obvious to me, I have to wonder why the CEOs of most technology companies can't see it.
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There are two main reasons. One is that the natural evolution of information technology is top-down, and the second is that there is no other way, besides RFID, for companies to become markedly more efficient. I'll explain both points.
If you consider the history of IT, it began with big mainframe computers where access to information was limited. With mainframes, only a small group of people had access to information. Minicomputers extended computer power into corporate departments, such as finance, marketing, engineering and so forth. PCs put access to information on everyone's desk. Now we have information on our phones and personal digital assistants.
The next step clearly seems to be to make objects smarter. This is already happening. My coffee maker can be set up to start the coffee as I'm in the shower. And my car tells me when the pressure in my tires is low. Why shouldn't boxes tell people when they've arrived, or where they are located in a warehouse?
Making objects smart also makes it possible to cut massive amounts of waste from our existing systems. Most companies will tell you they are highly efficient, but they aren't. People will spend hours each week searching for files in a law office, cartons in a warehouse, trailers in a distribution yard or medical equipment in a hospital.
When we have an outbreak of a food-borne illness, we don't recall the tainted product because we can't identify and track which products might be tainted. So we recall all beef or all greens that came out of a particular state believed to be the source of the outbreak. This is ridiculously inefficient and wasteful.
I could go on and on, but you get the point. So what technology out there can eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, this waste? It has to be a technology that is low-cost, non-intrusive and automatic. Some will say bar codes, and while bar codes have an important role to play, it is simply too expensive to pay people to scan a bar code each time an oxygen pump is moved in a hospital, for instance, or a book is moved in a library, or a box is moved in a warehouse. RFID systems can collect data automatically, and because of the advances in network technology, information regarding the location and status of just about anything can be made available to people instantly. This will bring unprecedented efficiencies.
That RFID is the next wave in the evolution of IT is so obvious to me, I have to wonder why the CEOs of most technology companies can't see it.
READERS' COMMENTS
RFID is not the answer
While I agree with the basic tenants of this article, that objects need to be smarter and there needs to be a way of remotely accessing these smarter objects, RFID as defined in the market today is not the answer. I recognize that I am playing semantics here. But the time has come to take a look at what the technology really is. We have done an excellent job of defining Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) through standards, regulations and applications but this definition has set boundaries that limit what RFID can be really be applied to. Remote access of information goes way beyond HF and UHF technologies as covered in current regulations and standards such as ISO 18000. There are many other technologies in the market that do not fall into the traditional definition of RFID which will be much better positioned to being the next wave in the total evolution of IT. Many of these are simply improvements on traditional technology such as infrared and the reallocation of TV spectrum or just the application of GPRS. Others will come from current research base on the reflective nature of dust. It is time that we begin thinking about a more all encompassing term that will recognize there are other technologies out there that will provide the capabilities necessary to achieve the desired objectives stated in this article. I feel that Bert Moore from AIM Global was on the right track earlier this year when he stated that the real scope of the technology is better captured in the term Radio Frequency Information Technology (RFIT). Or in other words, information that is remotely obtained through the use of radio frequency driven technology. I strongly encourage publications such as RFID Journal lead the way in making sure that the growth of radio frequency as a solution is not limited by a acronym anchored in the simple function of identification.
Posted By: Fraser Jennings 10/29/09 at 4:01 PM
RFIT
Fraser, Thank you for your comments. The term RFIT is interesting but misleading. To those who understand RFID and its broad capabilities to do more than identify objects, it makes sense. But to the uninitiated, it would be confusing because they would think of cell phones, walkie talkies and many other devices that use RF to share information. RFID is part of a broader suite of technologies that range from bar codes up to GPS and more sophisticated sensors. The industry needs to talk more about how all of these technologies fit together to create an infrastructure for doing business more effectively and efficiently. RFID Journal strives to do this, and it sometimes seems that we alone are talking about RFID as a platform that can solve many business problems. But to me, what you call a technology is irrelevant. Neither “the World Wide Web” nor “the Internet” capture all that networking technologies enable. But people have come to understand all the things that the Internet enables. Over time, people will understand better all the different types of RFID and all the capabilities the technology enables. It is an education process. Mark
Posted By: Mark Roberti 10/30/09 at 8:35 AM