Does That Mean That Privacy Activists Want Rfid Technology To Disappear Altogether; How Are Tag Costs Affecting The Way Many Companies In Supply Chains Are Implementing Rfid; What Will Need To Be Done To The Technical Infrastructure To Successfully Support Rfid - SATO CL408e Rfid Manual

Q: Does that mean that privacy activists want RFID technology to disappear
altogether?
The majority of privacy activists do not believe in abandoning RFID technology. These
activists hope for companies who implement this technology to at least adopt rules of
conduct. Activists suggest an absolute ban on hidden tags and covert readers, and that
any presence of RFID tags or readers should be visible or declared. Additionally, they
contend that technology should not be used to secretly unmask the identity of people who
choose to remain anonymous.
COSTS OF IMPLEMENTING RFID
RFID costs involve tags and tag readers that send or receive data, in addition to the
software infrastructure that manages such data. As with any type of investment,
Q: How are tag costs affecting the way many companies in supply chains are
implementing RFID?
At the time this paper was written, inlays cost as little as USD$0.30 or as much as
USD$50 depending on the type of tag and application. Due to the price of these tags, it will
not always be practical to apply RFID tags on an item-level basis (applying the RF tag to
each and every item). This is especially true for cheaper items such as candy bars, soft
drinks, and so forth. A common solution to minimising tag cost is to, instead, apply them
on a case-level basis in which an entire container of items is tagged with one RFID tag
containing information such as the sales order number, point of origin, manufacturing date,
item information, quantity of pieces within the batch, target destination, and so forth.
Q: What will need to be done to the technical infrastructure to successfully support
RFID?
To handle the RFID data, suppliers will likely need to upgrade their information technology
systems such as servers, storage, wireless infrastructure, and software. Once the RFID
tags are loaded with data, the reader infrastructure must be
managed. Then middleware must be configured to manage
filtering of data coming from the tags that are moving along
supply chain. The middleware layer must be aware that the
tag is an event when seen for the first time but recognised as
irrelevant data when repeatedly read. After the data has been
filtered through this layer, it must be sent to the appropriate
Version 0.8
establishing a more efficient infrastructure to increase profitability
comes with an initial cost. The reconfiguring of warehouses,
packaging, and even business processes may perhaps be
essential to maximise the return on the RFID investment.
There are three factors that determine the cost of RFID tags:
• Cost of chip
• Cost of inlay
• Cost of assembly
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