Rfid - Technology Versus Barcode Technology in the Sector Logistics

RFID-Technology versus Barcode Technology in the sector logistics

- An explanation of the technologies and future predictions for their use -

created by

Julius Rietmann

ILM-01-08

8.01.2010

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Main Part 2

2.1. The RFID - Technology 2

Definition 2

Example for Radio Frequency Identification 3

2.2. The Barcode - Technology 4

Definition 4

Example for barcode - system 6

3. RFID versus Barcode 6

4. Future Predictions 8

List of Figures

Figure 1 RFID - System with ultimate elements and network application 4

Figure 2 RFID - Gate 5

Figure 3 Structure of a Barcode 7

Figure 4 A barcode is scanned 8

1. Introduction

Our world is getting faster and smaller continuously. In the literature one can find often the expression "global village". These changes lead to the fact that the world is getting more compact, complex and therefore more complicated. In the course of this development the sector logistics won importance in the last two decades, because the high potential for optimization in the area flow of goods and the corresponding cost savings were recognized. One aim of the logistics is to organize the flows of goods transparent and faultless. The history of the relevant good has to be traceable at any time. In this case the process of identification takes an important role. It has to be fast and dependable. Due to the technological advance today auto - ID methods exist. Auto - ID means "Automatic identification". In the beginning the warehouse stock and the flow of goods were handled handwritten. Today's auto - ID (Barcode and RFID are the most importance ones) methods alleviate this process of identifica-tion enormously. How they alleviate it will be explained during the assignment. In the year 1968 the first barcode for automatic identification was established. The identification of goods with the help of a Barcode - System is today the most used auto - ID system in the logistics sector, because it was always the cheapest, safest and easiest system. Since a few years RFID - Systems are the new competitor. In fact this technology exists since the forties and was continuous developed. For the logistics this technology got interesting in the last few years. Reason for that is that the technology referring to the investment costs can compete with the barcode only since a few years. Before that it was too expensive. These circumstances will be explicated more detailed during this assignment. In general, both systems offer advantages and disadvantages. Those will be explained in this assignment. With the help of these advantages and disadvantages companies have to decide, if they implement a Barcode - system or a RFID - system.

The aim of this assignment is to give a precise and compact overview of functionality of the barcode - system and RFID - System, to present the advantages and disad-vantages and to give a future prediction which of these two technologies will estab-lish, because this is the big question for the logisticians.

2. Main Part

2.1. The RFID - Technology

Definition

RFID stands for "Radio Frequency Identification". Like I wrote in the introduction it is an identification system out of the area auto - ID. With RFID - systems the process of identification takes place contactless and without intervisibility. The data communication occurs on the basis of alternating fields with a transponder. Ultimate elements of a RFID - system are the transponder and the RFID reader. The on the transponder saved information can be transferred contactless and only on call by the RFID reader. An air interface represents the transmitting medium. Figure 1 shows a RFID - system with its ultimate elements and a connected network application.

Figure 1 RFID - System with ultimate elements and network application

As aforementioned a RFID - system always consist of at least two components. The-se two components are the transponder and the RFID - reader. The transponder is the electronic data carrier which is always placed at the item which has to be identi-fied and which is recorded with information or from which the information are read. The transponders can be divided into two kinds of transponders. There exist passive transponders and active transponders. Active transponders have their own electric power supply and passive ones not. The passive transponder gets the electric power from the alternating field generated by the RFID - reader / writer, the active tran-sponder from an integrated battery. Active transponders achieve higher operating distance but passive transponders are much cheaper. In practice passive transpond-ers are used more often. The RFID - reader is necessary for the read - out of the information. Depending to the requirements on the RFID - system a RFID - writer can be added to the system. This RFID - writer is always integrated in the RFID - reader.