I own a jewelry shop. Is there a company that can help me build an RFID system that could trace my merchandise in the event of a robbery?
—Name withheld, Toronto
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There is no RFID system that would enable your merchandise to be traced after a robbery, because there is no global database that you could register the items with. If the police were to recover your merchandise with your RFID tags, they probably wouldn’t know the tags could be read—and even if they were read, the police would just get serial numbers that mean something to you, but nothing to them.
There are systems that can be used to track jewelry inventory in stores, and potentially reduce theft perpetrated both by employees and by customers. Here are some articles we have published on the subject:
• RFID Tracks Jewelry Sales, Inventory in Mideast
• RFID’s Future Looks Bright for Indian Jewelers
• RSI ID Technologies’ System Uses EPC RFID to Track Jewelry
• New Active RFID System Strives to Eliminate the ‘Overhead’
• RFID News Roundup: TJS Intros Starter Kit for RFID-enabled Jewelry Inventory Solution
• Saudi Arabian Jeweler Puts a High Value on RFID
I hope these articles are helpful.
—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal