Last week, I wrote about why I think so many companies still don’t comprehend the value of radio frequency identification technologies (see Why Many Companies Don’t Get RFID). One reason I cited is that RFID solution providers have failed to dispel a lot of the negative views that persist regarding RFID. So this week, I’d like to share some thoughts on how they might do so.
Number-one, I believe, is to talk to potential customers, and to journalists and analysts, about the cost of capturing RFID data versus the cost of capturing barcode data. Most people I speak with believe that RFID is far more expensive than barcodes. I always explain to them that paying someone to pick up an item and scan a barcode costs more over time than installing a reader and capturing RFID tag data automatically.
RFID solution providers should explain to analysts, journalists and potential customers that the technology works. Many people still believe that water and metal pose a problem when it comes to reading tags. But the truth is, there are rarely situations in which you can’t read a tag because it is placed on a metal object or something containing a lot of water, or because there is water or metal in the environment.
Explain that you usually don’t need to read every tag in order to achieve a return on investment. I am often asked, “How do you know if you missed a tag?” My answer: “How do you know if you missed a barcode read?” The reality is that if people count a few hundred items with barcodes, they will always miss a few. No one worries about it, yet they agonize over the thought of missing a single RFID tag read.
Don’t shy away from the term “RFID.” Saying you sell sensor networks or using some other term for RFID is, I believe, a losing strategy. Eventually, people will figure out you are selling RFID, and if they have a negative opinion of the technology, they will assume you are just trying to hide that fact from them.
Finally, stress that most RFID projects deliver a return on investment in less than two years, and that many wind up delivering a greater return than companies anticipated, because the technology can be used to track and manage things they weren’t expecting to be able to track and manage.
These ideas need to be repeated constantly to influencers so that they sink in. Hearing them once won’t change anyone’s mind. Hearing them over and over again—and seeing proof of their veracity—is what changes minds. Improving RFID’s reputation will make companies more open to exploring the technology as a potential solution to their business issues. Of that I am sure.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal.