What can RFID do that Bar Codes Cannot?

Filed in archive RFID Basics on July 13, 2004

From the "Comments" section:

Photoncourier asks a great question:

"Anita, here's an elementary question that I don't think I've ever seen answered crisply. What can one do with RFID that he can't do equally well (or almost equally well) with bar coding. If I'm Wal-Mart and I need to move a pallet of whatever from one location to the other, it seems like a trivial effort for the forklift operator to scan it. What am I missing here?"

Well, Photoncourier, I'm not sure how crisply I will answer the question, but let me take a shot.

• In the supply chain, RFID can track things faster and better than bar codes. That means more throughput in the supply chain. With bar codes you have to bring the items within sight of the scanner. With RFID you only have to bring items within the required range of the reader. That range can be several feet away. And with RFID the signal is read instantaneously, so more tagged items can pass by the reader quickly, without having to stop and position each bar code -- even momentarily -- in front of a scanner. Now, these differences may not sound like much when you think about one pallet, but they can make a huge difference in speed when implemented on a large scale over hundreds of thousands of pallets.


• There are many other uses for RFID besides bar code replacements. For instance, I live in an agricultural state of the U.S. (Ohio) and livestock tagging using RFID has been implemented and is getting increasing interest, especially with the discovery of mad cow disease within the U.S. borders. You can see the advantage when thinking about a cow, sheep or any other livestock. It is awfully hard to get a cow to move "just so" in front of a bar code scanner! And there are other uses for RFID where bar codes just wouldn't cut it (garage door openers, entry systems, toll payment systems, etc.).


• RFID technology is harder to counterfeit than bar codes, so it is more secure. Over time, bad actors will figure out how to counterfeit RFID tags, I suspect, but for now this is an advantage.

There are a number of free white papers out there that can explain this better than I have, most likely. For instance, try this white paper by Intermec.

Or perhaps some of our readers can join in and have a go at describing the advantages of RFID in plain language.