RFID becomes active in Nordic countries

For years active RFID tags have been utilized in Central Europe. Now this technology is making its way to Nordic countries also.

Active RFID tags provide new possibilities for different kind of tracking applications and to the optimization of production processes. With the real-time information provided by these systems, manufacturing processes can be rationalized and the use of resources can be made more efficient.

Active tags differ in two significant ways from their counterparts which are passive tags. Firstly, the reading distance of active tags is significantly longer, even 500 meters. Secondly active tags can perform data gathering, for example temperature monitoring or GPS location information.

Active tags enable the position monitoring of the semi-finished articles during the manufacturing process - indoors and outdoors. These devices endure even large temperature ranges; neither ice, snow nor dirt disturbs the reading process. In addition, the tag can be equipped with LED indicator light which helps to find the particular unit. Ready-made application templates enable the quick implementation of the technology.

Marker technology can be utilized in applications using active tags. When active tag passes through marker´s transmission field, this device sends a position stamp for the tag. Readers along the production line gather the position and ID data and store this information along with a time stamp in a database. Single reader is able to gather data from several marker points.

Active tags can also benefit quality management. As an example temperatures or other essential information for quality management can be written into the tag´s memory. After the turn-round it is possible to check that the limits set by one-self or the law have not been exceeded or fallen short of. Also LED indicator light can be used as an instant alarm device to notify the user when the limit has been exceeded.