RFID: From Pilots to Production

The first wave of Electronic Product Code (EPC) RFID adoption was largely driven by retail and government agency mandates. Early EPC technology was expensive and immature and lacked the performance required for many applications. In addition, the value chain of solution providers, software and process knowledge did not yet exist. Many companies applied the tags and installed the portals required to meet external mandates, but they didn’t incorporate
RFID into their business processes, choosing instead to wait for real-world RFID success stories with documented return-on-investment to show the way.

Less than ten years of rapid and enthusiastic evolution have led to a mature technology based on standards and supported by a deep selection of products and services. RFID’s unique capacity for truly automatic data capture reveals it to be not merely a replacement for barcodes, but a unique technology that delivers a clear and rapid return on investment. Performance gains in the most recent wave of Generation 2, or “Gen 2,” readers and tags have made EPC RFID preferred for many applications previously served by other technologies.