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it is well suited to the tracking of inventory
Due to its unique advantages, RFID technology already has wide applications. Since RFID lacks a line-of-sight requirement, it is well suited to the tracking of inventory. BMW Group South Africa uses RFID for this purpose. Long-range active RFID are employed, with readers placed in the warehouse. The readers regularly scan the room, comparing the results with the computer database. As trucks arrive or depart the warehouse, they are scanned to ensure that all parts have been loaded. Portable readers placed at other locations transmit data to the main warehouse database, thereby maintaining a running, up-to-date inventory (Langnau 43).

RFID is also currently used in theft prevention, since a small RFID tag attached to an item may be scanned, even when concealed in a coat or bag. Simple RFID devices that look like a small coil of wire are placed on certain items, such as compact discs, for this purpose.

Another example is the ?EZ pass? system used on some toll roads. The tag is placed in a car and the receiver is built above the designated toll lane. As the car passes beneath a receiver, the receiver scans the tag and automatically reduces the balance on the owner?s account (Bonsor).

RFID devices can also be used to sort items. Several airports, including the Denver International airport, use carts equipped with RFID tags to carry luggage through the airport terminals to the loading zone. Scanners are placed along the baggage route. As the scanners detect the carts, the system uses this information to track the luggage?s path and additionally control the conveyer belt intersections to ensure that the luggage ends up at the appropriate flight or baggage claim (Langnau 43).

The Italian postal service uses RFID in a similar manner. RFID tags are attached to each mail bag being sent out. The tags are read as the bags are loaded and unloaded from planes. The system also helps track the approximate amount of time between pickup and delivery to ensure customer satisfaction (Langnau 43).

Future Possibilities

As the production costs decrease, the use of RFID will continue to increase. According to the Auto-ID Center, up to 5,000,000,000 bar codes are scanned worldwide every day. Several companies, including Alien Technology Inc., are currently working on ways to manufacture tags that can be sold for five cents or less. At such a price, RFID can more viably compete with barcodes, and the industry will likely skyrocket (Higgins 73).

Several companies, including Motorola Inc., are interested in correlating RFID tags with internet links. Suppose that you are comparing products from two different companies, and would like more information on which to base your choice. You pull out your web enabled PDA or cell phone that features a built in RFID receiver and use this to scan the product. The tag on the product transmits a code to your cell phone, which in turn accesses the internet. The company?s webpage pops up and shows you the detailed product specifications (Allen 56).

In another scenario, imagine yourself in a grocery store of the future. You walk up to a cash register, and all your items are instantaneously scanned?in the midst of this process, the supermarket automatically updates its inventory, and the system orders more of the items needed. On the factory floor, this order is received and another RFID system locates the items needed; once they are gathered and shipped out, an RFID system tracks the progress to ensure delivery to your local grocery store.

When you return home, you place your items in your refrigerator which also has a reader. The reader scans the items and logs the time that each item is placed inside. If you just purchased a gallon of milk, your fridge will be able to retrieve information regarding when and where it was bottled, the quality of dairy products from that region, what the best-before date is, and what temperature it should be kept at.

These are just a few of the possible applications that RFID technology offers. In the near future, RFID tags will likely become as common as barcodes, and interminable Christmas shopping lines may become a thing of the past.