How to choose a RFID system:

1. Know what tag type you need
2. Know what operating frequency you need
3. Know what readers you need
4. Consider the assets you’re tracking
5. Factor in environmental conditions
6. Find out what kind of software to use
7. Select a reliable partner

RFID systems are very cost-effective tools, and offer several benefits for inventory and logistics. However, to receive all of these benefits, you must select the right RFID system — which means finding the right combination of tags and readers.

The tricky thing is that RFID tech is complex, and there are thousands of products and configurations to choose from. Finding the right one is no easy feat.

To help you out, we’ve put together a short guide on how to choose an RFID system. This should help you sort the sea of choices, and find the system to provide optimal performance for your business.

Know what tag type you need

RFID systems are made up of two things: tags, and readers. There are many different tags to choose from, which have different read range requirements, sensor requirements, cost, size, weight, and recommended applications.

They can be categorized into two main types:

1. Active Tags — Powered using an internal battery. This enables them to continuously transmit signals to an RFID reader, so they have longer read ranges. They are usually larger than passive tags, due to their enclosures and batteries. They are also more expensive than passive tags.
2. Passive Tags — Does not have any power source, and is instead powered by the RFID reader. As a result, they have shorter read ranges and are on the smaller side. They are also the economical choice for cheap, small, or mass-produced products.

Know what operating frequency you need

The tags you can choose for your RFID system will also have varying operating frequencies. Each kind falls under one of three bands on the electromagnetic spectrum:

1. Low Frequency (LF) — offers the lowest read range and data processing speed. However, it is a cost-effective choice for applications that have consistent physical placement of tags on items and can be read at close range. LF readers are also not that affected by environmental factors, such as water or metal.
2. High Frequency (HF) — Has higher read range, processing speed, and read accuracy than LF tags. Its read range allows for greater flexibility of tag and reader placement.
3. Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) — These tags can be scanned from up to 25 feet away, and readers can identify batches of these tags simultaneously. With UHF tags, you can scan truckloads of tagged assets at once. However, these tags are very sensitive to their environment. They can be impeded by reflection and dampening from their surroundings.

Know what readers you need

Location and use are two main factors in deciding what kind of RFID reader to use. Specifically, how large your location is, and how you want reading to go.

If your operational zone is on the larger end, then you need something with longer read ranges. Likewise, if you want your people to scan each item or cart individually, then handheld readers are a good option. Or, you could use a fixed reader if you want automatic scanning as assets pass through a specific point.

Consider these two factors, and figure out how you want to track asset movements within your facility. This is key to finding a type of reader and reader configuration that will be efficient at scanning your RFID tags.

Consider the assets you’re tracking

Likewise, don’t forget to keep the assets you intend to track in mind when going over possible RFID systems. This will influence what kind of RFID tag you can use. For example, if your asset’s surface is made from metal, then you’ll need to find a tag that can be glued or screwed on and is suitable for on-metal applications.

Likewise, consider the size and price of the asset. Some items are so small that you may be limited in terms of tag choice. And, it’s a good idea to try and match the price of the tag to the value of the asset. For example, tracking large and expensive enclosures means that using higher-cost active tags might be a good idea. On the other hand, if you’re tracking something cheap and mass-produced, like tote bags, for example, then using a lower-cost passive tag might be the better choice.

Factor in environmental conditions

Look at every place that your RFID tags and readers will pass their entire lifetime. You must factor in the usual temperature, humidity, chemical exposure, and other environmental conditions. This must be done not only in your facility but also in transportation, storage, etc.

Depending on how hectic your factory floor, trucks, stores, or storage is, you may need to use encapsulated tags and readers. Doing this will provide ample protection from friction, abrasion, heat, etc. of the environment.

For example, if your factories are often humid, then your assets might absorb moisture. An encapsulated tag reduces the risk of it becoming brittle or waterlogged. These are the kinds of measures to take to protect it from the environment.

Find out what kind of software to use

Next, figure out what your software needs are. Do you want your readers to work with your tablets or mobile phones? Do you want in-built Bluetooth reading? How do you want your RFID system to transmit data? What kind of functions do you want to have from the RFID software? Do you want your RFID tech to be integrated with an existing system?

These are just a few things to ask when looking at RFID software. Try to list out what functions you need from this system, and what functions would be nice to have. Also, list out what compatibility you want it to have with other devices or systems within your business.

Select a reliable partner

RFID technology and equipment are always changing at a rapid pace. As a result, it’s hard for regular businesses to keep up with the latest in RFID developments. This is where companies like ELID step in.

With us as your partner, we can save you a ton of time and potential headaches when implementing an RFID system into your business. As RFID specialists, we have the knowledge and experience needed to advise you on selecting the best RFID system for your purposes. And, we can help you test, fine-tune, and update this system as needed, so that it always delivers the results your business wants.

This is arguably one of the most important steps you can take when choosing the right RFID system for your operations.

Key Takeaway

RFID systems are an important tool for almost every business and offer unparalleled benefits for asset tracking. However, with the wide variety of RFID technology on the market, it’s important to know how to choose an RFID system. Use our guide, and message us today to help you find the best RFID solutions for your business!

What are the most common HR mistakes companies make?

1. Ineffective hiring practices
2. Using outdated employee handbooks
3. Failing to document performance issues
4. Sticking to paper-based processes
5. Incomplete employee files
6. Not managing attendance

It’s easy to not think too hard about how your HR department is doing — especially when things seem to be flowing smoothly. After all, every day is filled with far more pressing concerns, right?

But being proactive about identifying problems and improving your HR practices can help prevent countless headaches, and protect your business from costly legal problems.

So, here are six of the most common HR mistakes, and how to resolve them:

Ineffective hiring practices

Many mistakes can be made in the recruitment and hiring process. Without proper training and protocol, your people could make costly errors, such as not hiring quick enough, neglecting employment laws, not verifying documents, or having an interview process that is too long.

So, go over your hiring process again. Set top-notch and well-thought-out practices, and read up on employment laws. Doing so will help your business find the best candidates for each role who will remain loyal to your organization. And, it’ll help you avoid any legal problems!

Using outdated employee handbooks

Every business should have an updated employee handbook — no exceptions. If you don’t put your company rules in writing, then you’re at risk of people exploiting loopholes or creating problems for your company.

Even a few pages outlining acceptable and expected behavior will provide a framework for your people to follow. Your handbook should be updated regularly, and all employees should be given a copy to read and sign. This will ensure they abide by its policies.

Remember to include the following basics:

• Code of conduct
• Data privacy and communication policies
• Nondiscrimination policy
• Compensation and benefits schema
• Employment and termination guidelines

Failing to document performance issues

Your HR team should always document any performance issues that they come across. It’s crucial for evaluating which employees need corrective action, and which employees should be considered for termination.

Having these issues go undocumented makes this process difficult, as you have no frame of reference regarding their past performance. So, always remember to highlight any misdemeanor or significant problems during performance check-ins.

Sticking to paper-based processes

That said, HR documentation should never be done on paper. For many businesses who have relied on paper-based processes since the beginning, making the switch to digital may seem unnecessary. However, you’ll be saving your people a lot of time and grief if you empower them with the right software and tools.

By moving away from those outdated practices, keeping track of important documents, memos, and other information will be much easier. Your HR team doesn’t have to break their backs trying to manually process and file hundreds of applicants, performance reviews, and disciplinary actions on paper. And, the risk of human error, misplacement, and fraudulent documents is decreased. All in all, switching to digital processes is just more efficient.

Incomplete employee files

For compliance reasons, it’s important that your employee files are always complete. However, many HR departments struggle with this task, as there are many different forms — such as leave forms, employee identity, contracts, health and welfare benefits — to take care of.

For that reason, it’s best to turn to digital solutions. This ensures that all documents are filed in one place, and are easily accessible when the need arises. Using a digital system also helps make the process of adding or updating files much easier, as your people no longer need to scan, write, print, and reupload documents manually.

Not managing attendance

The process of tracking attendance has always been a complicated task for HR departments. Not only do they have to record the time-in and time-out, they also have to monitor if employees are actually present and productive during work hours. Furthermore, they also have to keep track of leave requests, scheduling, overtime, and more attendance issues.

This puts a lot of strain on HR departments, especially when there are hundreds of employees to keep track of. However, there’s a simple solution: time tracking software. This tool enables your HR to get rid of traditional manual attendance tracking systems. Instead, they rely on automated time recording functions.

With this solution, you could help your HR team improve their productivity and efficiency — since many of the tasks involved with attendance become automated. And, since data is sent and checked electronically by the system, there is reduced risk of human error. Lastly, these systems prevent time stealing, which result in accurate payroll calculations. With these systems, less time is spent on attendance issues.

Key Takeaway

There are many common HR mistakes that your people can make. Luckily, most of these problems can be easily avoided by relying on a powerful HR tool like ELID’s CheK HRMS!

This HR solution packages modules for time management, human resource, and payroll in one easy-to-use software. Message us today to learn more about how this product can help your business manage HR processes and data!

What is RFID used to track in hospitals?

1. Medicine and pharmaceutical
2. Patient and history records
3. Surgical tools
4. Equipment
5. Single-use items
6. Laundry
7. Access control

The healthcare industry as a whole is becoming more and more invested in RFID systems. The main reason behind this increasing adoption is the sheer number of uses of RFID in hospitals. From tracking surgical tools to patients and their records, their applications are far and wide in this industry.

Read on to learn more about how RFID is present in many forms within the healthcare industry — and how it’s deployed in hospitals all over the world:

Medicine and pharmaceuticals

One of the biggest uses of RFID in hospitals is in tracking medicines and pharmaceuticals. These assets are perhaps the most consumed and most critical items that a hospital can have. They are expensive and controlled commodities. Because of that, these items are at risk of being stolen or misused.

This could spell disaster if an important medicine is missing from inventory when a patient needs it most. Or, it could result in additional expenses, as the hospital has to replenish the missing stock

So, hospitals must keep a consistent count of these essential assets. RFID technology helps keep stock of each drug the hospital has. It can also keep up-to-date information on their expiry dates, and other relevant information. Overall, the RFID technology makes managing medicine and pharmaceutical inventory much easier.

Patient and history records

RFID can also be embedded in patient wristbands. This allows the hospital to keep track of the patient. The RFID tag can also be programmed to hold all relevant data on the patient, including their name, medical record, and such.

RFID tags can also be used to schedule treatments or surgeries for the patient. It is also often used to inform hospital staff of their conditions, schedules, and health restrictions. It essentially acts as the patient’s ID card during their hospital stay.

Hospitals use RFID in this way for three reasons: to verify patient information, to reduce treatment times and bottlenecks, and to keep track of patient location and movement.

Surgical tools

Hospitals use countless surgical tools — such as scalpels, scissors, clamps, and more — each day. These tools always need to be on hand, cleaned and disinfected, and 100% ready for use for each medical treatment.

However, keeping track of all these tools and their readiness is a tall task, when you account for the thousands of tools that are used and needed each day. If done wrong, then this could result in a medical mishap.

Luckily, small RFID tags are available to be attached to even the smallest surgical tools. This allows them to be tracked by the system for inventory purposes. And, they can be used to keep track of whether or not they went through the disinfection process. This makes locating, preparing, and supplying such important tools much more efficient — ensuring that doctors and nurses can do their jobs safely.

Equipment

Machines, equipment, and vehicles are also important for hospitals. Tracking them is necessary for asset maintenance. It’s especially important for high-value items that occasionally go missing or get misplaced, such as portable testing machines or hospital beds.

If hospitals fail to keep track of these items, then they’d have to spend valuable time locating or replacing them. The replacement cost of these things is very high, as they are specialized machines for medical use.

RFID is useful in this case as it displays the real-time location of equipment. It can even be used to track equipment as they move outside of the hospital premises. As such, RFID is the ideal solution for equipment management.

Single-use items

Small, single-use supplies, such as gauze, disposable gloves, syringes, boxes of depressors, and the like are all important for hospital operations.

But, because they are single-use and relatively cheap compared to other hospital items, using manual systems to keep track of them isn’t feasible. Certain RFID tags provide a cost-effective solution for keeping track of these single-use items.

And, much like systems for medicine and pharmaceuticals, RFID can be used to ensure that the inventory is accounted for and always has enough for the needs of the hospital. This technology, when used properly, can reduce the risk of unnecessary waste or theft.

Laundry

Hospitals use tons of towels, patient gowns, PPEs, sheets, and other laundry items every day. These are needed in almost every hospital room to provide safe, sterile, and comfortable conditions for patients and hospital workers alike.

However, each piece of linen and textile must be washed and disinfected for use before being given to new patients. So, hospitals use RFID to efficiently track the number of laundry items that are currently in use, and which ones need to be changed and cleaned. This helps hospital workers efficiently gather, sterilize, and distribute these items as needed.

Access control

RFID isn’t just used to keep track of people or items — it can also be integrated into a wider security system. Hospitals use this technology to limit access to certain wards, rooms, or areas within their facility. This prevents unauthorized persons from wandering around or accessing rooms they aren’t supposed to.

With this system, staff must use their RFID-enabled ID badge in front of a reader if they want to gain entry to a protected room. This provides another layer of security to valuable items within the facility, such as medicine, medical equipment, and the like.

Key Takeaway

There are many uses of RFID in hospitals, as this innovative technology possesses plenty of potential for improving the medical services of hospitals. It opens doors for enhanced operational effectiveness, cost savings, and quality patient care.

To learn more about RFID systems, and how they can benefit your business, message ELID. Our team will be happy to discuss the applications and benefits of our RFID systems within your industry.

What are the benefits of a visitor management system for colleges?

1. Reduces security threats
2. Keep track of students and staff
3. Records all visitor’s information
4. Provides real-time access to visitor activity
5. Stops unwanted guests
6. Makes reporting easy

School safety is at the forefront of every parent and teacher’s mind. It’s one of the most important goals of any school to create an effective, fool-proof security system to achieve that within their grounds.

And, anyone who’s been on a college campus can agree that the weakest part of this system is the number of visitors that come in and out of campus at all hours. For this reason, visitor management reasons are quickly becoming adopted by colleges everywhere.

But what are the benefits of a visitor management system for colleges, exactly? Here’s how this system helps reduce the number of safety concerns on campus:

Reduces security threats

Colleges need to make every effort to protect the privacy and security of their students. It’s important that everyone feels safe on campus.

Without a visitor management system, then you can’t control who comes in and out. Unwanted guests may just stroll onto campus with bad intentions and pose a potential threat to students and staff. Things like theft, harassment, assault, and other crimes can easily take place if you don’t take steps to control who enters campus.

If any incidents happen, then many people may no longer feel secure enough to continue going to your school. Parents may even withdraw their children from your institution. This can spell disaster for your college’s reputation and credibility.

Luckily, a visitor management system is a powerful, effective way to address the holes in your security system. It monitors every aspect of visitor activity— and deters would-be criminals from even stepping foot inside the campus.

Keep track of students and staff

A school needs to keep track of all of its students and staff to ensure their safety. A visitor management system issues badges, which allow people to access campus. And, each time they use their badge, this interaction is recorded within the system.

Each badge is also given a unique identification number, which helps the system keep track of each registered student and staff member. As a result, this system is more efficient at IDing students and staff when they step in and out of campus. You can track their time-in, which buildings they went to, and what time they went home — all this data is logged automatically with each swipe of a card.

Records all visitor’s information

The same information tracking can be applied to any visitor that comes onto the premises. This is because the visitor management system will require visitors to present their ID or some other document to authenticate their identity. Not only does this discourage people with bad intentions from attempting to enter the college, but it will also provide a full record of who visited the college in case any incident happens.

Each time a visitor is logged onto the system, their name, phone number, and any other details you want to ask from them can be added to your database. This can be easily accessed or collected if needed.

Provides real-time access to visitor activity

Likewise, the visitor management system will keep track of each visitor’s movements once they’re inside the campus. This gives you real-time data and analytics about who is entering and leaving which building. This information, in turn, provides metrics such as how long the visitors stayed within a certain area, which departments they visited, and so on.

This information can be used to retrace a visitor’s steps and paint a better picture as to what they were doing, or what was happening at school on any given day.

This system, through its tracking capabilities, offers many features that reveal visit patterns and trends. This is not only useful for security purposes — but it also helps your college be better prepared to accommodate future visits.

Stops unwanted guests

A visitor management system isn’t just a record-keeper — it also serves as a gatekeeper for your campus. If a person manages to sneak past the front gates or is not logged onto the visitor management system, then they cannot enter any building within your premises.

If they try to, then they are either physically prevented from doing so (through locked doors), or an alarm is raised — which alerts your security. Either way, this prevents unwanted guests from accessing your campus.

Makes reporting easy

Traditionally, visitor logs for colleges were often handwritten onto a designated book. However, this process is inefficient and insecure. Not only can these logs be unreadable, but they can also be easily tampered with or lost.

With a visitor management system, you gain a visitor record that is much more secure and convenient for everyone to use. The information is easily readable, can’t be altered, and will never be lost. And, this information is arranged according to the person’s name, time, date, etc.

So, when you need to find the number of parents who showed up for a parent-teacher conference day, or need a record of all the students who were on campus this week, you won’t have any trouble. Your visitor management system can provide you with all of that data. Better yet, it can generate a report in just a matter of minutes.

Key Takeaway

The benefits of a visitor management system for colleges show that it is the most powerful and efficient solution for any campus’ security.

Implementing ELID’s high-quality visitor management system provides all these benefits — and more! Message us today, and we can help you take full control of the safety and security of your school.