Barcode
Barcodes are now common sight on most consumer products and can be seen at every supermarket checkout. Although barcode technology may look initially daunting and sophisticated, the reality is far from the truth. Barcode technology is in fact relatively cheap and simple to apply to a wide variety of situations. Barcode technology excels where a large number of different items need to be identified and tracked, barcoding can also be a very useful cost and labour saving device.
What Are Barcodes?
Barcodes are the best known and most common type of automatic identification systems available today. Barcodes were first introduced in America in the 1960's and consist of parallel lines of varying thickness, which allow machines to identify products automatically.
Every barcode is unique and is often related to a products serial number or product code. Barcodes can be attached to almost anything, from the product itself, it's packaging on documents and labels. To operate a barcode system you will need a separate barcode for each product, scanners to read the barcodes and a computer to receive and act on the information.
Bar Coding Technology
Barcodes
There are numerous types of barcodes available, the EAN (European Article Number) barcode is used in over 50 countries including most of Europe. In the United States and Canada a different type of barcode is used, UPC codes and Code39 barcodes may require different or updated equipment and software.
Equipment
Barcodes can be read by numerous types of scanners which can be fixed or hand held. The type of scanner required will depend on the scanning demands, the working environment, and the scanning locations along with many other variable factors. In order to process the data collected the scanners need to communicate with a computer that has the appropriate software. Equipment may be needed to print the barcodes themselves, this often requires a special label printer as barcodes need to printed accurately and to a high standard often with speed being an important variable.
Evaluation
Installing a barcode system in your environment will inevitably have a profound effect on the operations of your business. It is therefore important to evaluate how barcoding shall benefit your company in relation to the cost. It is important for a company to plan in advance the changes to the operations of the company and the likely cost.
Barcode technology will dramatically change the workings of any company and it is therefore necessary to produce a detailed specification defining exactly what equipment and software shall be needed as well as detailing any changes required by the company and the effects of these changes. The specification should cover every possible issue and therefore should be produced by a professional consultant with experience in the barcode industry.
Advantages
Bar codes have benefits for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and the end user. Barcodes speed up data input saving both time and money. Barcodes also allow for a greater amount of data to be processed while dramatically reducing the scope for errors.
Individual items are easier to track and can reduce the need for stock holding again saving time and therefore money. Barcode systems also promote both better management control and increased information.
Barcoding is now used by a variety of companies from small enterprises to large multi-nationals. Large companies use barcodes to identify their products and track them throughout the company. Management can have quick access to a range of statistics and can monitor the progress of work in a large factory easier with an automated system. Barcoding also means a reduction in paperwork as all information is passed electronically from product to computer, this information can then be shared with other computers. The data can be collected more economically increasing the amount of management information available for analysis.
RFID Technology
RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is the Auto Identification technology by which one can identify objects and trace their information wirelessly using radio waves. In other words, an RFID system consists of a TAG (transponder) and a READER (interrogator). The technology of RFID deals with the remote collection of information stored on a tag using radio frequency communications. Information stored on the tag can range from just an identification number, to kilo-bytes of data written to and read from the tag, to dynamic information maintained on the tag. The information from the tag/reader combination is either presented to a human operator typically using a hand-held device or a host computer which automatically manages the information. RFID technology is used today in many applications, including security and access control, transportation and supply chain tracking. It is a technology that works well for collecting multiple pieces of data on items for tracking and counting purposes in a cooperative environment.
RFID Equipments
The main components involved in RFID are:
Transponders or Tags ( Electronic Transmitter/Receiver ) are of two types. Some have integrated batteries for powering the chip. These are called "Active Tags" while "Passive Tags" are powered by the Radio Frequency waves and do not require batteries. Tags are in different shapes and sizes. Tags can be attached to various objects. These objects can be products, cartons, pallets, parts, physical assets, cars, trucks, etc. Tags are in various types. They can be adhesive back labels, credit card shaped laminate, screw down plastic assemblies and a host of other types of tags. Four different kinds of tags, commonly in use and categorized by their radio frequency are as follows: Low frequency tags (between 125 KHz to 134 KHz), High frequency tags (13.56 MHz), UHF tags (868 MHz to 956MHz) and Microwave tags (2.45GHz).
The Antenna is a device that either reads data from tags or, in some cases, writes data to tags using radio Frequency waves. Antenna's come in all shapes and sizes depending on the environment or the required range. Antennas can be mounted on the floor, to sides of conveyors, on lift trucks, or on building structures.
The Controller (Interrogator) is the electronic device that receives the data from the antenna, or transmits data to the antenna, and usually communicates this data to a host computer. The controller manages the information between the RFID products and the Host system.
Advantages of RFID
RFID has many Advantages over other forms of optical readers such as those that are used in barcode systems. There is no need for physical contact between RFID Tag (label) and Reader/Writer and this does not require "line of sight" to operate. RFID reading can be done even when a variety of substances hinder or even prevent bar-code type readings from retrieving the data. RFID Tags can be hidden in some place or covered inside metal, plastic, paint, snow, ice, rain, and many more and still operate. As long as the "Radio Frequency" can penetrate the substance the Tag can be read.
Another advantage of RFID over Barcode is that Tags can be "Read From" or "Written To" at very high speeds, while barcode is "Read only" type label.
Although RFID Tags cost higher than barcode labels, the versatility and elimination of "line of sight" reading make them much proper, when it comes to product identification.
Evaluation
As the technology becomes standardized, RFID will be used more and more. The aim is to reduce administrative error, labor costs associated with scanning bar codes, internal theft, errors in shipping goods and overall inventory levels.
