THE FUTURE IS YELLOW
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a significant factor in the development of a new generation of logistics solutions. The technology is based on the transmission of information via radio waves and, like the barcode, can provide information about products, pallets and inventory, but can deliver much more than that.
A multitude of data can be stored on RFID tags which can be read automatically and contactlessly by means of a radio signal. In addition to product related information, the chips can also indicate how the identified goods should be handled. In short, the right RFID system provides for more transparency, speedier processing and the best possible availability of goods.
The advantages of RFID are obvious:
These are all reasons that make this technology so interesting for logistics – an opportunity that Deutsche Post DHL has recognized early on. Together with companies sharing this interest, for many years now the DHL Innovation Center has explored the advancement of RFID solutions and tested the technical and organizational conversion into pilot projects for the purpose of an introduction into the market later on.
» RFID standards & research
» RFID customer solutions
Using radio waves, RFID systems transport information about a product, a pallet or entire inventories. Unlike with the barcode, this information does not have to be laboriously read by scanners. Everything is done by radio transmission: it is fast, automatic and without direct visual contact.
An example for a simple RFID solution is found in the anti-shoplifting systems in department stores. If a signal is picked up by the receiver unit at the exit, it can activate an alarm.
But RFID chips can do even more. They can collect, process and transmit information. The Internet of Things emerges. Active communication between goods and players in the field of logistics becomes a reality.
Home