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RFID innovations: A good time in RFID Land
May 29, 2008
It’s clearly a good time in RFID Land.
That was the takeaway from a conversation I had the other day with Michael Liard, research director for the RFID and contactless market for ABI Research. Liard had just forecast the RFID market growing at a compound annual growth rate of 15% over the next five years, reaching nearly $10 billion by 2013.
Liard says that growth is being driven by end users who are applying RFID technology to pain points and bottlenecks in their operations, and not just to cartons and pallets traveling through the supply chain.
Growth is also driving a new round of innovation in the industrial RFID market, or so it seems based on the conversations I’ve had with technology providers recently. Here are three examples:
UWB: I’ve written several blogs about ultra-wideband technology, or UWB, which can track the location of an asset to within a few inches of its actual location in real time. While the jury is out on who actually needs that level of precision and who can afford the technology, there is interest from manufacturers who want to automate processes like lining up a part for a drill press or a torque wrench.
RFID from outer space: No, we’re not talking about RFID-enabled aliens, or even Alien Technology. I recently spoke to a representative from Mojix, a company with roots in the space program that combines signal processing technology developed for deep space communications with RFID architecture. Rather than implement multiple readers at every dock door in a facility, Mojix installs transmitters on a plant or warehouse floor that energize tags; the information on the tag is then transmitted to one very powerful reader than can cover up to 250,000 square feet of space.
In theory, four readers could handle the reads for a 1,000,000 square foot distribution center. Mojix demonstrated its solution at RFID Journal Live last month in Las Vegas, where it won the first ever “Best In Show” award. The company says it has tested the concept with Kraft, Kimberly-Clark and P&G.
New readers for new applications: I recently spoke to Yael Maguire, chief technology officer and a co-founder of ThingMagic, a provider of RFID reader technology. ThingMagic was one of the early players in the retail supply chain market. Maguire says he still believes in the potential of the supply chain for RFID, but that the company is focusing a lot of its R&D efforts in other areas.
Think pick-up trucks. The company has recently teamed up with Ford and toolmaker DeWalt to create a solution that allows contractors to create an inventory of RFID-enabled hand and power tools needed for a particular job; read the tags on those tools when they’re loaded into the cab or bed of a pickup; and then alert the contractor if anything is missing before he drives away at the end of the day. “We’re a lot more excited about the opportunities for RFID than ever,” Maguire says. “But we’re touching the supply chain in a different route than we had originally planned.”
Will these new technologies change the RFID game? Who knows: We’ve all seen better technological mousetraps burst onto the stage only to flame out. But, it’s fascinating to watch.
Posted by Bob Trebilcock on May 29, 2008 | Comments (0)