Find Your RFID Tags
Tags, Labels, Inlays, and Sensors
For Passive UHF RAIN RFID Tracking Systems
Each Xerafy Passive UHF RFID tag is uniquely engineered to provide high-performance features at the service of specialized identification and tracking systems
Leading companies all over the world know and trust Xerafy RFID for metal mount RFID tags for systems operating in harsh environments and demanding superior performance.
How to choose the best RFID tags for a tracking system?
Product and application specialists are available to help build the right RFID tagging solution. Xerafy's 6-Step ABCDEF assessment of the system helps frame its essential performance requirements, including:
When is a Custom RFID tag the best solution for a specialized system?
Custom RFID Tags development services from Xerafy provide the technology, manufacturing, and application expertise needed to design the right RFID tag.
Leverage the most advanced RFID platforms on the market for Passive UHF off-metal and metal mount RFID Tags, Labels, Inlays, and Sensors, to meet your attachment, packaging, and form factor requirements.
Are there Industry-specific tagging solutions available?
Xerafy has developed industry-specific RFID Tagging Solutions and expertise that cover the performance requirements and environmental conditions of specialized applications such as tool tracking, manufacturing, inventory, oil and gas, IT assets, infrastructure, and healthcare.
What to look for with Industrial RFID Tags?
Full standard compatibility is essential to industrial systems, with RFID tags following RAIN RFID recommendations as well as a number of additional standards (FCC, ETSI, CE, REACH, RoHS, ATEX...). The same principle applies to all of a system's components to be deployed, including RFID Readers and Antennas, with leading suppliers including Zebra, Times7, Impinj, TSL, Alien, Turck, Honeywell.
Deployment in the field involves varying degrees of tag personalization and customization including printing, encoding, laser marking, etc. Xerafy RFID Labels can be printed and encoded on-site with all leading RFID printers such as SATO, Zebra, Toshiba, Printronix, and Postek. All standard products can be personalized with support available from the Xerafy service bureau.
What exactly is Industrial RFID?
Industrial RFID systems predominantly operate within the ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) bands on the electromagnetic spectrum (860 to 960 MHz band as per UHF Gen2 standard).
Technically, UHF is ideally suited for assets in motion and in uncontrolled positions because it allows for fast data processing (imagine an asset moving quickly on a conveyor belt), increased accuracy (identifying items in bulk in seconds), and extended read ranges (over several meters).
Passive UHF RFID, which operates battery-free by harvesting energy from the readers, has been widely adopted due to its low cost and the availability of a global standardization led by the RAIN RFID consortium, with most countries operating between 900 and 915 MHz. The early emphasis on specialized applications, on the other hand, has naturally accelerated innovations in the field, including the ability for Passive UHF RFID to operate effectively around metals and liquids that it would normally find difficult to penetrate due to these materials' ability to reflect and change the tune of radio-frequencies.
Because of these factors, LF (low frequency), HF (high frequency), and Active RFID (battery-assisted) technologies have been relegated to niche applications such as fixed assets, very close ranges, and RTLS. In the field, passive UHF RFID is sometimes deployed in conjunction with complementary asset identification and tracking technologies such as Barcodes, NFC (Near-Field Communication), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and UWB (Ultra Wide Band).
What makes Industrial RFID different from regular RFID?
Industrial RFID is essentially passive metal mount RFID with distinctive tag features for harsh environments.
Since 2010, Xerafy has been developing Passive UHF tagging platforms with uniquely innovative features focused on performance, durability, and survivability:
A for ASSETS > Bonding > Customize > Data > Environment > Fit
What assets does the RFID system track?
Start with the type of assets to be tracked and the materials they are made of: Metals and plastics are routinely used in industrial systems. Other materials include wood, glass, cardboard, and so on.
RFID tags are typically applied to the surface of the asset to be tracked. The composition of the substrate and the nature of the content of the asset can have an impact on the overall performance of the tracking system, such as read range, accuracy, and durability.
Industrial RFID tags are specifically designed as metal mount tags, with a spacer to ensure optimal RF performance. Xerafy took it a step further by developing a tagging technology that leverages the presence of metal in the asset to improve its RF performance in terms of accuracy and read range. Xerafy developed a range of hard tags and printable labels that are optimized for high performance on and off metal surfaces.
Long-range Passive UHF RFID for outdoor and indoor tracking
Passive RFID technology has the advantage of not requiring a battery. As a result, a tag's life expectancy frequently exceeds that of the asset it is mounted on, while its read range can be amplified with the power of the RFID reader and the presence of metal in the application environment.
Over time, the technology has supplanted other types of RFID such as High Frequency and Low Frequency as the standard RF identification for industries, with passive UHF RFID lowering the entry barrier for Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS).
Assets > B for BONDING > Customize > Data > Environment > Fit
Which tag attachment method is the most appropriate for the system?
A number of parameters must be considered when defining an optimal tagging method in terms of operational performance and ROI, including:
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What is the asset's lifespan?
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What is the expected rate of tag attrition?
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Is it necessary for RFID tags to be reusable and replaceable?
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Is there any legacy inventory that must be retrofitted with RFID tags?
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How scalable and fast must the tagging method be?
Each industry has its preferences for field-validated tagging methods such as rivets, screws, welding, glues, adhesives, magnets, velcro, cables, and zip ties. Xerafy's expertise in specialized tracking systems has resulted in the development of RFID that operates inside metal, also known as embeddable RFID, in which the tag is screwed into a cavity or sealed.
Embeddable RFID for flush-mounting and injection molding
End-users deploy embedded tags to retrofit RF identification and locating capabilities to their assets, while manufacturers add smart IoT capabilities via embedding or injection molding.
In terms of RF performance, the prevalence of metal in harsh environments poses a significant technical challenge. Xerafy’s innovation in the field changed the paradigm by making full use of the metal in the asset to increase the performance of its In-Metal embeddable tags and inlays.
Assets > Bonding > C for CUSTOMIZABLE > Data > Environment > Fit
How much customization is required for the RFID system to be deployed?
Asset tracking applications benefit from a wide range of standardized tags, readers, antennas, and software that are readily available off the shelf. Personalization on-site or by the supplier can facilitate field deployment: Label printing for readable identification, RFID encoding of asset data, personalized laser engraving, RFID reader tuning, and so on.
RFID labels printable on-site offer flexible identification options
Printable RFID labels support hybrid RFID and optical information in the form of human-readable data or Barcodes / QR codes. While labels can be supplied printed and encoded, several RFID printer manufacturers, including SATO, Zebra, and Printronix, specialize in equipment that can print and encode tags on-site.
RFID has proven to be a compelling solution to barcode identification's limitations in terms of line of sight, bulk scanning, and automation.
Printable RFID labels from Xerafy are available as ready-to-print flexible labels that can perform both on-metal and off-metal.
Assets > Bonding > Customizable > D for DATA > Environment > Fit
How is data stored in the RFID system?
Asset tracking RFID systems reliably identify assets with the information stored in the asset tag memory. They are increasingly relying on RFID tags, which only store an asset identification number and store information in the cloud. This is due, in part, to applications that operate at faster speeds than RFID chips can read and write.
The following RFID chips memory can be used for identification:
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TID memory - Also known as Tag ID, this is a serial number that is unique to the chip and cannot be changed.
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EPC memory - Also known as Electronic Product Code memory, it is similar to an electronic barcode and can be reprogrammed, password-protected, and permanently locked.
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Extended user memory - Some chips provide extended user memory, which is typically used when EPC memory is insufficient.
Higher memory requirements are found in application environments that require off-line access to complete records, secure encryption, or come with field-based cloud coverage limitations. Xerafy maintains a selection of RFID chips with extended user memory from market leaders NXP, Impinj, and Alien Technologies.
Assets > Bonding > Customizable > Data > E for ENVIRONMENT > Fit
What are the RFID system's environmental conditions?
Industrial RFID tags come in a variety of tough packagings that are designed to provide levels of survivability and durability appropriate to the system's requirements. It is therefore critical to specify the environmental conditions under which the RFID solution operates, for example:
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Extreme heat?
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Temperature fluctuations?
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Vibrations and shocks?
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Moisture or immersion?
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What about caustic or acidic fluids?
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Operations indoors or outdoors?
Some application environments, such as an automotive paint shop, are more complex than others. Xerafy has used its application expertise to create several sector-specific tagging solutions that have brought RFID tracking technology innovations to market.
High-temperature RFID enables tracking in manufacturing processes
With typical application temperatures ranging from 85°C to 250°C, tags are ruggedized using packaging materials such as ceramic, which Xerafy introduced in 2010.
Xerafy offers on-metal tags that are field-proven for extreme heat, available in a variety of form factors, frequencies, and case materials, and that can be customized.
Autoclavable RFID supports medical device sterilization
A combination of heat, steam, fluids, gas, and irradiation is used in medical autoclaves and sterilizers to kill microorganisms and sterilize medical devices and instruments.
Autoclavable RFID tags from Xerafy are qualified to survive and perform through the repeated sterilization cycles
of hospital's CSSP/SPD re-processing.
Durable RFID tags are designed for the most difficult environments
Tag durability is typically achieved through the use of a combination of packaging and casing materials to protect the tag from shocks, corrosion, pressure, and water. Xerafy consistently goes above and beyond, leveraging its expertise to engineer application and RF technology innovations like its antenna-free design encased in extra-strong solid metal.
Extra Durable RFID Tags from Xerafy are available in a variety of form factors and tagging options. In addition, Custom RFID Tags design capabilities are available to meet specific needs.
ATEX/IECEx-certified RFID for risks of explosions
These RFID tags are intrinsically safe to operate in explosive atmospheres due to the presence of gas, vapor, mist, powder, or dust.
Assets > Bonding > Customizable > Data > Environment > F for FIT
Where to place the asset's tag for optimal system performance?
RFID tracking solutions deal with various physical constraints that must be considered when choosing an RFID tag: Size and shape of the objects, space on the asset's surface available for tagging, curvature of the surface, optimal placement in relation to the workflow, and so on.
While RFID tags are available in a variety of sizes and shapes, RF performance tends to evolve in conjunction with the overall size. With a lineup of tags achieving outstanding performance in some of the world's most compact and rugged form factors, Xerafy innovation in the field managed to break through the RFID size/performance ceiling.
Small RFID tags enable item-level tracking in mission-critical systems
Aside from size, the challenge with that RF performance in terms of read-range and accuracy is overall to size. Not all RFID systems can track at close ranges, and Xerafy's early innovation in tag size as well as with In-Metal tags that can be embedded or flush-mounted into the asset helped break the expected range/size ratio barrier for RFID systems.
