Why Is RFID Technology Better Than Barcodes?

Barcodes are a common feature of many retail as well as logistic items. However, the purpose that they serve is being fulfilled more efficiently by RFID technology. Read the article to understand why RFID is far better than barcodes.

Most of us are quite familiar with barcode labels printed on the back of various logistic and retail items. Usage of these vertical black bars have been quite popular for the last three decades. However, a recent and advanced technology known as radio frequency identification (RFID) is gradually diminishing the popularity of barcodes. There are a plethora of advantages that the latter has over the former, due to which more and more companies are beginning to utilise radio frequency identification technology for a variety of purposes.

Given below are some of the reasons why RFID technology is better than barcodes:

• In order to read a barcode, one needs to place a scanner in front of the label in a specific position so that both of them can function properly. On the other hand, RFID tags do not need to be in sight of a reader for successful establishment of communication. The tags use radio waves and can be read even from a specified distance as long as they remain within the read radius of the reader.
• The data of a barcode is only readable, because it cannot be changed after having been printed on a label. However, the data on RFID tags is updatable and can be modified as well as read whenever required.
• Since barcodes are generally printed on labels made out of paper or plastic, they can get tampered easily and become undetectable. But RFID tags are designed specifically to withstand harsh conditions such as moisture, heat, impacts, etc. Besides that, they can also be reused several times.
• Barcodes can be counterfeited very easily due to the data being readable at all times. But with RFID softwares, information can be secured via encryption and it is also every tough to duplicate tags recognised in a particular system.
• Standard barcodes can represent only a limited volume of information about an item and need to be scanned individually. But same is the not the case for RFID tags, because they can store data up to a limit of 8 kilobytes inside their non-volatile memory and can be scanned at the rate of even hundreds at any given moment. Thus, they provide an efficient storage along with increased read rate.

Overall, RFID technology is more efficient and advantageous than the simple and traditional barcodes. Not only can it help in implementing secured tracking, but also curb down the expenses of asset management.