The automatic information (AutoID) has gone through an enormous upturn during the last decade. AutoID in combination with the corresponding hardware helps to provide information about animals, persons and goods automatically. This way, AutoID matches the requirements for a faster and integrated data collection for administration, logistics and trade in the sense of a supply-chain-management for a reasonable price. The fields of application vary from data capturing via entry control to accounting systems.

Due to these diverse applications AutoID technologies are very established nowadays. Very important is the use of barcode systems: Especially in the retail trade the European Article Numbering (EAN) via barcode has been successful.
OCR-Readers: These readers can evaluate special and general codes with the help of the Optical Code Recognition Technology (OCR) and transfer them into a PC system properly.
Biometrical Systems: This technology is only used in correspondance with human beings. Specific and unique characteristiques such as finger prints, iris or facial features are captures electronically and are evaluated after an analysis has been made.

RFID means Radio Frequency IDentification. "Transponders", also called "tags" have an antenna and a for the function necessary IC. These tags can be read or written without contact and without own power supply (battery). It is a passive system. Objects having a transponder can therefore clearly be identified.

Radio Frequency IDentification Technology (RFID) can nowadays be found almost everywhere in our everyday life. No matter if it is about goods, entry passes, ticketing on ski passes, passport or at the marking of animals - the applications for RFID are enormous. Besides the trade, RFID also offers a possibility for automatic identification in the industrial automation. Through the global tracking and tracing with the help of RF labels, RFID plays a larger and larger role in the field of Intralogistics. The automotive industry also uses RFID since quite a long time. Potenital for optimisation can mainly be found at the minimization of reworking processes: shorter delivery cycles, avoidance of faked parts, etc. The aim of using RFID at manufacturing control is to realise fast changes within the production. If such a fast change occurs, the other partners involved should get the chance to react in a coordinate manner. In the pharmaceutical industry, RFID is often used to identify faked medicine. Efficient optimisation can be reached by stock minimization, shorter lengthes of a run, reduced shrinkage, cheaper stocktaking, reduction of overhead costs, etc.....

What is the benefit of RFID? Where should RFID bring benefit? Which product scope does exist? The RFID potential and therefore the Return on Investment (ROI) depends on the supply chain, which once again depends on the product scope.
Which tagging level is selected? The benefit depends on the transponders being placed on palettes, cardboard boxes or articles. There are different levels: Container level tagging, case level tagging, pallet level tagging and item level tagging.

RFID systems work with different frequencies. The frequencies differ in various technical features, such as write and reading distance, velocity of transmission and penetration. Seen from an official point of view, the frequencies LF (125 - 135 kHz) and HF (13,56 MHz) can be used worldwide unde same conditions. Other frequencies, such as UHF (865 - 960 MHz) are in the process of harmonisation or have other RF parameters (performance, frequency band, number of channels, etc..).

What does the abbreviation RFID mean?
It means Radio Frequency IDentification and describes a technique that can identify objects automatically by using electromagnetic waves (radio waves). Therefore, RFID belongs just as barcode reading systems to the automatic identification technologies that can identify objects faster and more reliable than done manually.

How does RFID work?
The principle of a passive RFID system is comparable to the one of a radio - there is a sender and a receiver. A write / reading device sends out electromagnetic waves and therefore produces an electromagnetic field (radio sender). If there is a tag (an object with a special label) inside an electromagnetic field, it behaves like a receiver. The transponder absorbs energy via an antenna coil (induction) and uses it in order to send the on a microchip saved data back to the write / reading device. It is important that the transponder does not have to have an own energy source and that it works as receiver and as sender. The from the write / reading device received data is then being transferred to further PC applications.

What is the advantage of RFID versus barcode?
The most important advantage is, that the label does not have to be aligned directly to the reading device, as e.g. known from check-outs at supermarkets. In addition to that, the tag (electronic transponder) can save much more information on much less space than a barcode label. RFID also allows that several objects are detected at the same time, if they are in the area of the reading device. This can not be done with a barcode. Neither dirt nor wetness have an impact on the readability of the transponder.

Though, the information of the transponder can be read by persons. Another disadvantage of RFID is, that the transponders are still quite expensive compared to barcode labels.