RFID Journal Staff asked 10 years ago We have microphones, wires, speakers and so forth. Can we tag each piece and take inventory counts fast using a wireless reader, just by scanning all of the items?
—Name withheld
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It would be difficult to say without first seeing the equipment and how it is stored, but the answer is likely yes. I can't say categorically yes, because radio waves do not travel through metal. If you were to store your equipment in such a way that one tagged item was behind another large metal object, you would not be able to read a passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tag on that object, and an active tag would likely be too expensive.
If your equipment was stored in such a way that objects were not blocking the signal from a handheld or fixed reader, then you would likely be able to perform an accurate inventory count very quickly—a worker might be able to walk around your warehouse and scan 1,000 items within only two or three minutes. There are some new overhead RFID readers that can also be fixed in the ceiling that might allow you to achieve an accurate inventory count without having to manually read the tags via a fixed interrogator.
Another option would be to install readers at the entry and exit points, so that the tags would be read as items were checked out and returned.
—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal
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