RFID - Radio frequency identification: bright future in garment industry

Abstract

RFID (Radio frequency Identification) is not a new concept.RFID tags consist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to awireless receiver. With the help of wireless reading device, hundreds of tagscan be read in a second. RFID tags are classified into active and passive.Former are costly ranging from Rs. 65/- per tag and the latter are cheap in therange of Rs. 25-30 per tag. Passive tags cannot give complete data but arerather brief. RFID has pervasive applications and in this paper the authordiscusses the potential applications of the technology in different fields ofbusiness and also suggests certain approaches to tap the maximum potential.

Introduction: Concept Of RFID And Its Origin

Radio frequency Identification (RFID has been there sinceWorld War II). The technology used in RFID has actually been aroundsince the early 1920s. A much more related technology, the IFF transponder,went into operation in 1939 and was routinely used by the British during WorldWar II to identify airplanes as friend and foe. RFID became a realityafter three years of advances in many different fields. In simple, RFID tagsconsist of silicon chips and an antenna that can transmit data to a wirelessreceiver. Therefore the radio Id tags do not receive line-of-sight for readingthat is the RFID tagged product need not be held close to the scanner toread the data of an RFID tag. Within the field of a wireless readingdevice, it is possible to automatically read hundreds of tags a second.

RFID Advantages

Although RFID implementations are not without costs andrisks, typical companies in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution andretail have been known to achieve 200 per cent ROI (net benefits divided bycosts) or more from these projects. What this means is that for every dollarinvested in RFID, companies are getting back $2 in incremental benefits (theoriginal dollar invested, plus two more).

RFID provides persistent, real-time identificationinformation with minimal human intervention, allowing more frequent datacollection and greater information capture. The competitive advantage andbottom-line business benefits are significant to the supply chain thatimplements RFID to its advantage. Early estimates indicate that a comprehensive RFID solution can generate an additional 2 to 7 per cent increase in revenue, improve handling productivity by 20 to 30 percent, reduce operating expenses by 2 to 5 per centand reduce days in inventory by 1 to 2 percent. Financial improvements such as these are significant, and it is for this reason that many companies aremoving forward with RFID, sooner than later.

Thus, RFID is being implemented, along with key business-process improvements in many industries, to reliably track goods of all kinds-from cases,pallets and individual items in manufacturing, wholesale distribution andretail applications, to equipment and supplies in government applications, toovernight mail packages and passenger luggage in transportation and shipping.Many of these early adopters have experienced the benefits of bar codes, butrealise that RFID can take supply chain management to the next level. Thenetwork effects of a synchronised supply chain will result in numerousbenefits, including improved scan reliability, process automation and real-timeinformation access.

Enabling RFID in clothing production

Under its manual tracking system, Laws explain the raw materials were sent into the production process, they entered a "black hole," where they remained invisible until emerging as a finished product. Cut raw materials, to be used to fulfill each order, were grouped to component bundles, such as sleeves, cuffs and hoods. A hand-written paper ticket with order information attached to each bundle by a strip of fabric, and were brought from sewing station to sewing station, were the bundles changed from components to completed garments. The garments were then sent to a quality-inspection station. Throughout the tracking process, pertinent information was written to the tickets accompanying each bundle at each station. Sometimes the information was incorrect or illegible, causing production delays.

Under the new RFID-enabled system High Frequency Smart Cards (13.56 MHz) take the place of the paper tickets, and as employees collect the finished goods, they erase and reuse the attached smart cards. The data collected from the cards provides a real-time look at how much each Lawsgroup plant produces throughout each shift.

As the garment components are assembled, workers encode the order information onto the smart cards. They use interrogators located at each workstation to read the smart cards, and they also scan a smart card assigned to each worker as an ID badge. The back-end system uses this data :to track how many pieces are completed, as well as how many pieces of each garment order have reached each step in the manufacturing process. This kind of real-time information sharing was not possible with the paper-ticket tracking system.

Conclusion

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