Barcodes have played a crucial role in the retail sector for decades in terms of inventory management, orders, sales control, etc. Little by little, the sector has evolved, and so has the technology dedicated to stock control, with the arrival and rapid popularization of the RFID tags and systems, which in many cases, and thanks to its advantages over barcodes, are gradually gaining ground in various sectors, such as retail. Together with them, a series of systems, printers and readers have arrived in charge of their generation and reading, such as those offered by Logiscenter.
RFID technology is a system dedicated to the identification of all types of products, which carry RFID tags in which various data related to them are included. So far everything points to the fact that these labels are identical to barcodes. But this is not the case, since RFID tags include much more information, among other advantages. Bar codes use the image with it to identify the label on a product. And it does not always offer facilities for reading. Good because the reader cannot see them well or in full. Or because it is not possible to access the code with the scanner to identify the product they represent.
RFID tags not only offer a better and wider coverage area. Nor is it necessary for the device or system in charge of reading them to be placed in a specific position in front of them in order to access the information they hold. Instead, RFID tags use radio waves as a communication system, which communicate to a reader unit with a chip built into them. This chip, in addition to labels, can also be incorporated into other media, such as a card.
What does this radio frequency technology allow for the identification of the product it represents? To begin with, with a compatible system to be able to access the information that labels and cards contain even at a considerable distance, and without the need to place a reading unit near and right in front of them. In addition, the cards and labels that incorporate it may have more capacity to store data than what a barcode allows.
RFID technology systems, thanks to it, offer much more resistance to duplication, making them more secure. Obtaining duplicates of RFID cards or tags is practically impossible, which increases your security. And its reading can be achieved instantly.
By being able to include more information in them, this type of cards and labels offer more possibilities for retail, as well as for the distribution sector, closely related to the previous one. Thanks to RFID technology they can perform many more processes in a more agile way than with barcodes. They can also perform stock control and management tasks in real time, and improve their sales. And even better control the products they have in warehouses and stores. Bar codes, due to their limitations, can cause an article not to be properly registered in the system, or even lose it due to lack of data or a bad or partial reading of the code. This does not happen with RFID, which optimizes stock and sales control.
RFID even makes it possible to speed up certain tasks in the store. For example, this technology enables systems to be put into operation that automatically deactivate as soon as an item goes through the checkout, after reading and paying the price and identifying the item, the alarm that controls that the product does not leave the store without passing by the box. It is therefore not necessary neither to control it with a device external to the label nor to have to remove it from the product manually when paying. Thus, the boxes will eliminate elements of congestion and your passage through them will be more agile.
For all this, RFID technology is a important tool for the digital transformation of the retail sector, but due to its applications and the possibilities it offers in reducing times, it is also so in others such as logistics, freight and passenger transport, manufacturing and even health.
