Can RFID Track Information Use?

Published: July 23, 2009

How can radio frequency identification technology be utilized to monitor whether a particular piece of data is used?

—Name withheld

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The answer depends on what that information is, and how it is supposed to be utilized. If you have data indicating that a delivery was not made from your manufacturing facility to your distribution center (DC), for instance, you could use RFID to confirm that a second instruction to deliver the shipment was executed, provided the shipment is tagged and you have an RFID system in place at the DC.

In general, RFID is more commonly used to confirm that physical tasks have been executed. For example, RFID can tell you that parts have arrived at a manufacturing line, or work-in-process has moved from station 1 to station 2. Software systems are then updated and employees are informed when there is a problem—a task was not completed on time, parts did not arrive and so forth.

—Mark Roberti, Editor, RFID Journal