Top 5 Trends for RFID Metal Tags in 2012

The new year promises to be a big one for extreme RFID solutions. VDC Research, a leading research and consulting firm providing market intelligence, predicted in 2012 RFID will take on harsh environments and find its way into more user environments, driving vertical and application solutions. With an average CAGR of 65 percent, EPC ultra-high frequency transponders looks to outpace high frequency transponders as RFID is adopted by more industries and making significant moves in deployment across markets as diverse as healthcare and energy. Xerafy’s unique focus in this space gives us a vantage point at the top 5 trends for RFID metal tags in 2012. Today we will look at two of them.

MRO: Radical changes to the way maintenance, parts, and even tools are tracked

As RFID tag technology improves, the new generation of rugged metal tags small enough to be attached to individual assets like tools and small critical machine parts will extend RFID into more rugged and extreme environments. Tool tracking for critical work environments (FOD, FME), WIP tracking, plant maintenance, aircraft MRO, cylinder tracking, and life cycle tracking will all require smaller, higher memory, more rugged, embeddable and metal friendly tags.

The technology is now able to deliver significant performance on critical assets in hazardous, higher risk conditions, which has skyrocketed the adoption of RFID for MRO in rugged environments. Companies are now moving beyond simple identification into solutions that create "smart" assets that can carry important product specifications, pedigree, maintenance, installation, supply chain, and other data with them as they move from location to location, throughout the world.

Oil and Gas: RFID Finally Takes Off

As Xerafy partner Holland 1916 recently blogged, the value of RFID is being harnessed by more and more oil and gas companies now that the technology has been proven to meet the extreme applications required by the industry. With tags that can now be embedded into custom carriers and into the assets themselves, the industry is implementing RFID at a record pace.

Moving forward, the industry will increasingly turn to these new ruggedized RFID solutions to provide real-time and accurate visibility to spare parts/components, track critical shipments of components and supplies to off-shore oil platforms, improve visibility of supply chain, elevate efficiencies in tracking processes, better manage and maintain their rental assets, and keep strict and timely maintenance records on key components to make sure the entire process continues to run smoothly.

In next week’s blog, we’ll take a look at the remaining three trends for RFID metal tags.