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RFID Guides and Explainers

Explainers and reference articles on RFID technology: how the standards work, what the hardware does, and how to plan a deployment. Background reading rather than breaking news.

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RFID Tagging Strategies: Source Tagging vs In-House Tagging

RFID Tagging Strategies: Source Tagging vs In-House Tagging

Shifting tag application upstream to manufacturers cuts per-unit costs sharply, but onboarding suppliers can take months and demands ongoing compliance audits. Keeping tagging in-house buys control at the price of…

RFID Tag Costs: Where Are We in 2026 and Where Are We Heading?

RFID Tag Costs: Where Are We in 2026 and Where Are We Heading?

Passive UHF inlays now sell for 4 to 8 cents, and 50-million-unit buyers are negotiating towards 2 cents. Chip die shrinks from Impinj and NXP keep pushing prices down, yet…

RFID Event Processing: CEP Engines and Why Real-Time Matters

RFID Event Processing: CEP Engines and Why Real-Time Matters

Thousands of tag reads per second are worthless as raw data; complex event processing engines turn them into decisions while they still matter. By correlating reads across dock doors and…

Case Study: University Hospital Graz — RFID Laundry for 11 Tons a Day

Case Study: University Hospital Graz — RFID Laundry for 11 Tons a Day

University Hospital Graz launders roughly 11 tonnes of textiles every day, and every scrub and gown carries a wash-proof UHF tag tied to a staff member and department. Automated dispensing…

What the hard plastic tag on clothes actually does

What the hard plastic tag on clothes actually does

It has no battery, no serial number and, in almost every case, no ink. Here is what is really inside a clothes security tag, why the pin will not pull…

The Walmart RFID mandate in 2026: what suppliers must do, who is exempt and what comes next

The Walmart RFID mandate in 2026: what suppliers must do, who is exempt and what comes next

Walmart's item-level RFID programme now covers essentially all general merchandise, with compliance enforced through chargebacks in 2026. What the mandate actually requires, from ARC-approved inlays to GS1 serialisation, who is…

RFID for SMEs: Is It Finally Affordable for Smaller Businesses?

RFID for SMEs: Is It Finally Affordable for Smaller Businesses?

Passive UHF inlays that cost 20 to 30 cents a few years ago now sell for 5 to 8 cents, and entry-level fixed readers have dropped under $500. Add cloud…

Choosing RFID Software: Build vs Buy vs Configure

Choosing RFID Software: Build vs Buy vs Configure

Custom RFID software typically takes six to eighteen months to build, and five-year ownership costs run three to five times the initial estimate. Off-the-shelf platforms deliver value in days but…

When to Bring in an Independent RFID Consultant

When to Bring in an Independent RFID Consultant

Vendor-authored specifications are written to favour the vendor's own systems, and the cost of that bias surfaces later in change orders and lock-in. From writing technology-neutral tenders to rescuing stalled…

Scaling RFID: From One Site to Enterprise-Wide Deployment

Scaling RFID: From One Site to Enterprise-Wide Deployment

One site on UHF Gen 2, another on a legacy HF system nobody wants to touch: inconsistency is what kills multi-site RFID rollouts. Why locking down tag specifications, encoding formats…

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