The use of RFID has massively increased especially in supply chains due to a growing demand for automation and higher cost efficiency. But how has the utilization of the technology changed in recent years? Here’s a brief look at wishes and ways to meet them.

Along with a growing awareness of the potential uses of RFID technology, the demands it’s expected to meet have fundamentally changed over the past decade. Implementing customer wishes and finding suitable materials and solutions is a special forte of Schreiner Group: RFID experts at the in-house Schreiner LogiData competence center continuously work on the further development of RFID solutions, customized antenna designs, encryption technologies, and many other aspects of the technology.

Staying up to speed with this continually evolving technology is imperative. In addition to classic applications such as container management, customization has become a clear priority for customers. Lock-and-key applications, so-called item match control solutions, are a case in point. They involve the interaction between a machine and consumables with customized product protection provided by encrypted RFID labels. For instance, that not only enables automated ordering of consumables but also translates into a clear plus in transparency for the user.

There’s another aspect that has increasingly emerged in recent years: The technology is too often used only selectively. For instance, solely for documenting an installation instead of including identification purposes in upstream and downstream process steps. That results in additional requirements for separate labels and the corresponding scanning processes unless all the parties involved use the same technology. However, the full potential of RFID can only be tapped by consistently using it across all process steps. A partner with requisite subject-matter knowledge is of major help in that respect. Schreiner Group has many years of expertise in the field of RFID. The family-owned business, for instance, was the first company in Germany to have launched RFID onMetal solutions on the market and owns several patents for them.

RFID is still a growth technology. For the experts from Schreiner ProTech and the Schreiner LogiData competence center, the coming years will continue to be dominated by fully exploiting the technology’s potential and realizing innovative applications that cannot be served by off-the-shelf products.