3 Reasons RFID Tags Maintain Business Health

Identification Tags

Intimate association with identification RFID tags came for some at reception during military boot camp.  On issue, the identification tag, or dog tag, bearing the soldier’s name, serial number, blood type and religious affiliation, often, then, was continuously worn throughout the tour of duty. 

In numerous cases, the identification tag helped preserve the service person’s health, life and relationship to the world. It was one source of security for those in the trenches.

In numerous cases, RFID identification tags have helped preserve the life of a business by securing its assets and its relationships within the business and the world at large. It is one source of security for those in the trenches of the commercial world.

These three reasons are why RFID identification tags help secure the health (and possibly the life) of your bottom line.

1. RFID Identification Tags Improve Inventory Accuracy

We’ve all done it: while counting, we looked away for a moment in the numbering process and, resuming the count, wondered “was my last number 131 or 132?”  Or we couldn’t reach the top pallet, but, surely, we thought, 36 widgets were on that level-same as the one beneath. Or we’ve been counting for two days, our enthusiasm for accuracy is waning and so are the sales due to bad inventory practices.

But. . .

Reading in milliseconds over, under, around and through your inventory, RFID readers can accurately count every identification tag on your floor-memory and line-of-sight orientation is not an issue. And, if your inventory is in multiple locations, active RFID tags can count and enable tabulation of that inventory even if it is, in real time, on the move.  This attribute has the potential of letting you fulfill an order directly from any of your outlets. RFID tags make inventory sense for, at least, four reasons.

  1. The need for manual labor involving counting is slashed to near zero: you save money on hires.
  2. RFID software reduces the need to manually count inventory. You know what you have and don’t have: customer satisfaction because you decrease “out of stock” notifications and financial planning in anticipation of need and price fluctuations.
  3. Existing staff is more apt to put value on an asset that is looked after: you conserve inventory and capital assets.
  4. And, oh yes, the count matches the figure on the company books-or maybe it doesn’t. 

2. RFID Identification Tags Address Shrinkage Issues

We’ve all had it happen: an asset is missing.

Did the asset arrive?

Did it leave inventory before it was inventoried?

Did it leave with any other items?

In other words, did shrinkage occur, how, where, when, and on whose watch?

So. . .

Since the chips in RFID tags store precise information about every asset on a floor (whether that floor is at a crowded distribution center, on a moving transport, on a dock or at a retail outlet), you can answer these questions.  In the supply chain, each asset identification tag with its unique numerical identifier specifically matches one stored in your inventory management system.

Subsequently, you can make investigations based upon the data gathered by the reading the RFID identification tag at different points: locations, timelines and so forth.  Did the asset fall victim to internal theft before it was shelved or at point of sale or was shoplifting an issue?  Was the asset missing for other reasons?  Inadvertent destruction (breakage).  Or deterioration (perishables).  Based on the information gleaned from the identification tag, causes for the loss can be narrowed down and changes can be made to eliminate the loss.

Certainly, one time losses of a few small items can be absorbed without noticeable financial stress.  But for any size business, sustained loss poses a problem to be solved.  Large losses such as pallet theft within warehouses of over a million square feet are capable of sending waves of distress throughout the entire supply chain; orders can’t be filled, customers go wanting and franchises fail.  Using identification tag verification, warehouse picking and packing, transport, and outlet receiving can be monitored to keep your assets secure.


3. RFID Identification Tags Increase Safety

We’ve all heard it; the stories that a nurse gave Grandma the wrong blood or that quirky Aunt Lizzie went missing from the hospital.  Scary, true or not.

Mishaps happen in hospitals and out.  And we’ve all heard what follows, “document, document, document!”, until we’ve turned green.

Nevertheless. . .

RFID identification tags are being used in smart hospitals to dramatically cut those mishaps.  Specialized identification tags that can be used in various environments deliver multiple types of data and verify instruments, medications, doors, laundry.

An  RFID identification tag on a blister pack of blood matches to a patient’s wristband . The door of a quarantined room only opens in response to an RFID identification tag/reader match.  Patients are safer.  Doctors and hospitals are safer too- safer from medical risks and lawsuits.

medical asset management software maintains business health with RFID tags

By using RFID identification tags, your business is also safer from risks and litigation.

Are all latches secure?

Were the correct parts shipped?

What formulation was used?

Identification tags can give you documentation of practices and procedures.  All the while, they'll keep your reputation, your brand and your profits healthy.

Aaron Hobert - RFID Technical Specialist   

About the Author: Aaron Hobert

Aaron Hobert is our RFID Technical Specialist. Hobert joined Metalcraft in September of 1994 as a Litho Press Operator, became the Autograph Team Lead in 1998 and in April 2005 he became the RFID Sales Support Rep. He was named our RFID Technical Specialist in 2008. Aaron lives outside Charles City with his wife Diane.

Mobile Phone: 641-330-2660

Email: [email protected]

Office: 3360 9th St. SW, Mason City, IA 50401

Office Phone: 641-423-9460

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