Does the Market Offer Printable RFID Labels That Can Be Used to Track Pipes on the Move?

Which companies make such tags?

—Name withheld

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Two companies offer tags that can be printed as labels and are designed for use on metal. Omni-ID offers its IQ 400 & IQ 600 labels (see Omni-ID Introduces Printable On-Metal RFID Labels), while Xerafy provides its Titanium Metal Skin label (see RFID News Roundup: Xerafy Intros New Read-on-Metal RFID Label). These products are more durable than an ordinary label, but you will need to test them with your specific application to determine if they can survive the wear and tear to which your pipes are exposed.

There are many RFID tags designed for tracking pipes, including passive low-frequency (LF), high-frequency (HF) and ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) tags and active tags. Some tags are inserted into a small hole drilled out of the pipe, while others are attached with straps or some other mechanism. Holland 1916 offers its Pipe Tracker tag (see RFID News Roundup: Holland 1916 Intros Pipe Tracker Tag for Oil and Gas Operations), Xerafy has its Roswell tag (see New Stainless-Steel Ultra-rugged Tag Promises Durability for Health Care, Oil and Gas) and William Frick sells the Armored Tag (see Armored-RFID Tag Loves to Get Hammered), which was developed by Technologies ROI (TROI).

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does give you an idea of some of the options available.

—Mark Roberti, Founder and Editor, RFID Journal