This article looks at what item level tagging is, how it has progressed to date, what needs are driving its growth, what impediments are in the way and what growth can be forecast.




What is item level RFID?

Item level RFID is when an RFID tag is used to identify a specific item rather than a multipack or freight container which may contain many taggable items. The tagged item may be an individual product or a container of things that is unlikely to be tagged themselves such as drugs, seeds, paint or beverages. Some would include airline baggage in that definition but no one would include a tagged human, animal or vehicle.

The term item level is usually applied to large numbers of relatively small items - indeed that is the reason for having such a term in the first place. Such items have common requirements and they are very difficult to meet. For example the tags almost always have to be in the form of smart labels and laminar inserts but they need to be disposable ie extremely low in cost, tolerant of materials nearby that absorb or reflect radio waves, rugged and thin. (* See next page for examples.)

abc

abc
abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc
abc
abcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabcabc