RFID Builds a Business in Many Ways
Last week, I wrote about the value of RFID technology, and the great improvement it represents over other automatic identification technologies. I mentioned that we are ready and able to offer you help with RFID, whether you are unfamiliar with the specifics, or have been using it for years.
After all, we have established relationships with the best providers of RFID nationwide. Our business expertise allows us to assess your needs and help you find the perfect supplier. But maybe you are new to RFID (radio-frequency identification) or are using it only in a limited way. So let’s see if we can spark your creativity by taking a look at how others are using RFID to build their businesses.
The Supply Chain, For Starters
Perhaps the most obvious place that RFID can make a big difference is in supply chain and inventory applications. The tight real-time monitoring provided by RFID can make just in time systems work just about perfectly. It essentially eliminates the need to maintain costly inventories. No need to tie up warehouse space when you always know, at a glance, the status of raw materials, work-in-progress and products ready for shipment.
The item-level tracking RFID offers is critical in many applications. Companies involved in agriculture and food production or manufacturing have the legal and ethical responsibility to be able to identify the source and status of every product at every stage in its production process. You might say that RFID helps protect your bottom along with your bottom line.
Indispensable in Some Industries
Many industries rely on RFID to keep work flowing in several ways. In construction, for example, RFID-based solutions help general and subcontractors keep track of expensive materials. That not only helps ensure that they don’t “disappear.” It also saves time in locating materials and efficiently getting them to where they need to be. If materials are the largest part of a project’s cost, time (and time wasted) are likely a close second.
In construction and many related industries, tools are another huge investment. RFID labels help assure that tools are borrowed and returned as scheduled and enable foremen or floor managers to locate them instantly at any given time.
The construction site is also one of many places where access control is essential for safety and theft prevention. RFID tags help control that access with great precision. Many other types of businesses monitor admission and access by employees and customers to protect personal information, intellectual property and financial and other records.
Badging with RFID provides control and permits only properly authorized individuals to enter or move freely. This added security works for everything from the highest-tech IT units to company parking lots.
Invaluable in Connecting With Customers
This is perhaps the most “creative” of areas in which RFID can help: marketing. And it presents a big opportunity to virtually every business. Interactive marketing campaigns have become an almost necessary “price of entry” to engage today’s more-distracted-than-ever consumer. RFID provides a unique and effective level of engagement your competitors may lack. Consider these unique examples:
- In Brazil, Budweiser developed a “Buddy Cup” with an RFID chip for drinking establishments. Once patrons scan a QR code, the simple clink of glasses with another person’s cup automatically makes them Facebook friends.
- At a clothing store in Singapore, each item has an RFID chip. When a customer enters a dressing room, it activates music chosen to match the style of the item. It also sends a text to the customer’s phone offering a free download of the chosen song.
- In London, Strongbow Gold Cider now has a “SmartCap” with an RFID chip inside. RFID readers scattered throughout the bar cause an “event” to happen when the cap is opened. The event can be as simple as an automatic “check-in” on social media to the activation of a nearby confetti cannon!
Got an Idea? Need One? We Can Help
Want to take full advantage of RFID technology in your business? We’ve been helping businesses work more efficiently for nearly 100 years. Customers appreciate it – they’ve chosen us for two consecutive Best of Print and Digital awards. And our ISO 9001: 2015 certification holds us to very stringent standards for meeting customer needs.
Contact Superior today. We’d love to help brainstorm creative ideas for using RFID in to boost your marketing or maximize your productivity. It could help you identify your products and your best opportunities.
