The company Kovio, Inc. has recently announced a breakthrough in RFID technology. Their process uses ink-jet technology with silicon ink to "print" integrated circuits. They claim that their process can create RFIDs at a cost per item between $0.05 and $0.10. This price range is about $0.15 cheaper than the cheapest alternative.
Source: www.EETimes.com
RFIDs are used extensively in Inventory Management. The small circuits emit a specific frequency in the presence of an EM field. This frequency is then tied to an SKU number in a database for identification. Inventory tracking errors are almost completely eliminated with this system. RFIDs are usually only used in large quantities of items or on items with a large per unit price. If the price of RFIDs becomes low enough to tag every unit, then the reduction in tracking errors that have been seen in warehouses can be applied at an even more granular level and improve the tracking efficiencies of retail stores.
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3 comments:
This is interesting. Has anyone read any literature about what the cost of individual RFID chips would have to decrease to in order for them to be a viable option for retail stores? We've all heard that eventually retail stores will no longer need cash registers because an RFID receiver will instantly know what is in the person's cart. But, how cheap would these chips have to be in order for this to be a profitable move?
That's really interesting!
I heard that we will have smart refrigerators. We will input the inventory policy for every item (milk, eggs, vegetables, etc. ) on the fridge, and the fridge will take care of order handling for you. No need to go to the grocery stores. Then, RFID chip carts will be useless :)
Humm, that sounds nice and smart. But will smart refrigerator have its broad application? I doubt it. As the savings on purchasing cost and inventroy holding cost maybe relatively so small compared to such a smart refrigerator. Maybe this will continue to be just a breakthrough for scientists and research but will have limited usage in civilians' daily life.
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