RFID goes mobile

-- Modern Materials Handling, 1/11/2007

RFID is going mobile. That is one of the most important trends illustrated by the solutions on display at ProMat this past week.

The reason is simple: Outfitting hundreds of dock doors in a factory or distribution center with stationary readers is expensive and inflexible.

Outfit a conveyor, a lift truck or a mobile worker with an RFID, and you can take the solution to the point at which the work gets done.

That marks an important shift from the solutions on display two years ago, when RFID was the talk of ProMat 2005. Then, enthusiasm was sparked by looming mandates for compliance from Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense.

Since then, there is no question but that some of that energy has dissipated as end users other than Wal-Mart have been slower to embrace RFID technology than anticipated.

"Software and equipment vendors and Wal-Mart suppliers were very enthusiastic about the technology two years ago," says Steve Simmerman, vice president of marketing and business development for Swisslog (Booth 3444). "But many of those have backed off while they wait for broader adoption of RFID technology in the supply chain."

Still important strides have been made over the last two years.

Take Accu-Sort (Booth 1031), for instance, which demonstrated a low-cost and reliable RFID reader that can be installed in a roller slot in a conveyor. That allows a distributor or manufacturer to capture data as a product, carton, tote or pallet equipped with an RFID tag rolls over multiple points on a conveyor.

LXE (Booth 3946) unveiled a new mobile computing platform that combines multiple data capture technologies, including voice recognition, bar code scanning and RFID into a solution that could be worn by a mobile worker. LXE also demonstrated the prototype of a new RFID reader designed to be installed overhead of a lift truck for case picking applications.

Meanwhile Symbol, now part of Motorola (Booth 4255), and Raymond (Booth 3219) demonstrated a mobile computer and RFID reader for lift trucks that can communicate wirelessly with a display in the cab or a warehouse management system.