The Business Case for Active RFID
IDTechEx
October 2006
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With the ability to track, locate and sense, Active RFID is being rapidly adopted around the World, often creating new markets. Many adopters have reported a rapid return on investment (ROI) of 12 to 18 months which is leading to active RFID being a $6.78 billion market in 2016. Here Dan Lawrence summarizes the topic for the forthcoming IDTechEx Active RFID Summit event.
The use of Active RFID is growing rapidly, providing the ability to track, locate and sense. The subject includes real time locating systems (RTLS) to track assets and people in real time; near field communication (NFC) enabling mobile phones to act as both tags and readers enabling new consumer services and propositions such as faster payments; and low cost wireless sensor labels monitoring the condition of products as well as tracking and tracing them.
Users of conventional active RFID systems typically report a return on investment period of 12 to 18 months - despite the high tag cost - because since the tag is reused, often on high value assets, the cost per use can be very low. Active RFID has recently been moving to the forefront as open standards enable wide spread confidence to adopt the technology and as the technologies improve and reduce in cost.
IDTechEx research has determined that the sales of active systems including the tags will now grow very rapidly from $0.55 billion in 2006 to $6.78 billion 2016. Often this is done by replacing nothing - new markets are created.
In an analysis of 75 Active RFID case studies from 18 countries by IDTechEx, the largest number of projects was in logistics which had around twice the number of each of the nearest contenders - air industry, automotive/transportation and healthcare. In the case studies, the main items that were tagged were containers, followed by vehicles, conveyances and people, and this probably reflects the market as a whole. Car remote locking devices are products in their own right of course and do not tag anything. Tagging people is a significant and growing sector.
Building on the success of last year’s event, the 2nd annual Active RFID Summit in Atlanta on November 14th and 15th is bringing together both end users and technology providers to detail the progress of the technology in solving real world challenges.
For instance, delegates will be hearing from a joint project between industry heavyweights IBM and BP who have implemented a system to increase worker safety and plant efficiency. Because of the large area covered by a typical BP facility, and the fact that personnel are often surrounded by flammable, dangerous materials, an Active RFID system developed by IBM has been implemented. Among the many benefits of this system one of the most important is personal safety. During emergency or safety drill situations, active tags and readers provide much more timely awareness of evacuation progress and helps emergency personnel coordinate resources more effectively.
The use of Active RFID is growing rapidly, providing the ability to track, locate and sense. The subject includes real time locating systems (RTLS) to track assets and people in real time; near field communication (NFC) enabling mobile phones to act as both tags and readers enabling new consumer services and propositions such as faster payments; and low cost wireless sensor labels monitoring the condition of products as well as tracking and tracing them.
Users of conventional active RFID systems typically report a return on investment period of 12 to 18 months - despite the high tag cost - because since the tag is reused, often on high value assets, the cost per use can be very low. Active RFID has recently been moving to the forefront as open standards enable wide spread confidence to adopt the technology and as the technologies improve and reduce in cost.
IDTechEx research has determined that the sales of active systems including the tags will now grow very rapidly from $0.55 billion in 2006 to $6.78 billion 2016. Often this is done by replacing nothing - new markets are created.
In an analysis of 75 Active RFID case studies from 18 countries by IDTechEx, the largest number of projects was in logistics which had around twice the number of each of the nearest contenders - air industry, automotive/transportation and healthcare. In the case studies, the main items that were tagged were containers, followed by vehicles, conveyances and people, and this probably reflects the market as a whole. Car remote locking devices are products in their own right of course and do not tag anything. Tagging people is a significant and growing sector.
Building on the success of last year’s event, the 2nd annual Active RFID Summit in Atlanta on November 14th and 15th is bringing together both end users and technology providers to detail the progress of the technology in solving real world challenges.
For instance, delegates will be hearing from a joint project between industry heavyweights IBM and BP who have implemented a system to increase worker safety and plant efficiency. Because of the large area covered by a typical BP facility, and the fact that personnel are often surrounded by flammable, dangerous materials, an Active RFID system developed by IBM has been implemented. Among the many benefits of this system one of the most important is personal safety. During emergency or safety drill situations, active tags and readers provide much more timely awareness of evacuation progress and helps emergency personnel coordinate resources more effectively.
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