Chapter 1. A Better Way of Doing Things

Security and Authentication 7

Electronic Article Surveillance 7

Document Authentication 8

Access Control 8

Electronic Drug Pedigree 9

Safety 9

People Monitoring 10

Patient Care 11

Environmental Sensing and Monitoring 12

Convenience 14

Payment and Loyalty 14

Crowd Control 14

Sports Timing 15

Golf Ball Tracking 15

Process Efficiency 16

Track and Trace 16

Industrial Automation 19

Supply Chain Integration 20

Summary 22

Five Questions This Chapter Will Answer

• How is RFID used in my industry/business?

• What makes RFID so "hot" in the supply chain industry?

• Can people really put RFID tags under their skin?

• Isn't RFID technology just a more sophisticated form of barcode technology?

• When will RFID be widely deployed?

The invention of the wheel is considered one of the most significant discoveries of all timenot because of what the wheel can do in isolation, but because of the many ways it can be harnessed to reduce friction between objects and surfaces. Wheelbarrows, wagons, bicycles, cars, and airplanes outline a progression of contemporary uses, 8,500 years after early potter's grokked the "cool factor." These well-known applications for the wheel make life better and easier for all of us but they scratch the surface in describing the myriad of ways in which the wheel is now employed. In much the same way, but in a significantly more accelerated fashion, the invention of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is following a parallel path in becoming a ubiquitous enabler for doing things better than we used to.

In a typical RFID system, described in detail in Chapter 3, "Components of RFID Systems," objects are tagged with tiny radio transponders that carry certain data about the objects. The transponders (tags) transmit this data, through radio waves, to nearby readers, which collect and process the data accordingly. These transactions between RFID tags and readers enable a multitude of applications that require efficient detection, identification, and tracking of objects. Although many RFID-enabled applications already exist today, it is expected that RFID will be used in a dramatically growing number of applications over the next five years. According to Venture Development Corporation, a technology market research firm, global shipments of RFID systems are expected to grow at a 45.6% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR), from $1.5 billion in 2004 to $4.7 billion in 2007^[1]. Separately, ABI Research reports that an expected 12.3 billion RFID tags will be shipped in 2008, up from an estimated 365 million in 2003^[2].

^[1] Source: Venture Development Corporation. Used by permission.

^[2] Source: ABI Research. Used by permission.

In this chapter, we offer a snapshot of the various ways that RFID applications help us do things in a better way. These applications are categorized and described in terms of the major benefits they provide, which include the following:

• Security and authentication

• Safety

• Convenience

• Process efficiency

This approach will benefit you in the following ways:

• Enable you to get a deeper appreciation of RFID's capabilities

• Help you visualize the benefits of RFID in a vast array of businesses

We have drawn our examples from real-life applications that either have been deployed or are currently in development. There are cases, as summarized in Table 1.1, in which an RFID application provides more than one of these benefits. For example, the electronic drug pedigree application has a primary benefit of verifying and validating a medicine's origin (authentication), but it also has the added benefit of protecting the consumer (safety). However, in the sections that follow, we will only provide the description of each application in relation to its primary benefit.

Table 1.1. Typical RFID Applications and Their Benefits

Application	Benefits
EAS	Security and Authentication, Convenience
Document Authentication	Security and Authentication
Access Control	Security and Authentication, Safety
Electronic Drug Pedigree	Security and Authentication, Safety
People Monitoring	Safety, Process Efficiency
Patient Monitoring	Safety, Process Efficiency
Environment Sensing and Monitoring	Safety
Payment and Loyalty	Convenience, Process Efficiency
Crowd Control	Convenience, Process Efficiency, Security
Sports Timing	Convenience, Process Efficiency
Golf	Convenience, Process Efficiency
Track and Trace	Process Efficiency, Security and Authentication
Industrial Automation	Process Efficiency
Supply Chain Integration	Process Efficiency