When retailers employ radio frequency identification to track garments or other items in their stores for inventory-management, point-of-sale or security functionality, the tags are often disabled or removed at the time that an item is sold, so that the customer does not leave with a tag that can still be read (using an RFID reader operating the necessary software) at a distance of 5 meters (16.4) or more. But if a retailer removes or destroys the tags to protect its customers’ privacy, they would no longer serve any purpose in the case of, for example, an item return, during which the store may wish to confirm the product’s authenticity. Chinese integrated circuit manufacturer Shenzhen Hyan Microelectronics Co. has developed a solution that provides consumer privacy while also ensuring that the tag will still operate when needed. The company plans to release its new Garment Label during the third quarter of this year, and has opened a new U.S. office as part of a plan to market this and other tags throughout North America.
GS1‘s Gen2v2 standard supports some privacy and anti-counterfeiting features that allow users to deactivate a tag and then turn it on again if necessary, such as when a garment is returned to a store (see GS1 Ratifies EPC Gen2v2, Adds Security Features, More Memory). However, says Charles Lo, an executive consultant to Shenzhen Hyan, before a retailer could use those features, it would first need to update or replace its older EPC Gen 2 readers, as well as train personnel regarding such processes. “It may cause confusion in the field by adding this command, in my personal opinion,” he adds.
The Garment Label comes in two pieces that provide dual levels of operability. The tag itself is sold in the form of a button that can be sewn directly onto an item, with a built-in EPC ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tag containing an Alien Technology H3 or H4 chip and a small antenna. The button tag can be read only at very close range—from a few millimeters to about a meter, in some cases. That means it can be interrogated for authentication purposes, by simply placing a standard handheld UHF reader directly against the tag, or by placing the tag directly onto a desktop reader. However, to provide the long read range offered by most standard UHF RFID tags (resulting in inventory-tracking benefits), the product also comes with a supplemental antenna built into a piece of paper that slides under the button. Upon sliding into place, the antenna makes contact with the RFID chip’s antenna and extends its read range.
According to Lo, the most common use case would be as follows: An apparel manufacturer, as part of its sewing process, would apply buttons onto a garment, one of which would be the Shenzhen Hyan Garment Label button with RFID functionality. The company would also slide the supplemental antenna into place, thereby rendering the tag capable of being read at long distance. The garment’s descriptors, such as a stock-keeping unit (SKU), would then be stored along with the tag’s unique ID number, enabling the manufacturer, distributor and retailer to track the product’s movements through the supply chain and into the store.
Once the product is purchased, the store clerk would remove the supplemental antenna from the button by simply sliding it off, and the customer would take the garment home. If he or she returned the item for an exchange, the store could read the button’s label at close range, confirm the product’s authenticity—and that it was purchased at that specific location—and proceed accordingly with an exchange.
According to Lo, the Garment Label tag is based on Shenzhen’s laundry tag, also available in the form of a button, which has been on the market for approximately 13 years—initially as a high-frequency (HF) tag. The product has been sold for use by companies that put garments or linens and bedding through multiple washing cycles. The button comes with an extension antenna similar to that of the Garment Label, though the antenna is sewn directly into the clothing or its label. The tag can sustain temperatures of up to 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit), as well as any pressure and water to which it may be exposed during laundering. Typically, Shenzhen sells the laundry button-style tags through distributors in China. In the meantime, the Garment Label has been tested at Shenzhen’s own facility in that country, and the company is currently seeking partners to resell or develop solutions using the technology in Asia, Europe and the United States.
The button can come in a variety of form factors to match a particular garment, Lo says, and once the supplemental antenna is removed, there is no visually detectible antenna. The Garment Label will cost slightly more than a standard UHF RFID label, he adds, but the company has made an effort to keep the price as low as possible, and tags sold in large volume would have prices competitive with those of the standard labels.
The new Garment Label can also be used entirely without the additional antenna, Lo says. This might be favorable to companies that offer high-end products requiring authentication at the time of a sale, for example, but that do not use the labels for supply chain tracking in such environments as warehouses with large dock doors.
“There are so many products today that are being copied,” Lo says. The Garment Label tag provides some protection for that type of fraud, he explains, by identifying its authenticity when interrogated by a UHF reader at short-range, and by ensuring that even after a consumer purchases a product, its authenticity can still be confirmed.
Shenzhen Hyan also sells an Authentication Label that is incorporated into a package’s seal. This paper, breakable RFID label, commercially available for the past 10 years, features a printed antenna. When a package is opened, the label, attached over the seal, is automatically broken (and thereby damaged or destroyed) and will no longer operate. As such, if an individual were to open the package to, for example, exchange a fraudulent version of a product with the actual item, the tag would no longer be readable. This solution is being used by several automotive companies, such as Naveco, Skoda and Shanghai Volkswagen (to track the authenticity of vehicle accessories), as well as by Guangbai Wine (to authenticate its high-value products).
Shenzhen Hyan Microelectronics will exhibit its Garment Label and other RFID tags at this year’s RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition, taking place on Apr 8-10, in Orlando, Fla.