
Running a business can be difficult, no matter the industry. Without the right information you can be running blind, so to speak, when it comes to streamlining your operation and making sure you have all that you need. Gathering and organizing the correct information can make a huge difference in the overall success of your business, and an RFID tag is a great place to achieve this.
Many businesses focus on producing accurate data for their sales projections and finances. However, many companies provide less than reliable, if any, data when it comes to their operations. The truth is, accurate data for inventory can translate to business intelligence. When it comes to running a business, it is crucial that you take the time to understand what elements you are working with and what information you can use from these elements to help you measure success. RFID, or radio frequency identification, is a technology that can help you gather more data to help with this.
So What Is Rfid and How Does It Help Your Business?
RFID data is data that is collected through scanning tags attached to a certain item. Scanning these tags can tell you what items are being used, how often they are being used, where inventory is and so much more. This data can be collected multiple times and can be set to a schedule, can be amassed quickly, and helps to create a more precise and more concise picture of what is going on and how your business is doing. These tags are small, efficient, and can give you immense amounts of data about your business quickly and simply.
How Does RFID Affect Your Business
It’s a known fact that every day can be unpredictable when you’re running a business — your operations can take turns that you do not expect in the blink of an eye. Unless your team is regularly reporting to your department, there is no way to determine what is happening with your business from moment to moment without the help of technology. This makes it difficult to maintain true inventory accuracy without some other form of data analysis. RFID data helps to promote efficiency and helps your business to collect more data and improve overall accuracy in inventory.
Another benefit is that it helps you to keep track of your components usage. It is important to note that you may have a basic idea of what components are being used, but without knowing accurately what is being used — how often a part or piece of equipment is leaving its designated parking spot — and having the data to back it up, it can be challenging to get an accurate picture and what you may need more or less of each month for efficiency’s sake.
Still, another benefit is that this type of tag goes offer you high amounts of data remotely. This means that you can collect data on your daily operations without having to depend on your employees to provide you information or without having to obtain and maintain the data on your own. This means you can get a very accurate picture without having to put forth much extra effort.
The ability to scan items remotely is a huge advantage of RFID. Your team does not have to dig through boxes to manually scan barcodes, they do not have to even visually see the item to scan it. To scan a RFID chip, one only has to be within the scanning range. This cuts down on time spent doing inventory and tracking items by a huge amount, and significantly reduces the probability of human error.
Delta Airlines is a prime example of how RFID has made a positive impact in the airline industry and how the data has been converted into business intelligence for their company. Delta had installed approximately 320,000 tags on emergency equipment, such as life vests and oxygen generators. For their staff to manually check for expiration dates on their oxygen generators, it would take eight human hours for a single plane. Delta’s shift to these of RFID had dramatically, and more accurately, eliminated that time to just a few minutes. This not only cuts down human resource cost for Delta but also increases the flexibility of use for their planes by lowering time constraints and increasing accuracy. This is a prime example of a companies use of business intelligence.
Getting Your RFID Set Up Started
The first thing you will need when switching to RFID is the tags themselves. With the help of an RFID-savvy label or packaging provider like Jet Label, you will get your tags fitted to the label or product they are going to be applied to. Using software provided by a business like Jet Marking Systems, the RFID tags are activated. Then, you will be able to outfit your facility with the right RFID reader antenna to scan the tags as they move through the day.
Adding up all the benefits of RFID and RFID tags, it’s easy to see the how businesses across Canada can enhance their supply chain process, and in turn their bottom line, using radio frequency identification. All across different industries, RFID tags and readers have been used as a cost-effective and time-saving solution, and new innovative ways to use these tags are being thought up every day.
If you’re looking to incorporate the use of RFID into your day-to-day, click here to contact our team and we will help set you up with the best solution for your business.