Opinion: Do Not Worry About RFID

b>By Gregory Confer

i>Director, Process Analysis and Improvement

ard Trucking

My job includes keeping an eye on new technologies that offer the promise of a more efficient operation and an improved bottom line. However, the task is made tougher by a leading tenet of our company’s technology vision statement: “Be leading edge without being bleeding edge.”

That means I have to look for proven emerging technologies that will provide a sound return on investment — without the luxury of research and development funding.

That search for proven technologies has led us to consider RFID. For the past year or so, I have read countless articles and attended numerous seminars and trade shows addressing this emerging trend.

Radio frequency identification, for those who could use a refresher course, is the generic name for a technology that uses radio waves for identification. In a common RFID arrangement, an ID number is stored on a microchip with an antenna — a combination known as a “tag.” The tag is tuned to receive electromagnetic waves emitted by a “reader” device, also with an antenna. When the tag’s microchip detects the reader’s electromagnetic field, it draws on it to power up its circuits and then sends its stored information back to the reader, which translates the data into digital form.

At this stage of development, RFID has more questions than answers — and it is nearly impossible to demonstrate a definitive return on investment for small- to mid-size less-than-truckload carriers such as ours.

What kind of tags will we be required to read? How many tag readers will we need at each location? How many reads will our customers require? The questions go on and on.

One observation of the RFID industry I can offer is that the technology is centered “inside the box.” Manufacturers of RFID devices are focusing their attention on providing economical tags and readers that address the needs of the shippers and consignee’s physical locations.

In other words, the systems are designed to work within the four walls of a specific location. I have yet to uncover an RFID-based solution for moving assets.

That being the case, how do our customers track items that have left the facility? Are we, as the moving link, expected to provide RFID updates from the trucks themselves? What are our customers’ expectations? How can we stay on the leading edge?

Installing and integrating RFID readers at our physical locations would be an expensive proposition, with the only perceived outcome that of providing more shipment-tracking data for our customers.

I think the answer lies in the technology itself.

As transportation providers, we must find a way to link our information to RFID systems at the beginning and end of a shipment life cycle.

And we can accomplish this without large investments by combining existing bar-code technology with the new RFID system.

A number of carriers already have incorporated bar coding into their existing systems. But if they have not, the costs are much lower than RFID and might provide a more cost-effective solution to the compliance dilemma.

Embedded “smart” tags are a possible answer. These tags are a combination of bar-code and RFID transponders. The tags can be scanned with visual reader systems and we can provide updates to those who need them — a “virtual” RFID scan that can provide shipment status and delivery confirmation.

In this way, we can use existing, well-established, proven technology to provide customers with the information they need, seamlessly. Using these combination tags would allow us to provide shipment data without the expense of an RFID infrastructure.

Although it provides a “leading edge” answer, this solution is not perfect. We have to contend with certain assumptions, such as dealing with RFID-tagged freight buried inside a palletized shipment. Do we assume the item is there if we are able to scan one of the other tagged items on the pallet? The same type of assumption remains a point of concern for RFID reading as well. Will we expose ourselves to more claims?

RFID technology is still in its infancy. As you can see, many questions — and answers — are yet to come. I think we, as the transportation providers in the supply chain, need to keep our eyes and ears open as RFID continues to develop and mature. We need to prepare ourselves for this new world of information transmission — but do it by taking full advantage of existing technology.

Ward Trucking, Altoona, Pa., is a family-owned and operated less-than-truckload carrier operating primarily in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

This opinion piece appeared in the Aug. 29 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.