RFID Asset Management

RFID asset management comes essentially in two basic forms active and passive, although there is also a hybrid of the two types as well. Passive RFID asset management is the more common form at the moment because the RFID tags are cheaper. In fact, a firm in Korea has promised to deliver tiny passive tags in 2011 for less than four Euro cents each.

RFID Asset Management

RFID asset management refers to always knowing whether a company's asset is on or off the premises and if it is on the premises, exactly where it is, how old it is, where it came from, whether it is for sale or not, how much you paid for it, who you bought it from, what quality it is and any other details that the company's executive thinks relevant such as colour, size and recommended retail price.

Because an RFID chip (Radio Frequency IDentification chip) is programmable you can load it with any data that you want by the use of an RFID printer. The RFID printer will write any information you type into it onto the chip and onto a piece of paper that holds the chip or tag. The paper will have a description that a human can read and a bar code both with the same data, so that the tag can be read in three ways.

The RFID tag is by far the most flexible. For example, a human has to know where the paper is and be close enough to be able to read it and a bar code reader can read a bar code, if it can see it in a similar way but faster. However, RFID asset management relies on each tag broadcasting on a unique frequency, so every box in a warehouse is continuously ready to say: ' I am box number so-and-so containing so-and-so and my location is grid reference so-and-so'.

No matter how big your warehouse, you know where everything is because of the radio scanners placed around the warehouse. There is no need ever again for a pallet of something to pass its sell-by-date because it got lost in the system.

Similarly, in a large office where there are hundreds or even thousands of valuable computers and peripherals, theft can be a big problem, but if you employ RFID asset management, you will know when an asset left the building.

In a similar manner, if you had a farm with grazing animals, you could affix an RFID asset management chip to each animal and know where it is at all times. This is fantastically helpful at round-up or if there has been a natural disaster like a flood or a blizzard.

On the personal level, RFID asset management techniques are being used by pet owners to identify their lost animals to the authorities that find them. The police and animal welfare groups routinely scan stray cats and dogs looking for an RFID tag under their fur.

Many people put RFID asset management tags into their cars to help the police find stolen vehicles and insurance companies may insist upon it one day.

There are hundreds of uses for an RFID tag in RFID asset management, but the problem before has been the cost of the tag, This is changing very quickly and passive RFID tags for use in RFID asset management should cost about five US cents each by the end of 2011.