What industries need RFID technology for asset management
- Healthcare
- Manufacturing
- Hospitality
- Logistics and transportation
- Clothing and fashion
- Security
Asset management is a tricky task — you have to keep track of a lot of moving parts to ensure that each part of your business gets what they need when they need it. Without asset management, you stand the risk of losing business and profit.
That’s why many industries have decided to take on RFID — one of the most successful evolved tracking technologies — to assist them in their asset management tasks. Wondering which industries these are and if you’re part of the list of industries that need RFID technology? Then read on.
Healthcare
Hospitals, clinics, labs, and the like all have countless surgical tools and equipment that they need to keep track of. This is to ensure that each item is thoroughly cleaned and prepped for use, and is in proper working condition. These qualities are imperative to protecting the patients’ health and wellbeing.
The thing is, these tools come in all sorts of sizes — and the smallest ones can easily “slip through the cracks,” so to speak. Likewise, the equipment can easily become damaged or misplaced. So, many healthcare institutions use RFID tags to keep track of the location, condition, and use of each of their tools and equipment.
They do the same with the medications — each one needs to be properly stored and distributed to the right patient, which RFID tags assist with. RFID tech also helps them keep track of how much medicine is left in stock, and which ones are expiring soon so that they order prompt replacements.
RFID technology can even be used to help them manage patients! Some facilities use RFID tags on patient bands. These not only help them keep track of their movement and doctor’s appointments but can also be used to maintain the record of the patient during their stay.
Manufacturing
Like the healthcare industry, manufacturing has many tools and equipment that they need to keep track of. Each piece of equipment comes with a lot of tracking and maintenance tasks to ensure that they are fit for use and won’t result in manufacturing errors — or worse, accidents.
Doing this manually can take hours and hours of your time, which is why this industry has started adopting an RFID asset tracking system. Rather than doing the tracking and maintenance tasks manually, RFID allows manufacturers to do these tasks automatically and remotely.
Each time a piece of equipment is used, it’s logged by the RFID system. Relevant information, such as duration of use, condition of the equipment, and any notable problems with its use is also logged by the user. This ensures that maintenance is done promptly, and the equipment is cleared for use before the next worker needs it.
Hospitality
The hospitality industry, which includes hotels, inns, and the like, has tons of inventory. Just linen management alone has to account for thousands of bed sheets, towels, comforters, bathrobes, staff uniforms, and other laundry items.
Keeping track of linens manually can be a very daunting and time-consuming task. So, RFID systems can be used to electronically track the use and the condition of each one. It’ll show you how many clean towels and sheets you have ready for use, which ones were given to which guests, and how many are ready to be collected and cleaned.
This ensures that your guests will get clean, fresh linens when they request it — therefore improving your customer service.
Additionally, RFID tags can also be used to keep track of valuable items in guest rooms. This includes TV, speakers, minibars, carpets, and other furnishings in the room. RFID tags can show you which items need maintenance, or which items were stolen or misplaced. This helps you keep your rooms in the best shape possible, and also deters theft.
Logistics and transportation
For logistics and transportation businesses, where vehicles are their key assets, problems with scheduling and location tracking can cause huge losses. But ever since RFID has been introduced to this industry, these problems have been drastically reduced.
With RFID tags used on each vehicle, they can keep track of the movement and location of each one through a cloud-based app — which ensures that each one is one time for each delivery. With these tracking capabilities, these businesses are also able to tell their client the exact location and status of their deliveries and give a close estimation of when their items will arrive.
Clothing and fashion
In the clothing and fashion industry, RFID systems are used similarly to the hospitality industry. This tech is used to keep data on all the clothes they have in stock. This system can also be used to log in other details about their products, such as color, size, cut, and more.
In addition to helping these businesses keep accurate stock of their products, this system is also useful in helping them gather important sales data. With the information provided by RFID tags, they can determine which clothing items are sold quickly, which ones are in high demand in particular seasons, etc.
Security
RFID was originally made for security purposes — so it’s no surprise that the security sector is one place where you can find RFID systems for asset management.
One of the most common ways this tech is used in security is through personnel tracking. RFID tags can be embedded right into an ID card, which increases the security of the said card. This is because it prevents counterfeiting, and the system also keeps an up-to-date log of all the times you use your ID card to access an area.
RFID tags can also be used on any valuable items as we mentioned in the previous sections. These tags show the location of each one, and also give updates on when each item is moved or used by another person. This lessens the likelihood of theft.
Security agencies use this not only to protect your company from security threats from outside the company — but also from inside threats.
Key Takeaway
As we can see from all the industries that need RFID technology, this product can be used anywhere from improving ID cards to managing linens. As a versatile and highly accurate system, RFID can be used in numerous ways to help businesses improve their asset management.
Interested in seeing what RFID systems can do for you and your business? Contact ELID today to learn more about how this technology can be integrated into your operations to improve your asset management — and more!