Panel data provided by Madison's Canadian Lumber Reporter.

Preliminary Scans Indicated a Bright Future!

By 250 News

RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification, is a term used for a group of technologies that uses radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. There are several methods of identification, but the most common is to store a unique 96-bit serial number on a sand grain sized microchip that is attached to a copper coil antenna. The microchip/antennae combo is called a tag and is usually a couple square inches in size and smaller.

In many respects RFID tags are like barcodes. Barcodes were patented in 1952 but weren’t adopted seriously until 1984 when the world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, required their suppliers to use them. Wal-Mart is again speaking to its suppliers about the virtues of the RFID tag and is now requiring its top 100 suppliers use. Currently, the tags are still too pricey to replace the bar code. One day soon the cost will be down near 5 cents a tag and make it cost effective to replace the barcode.

Unlike barcodes, RFID tags can represent individual items not just a product in general. This means that individual objects can be tracked and traced. RFID tags can also be read from a distance; depending on the system anywhere from a few inches to 30 meters. The tags also don’t have to be “seen” by the reader and can transmit their serial number from within a cargo container or cardboard box. Another plus is that hundreds of tags can be read at once.

An RFID reader scans an area with radio waves. If an RFID tag is present it uses the energy of the scanning radio waves to “power up” and send its serial number to the reader. The reader then sends the serial number to a computer for processing. Some RFID tags are combined with sensors so that time, temperature, humidity, bio-hazard level, or just about anything else measurable can be sent to the reader as well.

RFID can be used for almost anything you can think of. The most common applications are payment systems, access control, and asset tracking. Companies are looking to use RFID to track goods within their supply chain, works in process and their employees. The aim is to reduce administrative error, labor costs, internal theft, errors in shipping goods and overall inventory control. Wal-Mart has introduced the Smart-Shelf. Through the use of RFID tags, the shelves know how much of a product is sitting on them. When the product level becomes low stockers are automatically alerted to replenish the shelf.

With the advent of conductive ink comes a new chipless RFID tag. No bigger than a period on this page, this technology will be used to secure documents such as paper money, drivers' licenses, passports, stock certificates, manuscripts, university diplomas, medical degrees, birth certificates, and any other sort of document you can think of where authenticity is important. In the future a photocopier or scanner won’t copy unless the document says it’s OK to do so.

As with any technology there is a dark side. Tags don’t care which readers are asking them for their serial number. Hackers could scan your wallet as you walk by allowing them to know how much cash and credit cards you are carrying. And your privacy? Imagine walking out of a store, every item in your cart scanned on your way out, your wallet is scanned and your visa or debit card automatically debited. Next time you go to the store your shirt or shoes may tell RFID readers what items you typically buy. Targeted ads will display on screens in the store as you walk buy them.

There are good and bad uses in any technology. RFID will ultimately prove to cut costs and errors in supply chain management and asset tracking, reduce or eliminate theft and will provide us with more convenience. In return we’ll have to give up just a little bit more of our privacy. 



Prince George based, GLC Controls Inc, have implemented RFID technology on a number of occasions in our region. Access control for the City of Ft. St. John as well as a vehicle identification application are a couple of recently developed projects.

The access control is a security application where employees have personal data on a card (similar to credit card) which they swipe against a reader for entry into authorized areas like the City water treatment plant and reservoirs. The reader then sends data to a PC where employee data is compared to city records for verification. Once verification is done the door or gate will open allowing access. This also allows for an audit trail or tracking of employee activity.

The Vehicle identification works similarly where a truck drives onto the scale and the vehicle information is automatically read at the scale computer. This eliminates much of the manual process of filling out forms. It also speeds up the process at the scale and reduces congestion. 

- By Michael Miller www.abacuswebware.com
- First published through the Innovate news letter. www.innovate.bc.ca

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