Towards inkjet-printed low cost passive UHF RFID skin mounted tattoo paper tags based on silver nanoparticle inks

The present work describes the inkjet printing and low temperature sintering of silver nanoparticle inks onto transfer tattoo paper. Our approach results in silver features of excellent resolution and conductivity and, subsequently the first passive UHF RFID transfer tattoo tags functional mounted on human skin of improved performance when compared to screen printed passive UHF RFID transfer tattoo paper tags. Moreover, inkjet printed passive UHF RFID transfer tattoo tags show similar performance to copper etched passive UHF RFID tags on plastic substrates. This study compares the image quality (resolution) and electrical performance of two commercial silver nanoparticle inks inkjet printed on transfer tattoo paper. The optimal printing and sintering parameters to obtain high resolution features of resistivities 20 to 57 times the resistivity of bulk silver (1.59 × 10?6 ohm cm) are described. We demonstrate how, by selectively depositing ink in specific areas of the antenna, read distance of passive UHF RFID tags can be increased from 54 to 68 cm whilst decreasing the amount of ink used by 33%. Furthermore, this approach results in inkjet printed passive UHF RFID tattoo tags with larger read distance than silver screen printed passive UHF RFID tattoo tags, 45 cm, and similar to copper etched passive UHF RFID plastic tags, 75 cm. Moreover, inkjet printed passive UHF RFID tattoo tags in this work are considerably thinner (1–5 ?m) than screen and etched passive UHF RFID tags (tens of micrometers) hence, making the former more appealing to the end user. In addition to this, inkjet printing is compatible with large area manufacturing techniques and has the potential to evolve as one of the most promising RFID mass-production techniques. Therefore, this work represents a step towards the commercialization of on-body transfer tattoo paper passive UHF RFID tags

Radio Frequency Identification: Supply Chain Impact and Implementation Challenges

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has received considerable attention from practitioners, driven by mandates from major retailers and the United States Department of Defense. RFID technology promises numerous benefits in the supply chain, such as increased visibility, security and efficiency. Despite such attentions and the anticipated benefits, RFID is not well-understood and many problems exist in the adoption and implementation of RFID. The purpose of this paper is to introduce RFID technology to practitioners and academicians by systematically reviewing the relevant literature, discussing how RFID systems work, their advantages, supply chain impacts, and the implementation challenges and the corresponding strategies, in the hope of providing guidance for practitioners in the implementation of RFID technology and offering a springboard for academicians to conduct future research in this area

Radio Frequency Identification Technology: Applications, Technical Challenges and Strategies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technology behind RFID systems, identify the applications of RFID in various industries, and discuss the technical challenges of RFID implementation and the corresponding strategies to overcome those challenges. Design/methodology/approach - Comprehensive literature review and integration of the findings from literature. Findings - Technical challenges of RFID implementation include tag cost, standards, tag and reader selection, data management, systems integration and security. The corresponding solution is suggested for each challenge. Research limitations/implications - A survey type research is needed to validate the results. Practical implications - This research offers useful technical guidance for companies which plan to implement RFID and we expect it to provide the motivation for much future research in this area. Originality/value - As the infancy of RFID applications, few researches have existed to address the technical issues of RFID implementation. Our research filled this gap

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies for locating warehouse resources: A conceptual framework

Copyright @ 2012 Information Technology SocietyIn the supply chain, a warehouse is a crucial component for linking all chain parties. It is necessary to track the real time resource location and status to support warehouse operations effectively. Therefore, RFID technology has been adopted to facilitate the collection and sharing of data in a warehouse environment. However, an essential decision should be made on the type of RFID tags the warehouse managers should adopt, because it is very important to implement RFID tags that work in warehouse environment. As a result, the warehouse resources will be easily tracked and accurately located which will improve the visibility of warehouse operations, enhance the productivity and reduce the operation costs of the warehouse. Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the reading performance of all types of RFID tags in a warehouse environment in order to choose the most appropriate RFID tags which will enhance the operational efficiency of a warehouse. Reading performance of active and passive RFID tags have been evaluated before while, semi-passive RFID tag, which is battery-assisted with greater sensitivity than passive tags and cheaper than active tags, has not been examined yet in a warehouse environment. This research is in- progress research and it seeks to (i) provide a general overview of the existing real-time data management techniques in tracking warehouse resources location, (ii) provide an overall conceptual framework that can help warehouse managers to choose the best RFID technologies for a warehouse environment, (iii) Finally, the paper submits an experiment design for evaluating the reading performance of semi-passive RFID tags in a warehouse environment

Critical Management Issues for Implementing RFID in Supply Chain Management

The benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the supply chain are fairly compelling. It has the potential to revolutionise the efficiency, accuracy and security of the supply chain with significant impact on overall profitability. A number of companies are actively involved in testing and adopting this technology. It is estimated that the market for RFID products and services will increase significantly in the next few years. Despite this trend, there are major impediments to RFID adoption in supply chain. While RFID systems have been around for several decades, the technology for supply chain management is still emerging. We describe many of the challenges, setbacks and barriers facing RFID implementations in supply chains, discuss the critical issues for management and offer some suggestions. In the process, we take an in-depth look at cost, technology, standards, privacy and security and business process reengineering related issues surrounding RFID technology in supply chains

RFID in the supply chain: lessons from European early adopters

Purpose Radio frequency identification (RFID) is increasingly being presented as a technology with the potential to improve supply chain performance, but empirical evidence from early adopters is sparse. This paper aims to rectify this scarcity and contribute to a more informed discussion in and between academic and practitioner communities. Design/Methodology/Approach The paper is based on a conceptual model of factors influencing the success of adoption efforts. It then reports the results of a survey of 612 European supply chain managers, focusing on the 128 respondents who have begun RFID trials. Findings A significant influence on operational deployment is the presence of mandates from key customers requiring the technology’s use. Customer mandates also impact the anticipated benefits of a faster sales cycle and of enhanced systems integration, though the relationships are complex. By contrast, greater cost reduction benefits are anticipated in two industries where mandates are less common – industrial goods and logistics. Perceived organizational innovativeness positively impacts anticipated ROI from RFID. Companies adopting a ‘slap and ship’ approach are less likely to anticipate pricing benefits than those integrating RFID into enterprise systems Research Limitations/Implications The limitations of the paper include the limited sample size of early adopters. In addition, qualitative research is needed into RFID supply chain applications and into different approaches to IS integration of RFID, to inform future survey work. Practical Implications This paper informs supply chain managers and senior decision makers who are examining the potential of RFID technology. It offers guidance on what issues to look for when adopting this technology, approaches to take and the benefits that might be accrued. Originality/Valuer This paper offers a major contribution to understanding the current status of the adoption of RFID in European supply chains. This understanding is put in the context of the wider literatures on supply chain management and the adoption of information systems and te

Studying RFID adoption by SMES in the Taiwanese IT industry

With the advent of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), organisations have the opportunity to rethink how their organisation will operate and integrate in the supply chain. Especially for Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), that they have limited resources adopting such an innovative technology (i.e. RFID) can be daunting. Literature indicates that SMEs that deal with implementation have so far only a few guidelines regarding specific opportunities and risks. This research is therefore trying to fill the gap by employing Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) techniques and utilising a questionnaire survey with the aim of exploring the factors that affect SMEs’ RFID adoption in the Taiwan Information Technology (IT) manufacturing industry. In doing so, the adoption factors which are classified into 3 different adopters categories named ready adopter (cost and management), initiator adopter (competitiveness and process efficiency) and unprepared adopter (IT management difficulties, IT implementation difficulties and cost of implementation) using EFA technique. A SMEs RFID adoption model is then proposed. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will not only enhance the research in RFID adoption in SMEs, but can also act as a reference for practitioners in the industry and researchers in the academic field