RFID: Product traceability management

The Supply Chain requires optimal visibility and quick access to the history, information and composition of a product.RFID today appears as a technology that enables the automated and secure management of all types of flows, when currently the products, paths traveled and people concerned are multiplied and require real-time management.

Radio-identification or RFID uses markers (radio-tag or RFID tag and transponder, in English) to retrieve, memorize and update data remotely about products or physical flows. The label which contains all the information is equipped with a chip that allows it to be read by an RFID reader. This newly collected information is still in wave form and then transformed into data to be read by RFID software.

RFID meets everyone's needs and is becoming applicable and effective in multiple areas. According to the uses, a distinction is then made between passive RFID and active RFID. One is for large volumes that can be read at close range without hampering warehouse productivity, such as products that go through supermarket checkouts. The other has an on-board energy source for a signal emitted in complete autonomy and therefore meets the need for tracking products, vehicles or even people over long distances.

This technology is in the process of replacing bar codes for its speed of reading, reliability and other advantages. Abandoning optical reading (this was the case for barcodes), RFID tags can be read by radio frequency: there is therefore no need for visual reading, which allows the identification system to be discreet to reinforce the company security.

It is also possible to read several labels at the same time and to extract a larger stock of information from them, thus increasing the speed and efficiency of traceability, for example when it is necessary to check temperatures at regular intervals. to control compliance with the cold chain during the transport of goods.