Which RFID Inventory-Control System Is Best?

If your inventory is made up of small, individual items that need to be tracked over a short distance, a high-frequency (HF) system might be most suitable. HF is utilized by hospitals and clinics to track specimen samples, for instance. If you are looking to track cases or pallets in a large distribution center, than an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) system would likely be more appropriate.

There are a wide variety of tags, handheld interrogators and software applications on the market. Choosing the best options requires studying the materials in your products, the layout of your warehouse and other factors.

I would recommend that you find a reputable systems integrator to help you make these choices. I say reputable because there is no shortage of companies that will tell you they can deploy a system when, in reality, they want to learn at your expense.

Find an integrator that can prove it has deployed successful HF, UHF and active systems—one that is not locked into partnerships with a small number of companies. You do not want to deploy the wrong software, because an integrator is required to use a specific application.