Examining RFID Usage in Warehouses

In a warehouse environment, an RFID tracking system is an invaluable tool. Typically, RFID tracking works through several stages. At each step, inventory comes under greater control in an efficient manner:

• A shipment arrives at the warehouse receiving dock and is unloaded from the truck.
• An RFID tag is attached to the items (or entire pallet) in that shipment.
• Each tag has internal memory on which an item’s information is stored and modified as it moves through different processes in the warehouse.
• The RFID tag transmits the shipment or item’s information to a central database via an electromagnetic signal.
• The warehouse management system analyzes and updates the data as the item progresses through the warehouse system.

Unlike the old barcode system that used to be standard in the warehousing industry, RFID tags don’t require line-of-sight scanners and reading equipment. Workers no longer need to be within inches of a box to scan it manually.

With an RFID warehouse tracking system, items can be scanned and catalogued from anywhere, even when they’re hidden behind boxes or pallets.

RFID tags can also be detected and read remotely and simultaneously. With this kind of functionality, multiple tags can be read at once.

By comparison, barcodes need to be scanned one at a time.