The deployment integrates Sharry’s smart access and workplace experience platform with HID’s trusted identity solutions. At the credential layer, HID provides secure digital ID issuance and management, while Sharry serves as middleware connecting H-FARM’s identity management system with HID’s infrastructure and the campus Genetec access control system.

Students and staff can add their credentials to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet with a single tap inside the H-FARM app. From there, NFC-enabled access works across the entire campus, from student rooms to common areas and printer stations, with no need to open additional apps.

The uptake at H-FARM was immediate. Alberto Aldrigo, CTO at H-FARM, said that within just three minutes of receiving the activation notification, 70% of users had already enabled their virtual badge. “From the very beginning, we envisioned a campus where credentials would always be within reach, directly on a smartphone. With HID and Sharry, this vision has become a reality through a solution that is simple, secure and reliable,” Aldrigo said.

H-FARM College sits on the edge of the Venice lagoon and operates as an innovation ecosystem where education, startups and technology coexist on a single integrated campus. The institution already offered a campus app for maps, food ordering, payments and event updates. Adding wallet-based student IDs was a natural extension of that digital-first approach.

Matej Pokorn, Head of Customer Success at Sharry, highlighted the speed of the rollout. “What might have taken months was accomplished in just a few weeks, a testament to the shared vision and agility of everyone involved,” he said. “H-FARM sets a new benchmark for how campuses can modernize access and identity without compromising security.”

Dominic Bruning, Director of Strategic Alliances for Mobile, EMEA, at HID, described the deployment as “a strong example of what a truly digital campus can be: secure, mobile and frictionless by design.”

The project builds on an existing partnership between HID and Sharry, which has previously delivered wallet-based office access projects in the United States, the European Union and Latin America. The H-FARM deployment represents a significant step toward fully digital campuses in Europe, where identity, access and services converge in a single mobile-first experience.

For European universities exploring contactless campus access, the H-FARM implementation offers a practical reference point, demonstrating that NFC wallet-based credentials can be deployed quickly and at scale within a higher education environment.

The post HID and Sharry Debut Digital Wallet Student IDs in Europe with H-FARM College first appeared on RFID News.

What Is a Digital Product Passport?

A Digital Product Passport is a structured digital record that travels with a product throughout its lifecycle. It contains information about a product’s origin, materials, manufacturing processes, repairability, and end-of-life recycling instructions. The EU introduced the DPP framework under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), adopted in 2024, with the goal of driving circular economy practices and giving consumers transparent access to sustainability data.

The regulation targets specific product categories in phases. Batteries were first, with requirements already taking shape. Textiles and electronics follow closely, with broader rollouts expected through 2027 and beyond. By the end of the decade, most products sold within the EU market will need a DPP.

Why RFID Is the Natural Fit

While QR codes and other optical identifiers have their place, RFID offers distinct advantages that make it the preferred carrier technology for DPP data links.

UHF RFID, particularly RAIN RFID based on the ISO 18000-63 standard, enables bulk reading of tagged items without line-of-sight. A warehouse receiving hundreds of palletised goods can verify DPP compliance in seconds rather than scanning individual codes one at a time. For manufacturers dealing with high-volume production lines, this speed is not optional. It is essential.

NFC, operating at 13.56 MHz under ISO 14443 and ISO 15693, adds a consumer-facing layer. Shoppers can tap an NFC-enabled product with their smartphone to instantly access the DPP record, viewing details about where a garment was made, what chemicals were used, or how to recycle the packaging. This tap-to-read simplicity closes the gap between regulation and real-world usability.

Dual-frequency inlays combining UHF and NFC on a single tag are gaining traction for exactly this reason. They serve the supply chain’s need for speed and the consumer’s need for convenience in one integrated solution.

What Manufacturers Need to Prepare

Compliance with the DPP regulation is not a switch that flips overnight. Manufacturers should begin preparing now across several fronts.

First, data infrastructure needs attention. A DPP requires accurate, structured data about every product. Companies that lack robust product lifecycle management (PLM) systems will need to invest in capturing and organising this information.

Second, tagging strategy matters. Selecting the right RFID inlay, whether UHF, NFC, or dual-frequency, depends on the product type, packaging constraints, and where in the supply chain the tag will be read. Embedding RFID into garment labels differs significantly from tagging battery modules or electronic components.

Third, serialisation is critical. Each product needs a unique identifier linked to its DPP record. GS1 standards, including the SGTIN and GIAI schemes, provide the framework for this, and many RAIN RFID deployments already support GS1 EPC encoding natively.

A Practical Compliance Roadmap

For companies looking to get ahead of the curve, a phased approach makes sense.

In 2025 and 2026, focus on auditing existing product data and identifying gaps. Engage with your RFID tag suppliers and solution providers to evaluate tagging options. Run pilot programmes on a single product line to test data capture, tag performance, and system integration.

Through 2027, scale tagging across priority product categories. Integrate DPP data flows with existing ERP and supply chain management platforms. Ensure your serialisation processes align with GS1 standards.

From 2028 onward, expand to full product coverage as regulatory deadlines arrive for additional categories. Monitor evolving EU guidance and adjust your approach as standards mature.

The DPP regulation is not just a compliance burden. It is an opportunity to build trust with consumers, improve supply chain visibility, and future-proof operations. RFID technology, proven across billions of tagged items worldwide, provides the foundation to make it work at scale.

The post Digital Product Passports and RFID: What the EU Regulations Mean for You first appeared on RFID News.

At the foundation of every RFID system sits the silicon. Chip makers such as NXP Semiconductors, Impinj, and EM Microelectronic design and fabricate the integrated circuits that power RFID tags and reader modules. These companies invest heavily in R&D and set the performance ceiling for the entire industry. They sell to other manufacturers rather than to end users, so you are unlikely to buy directly from them unless you are producing millions of units a year.

Tag manufacturers, sometimes called converters or inlay producers, take those ICs and turn them into usable products. Companies like Avery Dennison, Smartrac (now part of Avery Dennison), and HID Global bond chips to antennas and encapsulate them as labels, hard tags, wristbands, or cards. The tag manufacturer is where decisions about form factor, adhesive, operating frequency, and environmental durability get made. If your project has unusual physical requirements, this is the vendor category you need to engage with.

Reader OEMs build the hardware that interrogates those tags. Zebra Technologies, Impinj (which also operates at the chip level), CAEN RFID, and Feig Electronic all produce fixed, handheld, or embedded readers along with the antennas that go with them. Choosing the right reader depends on read range, environment, throughput, and which air-interface protocol your tags use. Many reader OEMs also provide SDKs and middleware, bridging the gap between raw RF data and your business applications.

System integrators are the companies that pull everything together. They assess your workflow, select compatible tags and readers, develop or configure the software layer, install the infrastructure, and train your team. Firms like SML Group, Convergence Systems Limited, and numerous regional specialists operate in this space. A good integrator understands not just RFID but also your existing IT environment, including ERP, WMS, and POS systems that need to receive tag data. For most organisations deploying RFID for the first time, the system integrator is the single most important vendor relationship.

Value-added resellers sit between manufacturers and end users. They hold stock of readers, tags, and accessories, bundle them with support or basic configuration, and sell to businesses that know roughly what they need but want a convenient one-stop shop. VARs are particularly useful for repeat orders, consumable restocking, or smaller deployments that do not justify a full integration project.

So who should you talk to first? If you have a well-defined requirement and in-house technical capability, going directly to a tag manufacturer or reader OEM can get you better pricing. If your project is complex, involves multiple read points, or needs custom software, start with a system integrator. And if you simply need to reorder supplies for an existing deployment, a VAR will be your fastest route. Understanding these vendor types is the first step toward building an RFID solution that actually works for your operation.

The post RFID Vendor Types: Manufacturers, Integrators, and Resellers Explained first appeared on RFID News.

The announcement reflects a broader shift in how organizations approach identity governance. Traditionally, physical access control systems and IT authentication have operated as separate silos, with employees using one credential to badge through a secured door and a different method, often a password or separate token, to access workstations and cloud applications. HID Converged Credentials collapses these layers into a single, standards-based credential that works across every access point.

The platform supports FIDO2 and PKI standards, delivering phishing-resistant authentication to both physical and logical environments. This approach aligns with current regulatory and security frameworks that require strong, auditable authentication across all enterprise access points. By unifying credential management, security administrators gain consolidated visibility, streamlined provisioning and revocation, and simplified compliance reporting.

HID’s 2026 State of Security and Identity Report, which surveyed more than 1,500 end users and industry partners, found that 75% of organizations have already deployed or are actively evaluating converged identity solutions. Identity management ranked as the top strategic priority across all surveyed categories, with 73% of physical security professionals identifying it as a leading trend and 60% planning to increase investment in the area. Despite this momentum, 52% of respondents still cite the complexity of fragmented identity systems as their primary barrier to progress.

“Our customers have trusted HID to secure their facilities for decades,” said Daniel Gundlach, Vice President and Head of Business Unit, NAM – PACS, HID. “HID Converged Credentials is a direct response to what they’re telling us: they want fewer vendors, less complexity and a credential that works everywhere, from the front door to the desktop and the cloud.”

HID Converged Credentials is available across multiple form factors to fit different deployment scenarios. Crescendo Smart Cards provide a single card for both physical door access and phishing-resistant digital login, supporting FIDO2, PKI and OATH protocols without requiring a separate token. Security Keys offer portable FIDO2 and PKI authentication for high-assurance access to workstations and cloud applications. Micro Readers are compact NFC-enabled readers designed to extend converged access to workstations and environments where mobile device use is not practical.

“HID Converged Credentials delivers on both fronts, giving employees one credential to access the building, their workstation and applications, while making credential management simpler and more efficient for organizations,” said Sean Dyon, VP and Head of Authentication, HID.

The solution is designed to integrate with existing infrastructure, reducing disruption during deployment while modernizing an organization’s identity architecture. By standardizing on a single credential lifecycle management layer across physical and logical access, enterprises can reduce vendor sprawl, improve audit trails, and align their security posture with evolving threat landscapes, including AI-enabled credential attacks.

HID is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand headquartered in Austin, Texas, with more than 4,500 employees worldwide.

Read more at https://newsroom.hidglobal.com/hid-announces-converged-credentials-solution-bridging-physical-and-logical-identity-across

The post HID Global Announces Converged Credentials Solution for Unified Identity Management first appeared on RFID News.

The updated ID-Safe lineup features several distinct tag types designed to address different layers of product security. Tamper-evident NFC labels can detect and record package opening events, providing a clear digital trail of when and whether a product has been accessed. Tamper-proof tags go a step further with destructible antennas that prevent physical removal and reuse, making it virtually impossible to transfer a tag from one product to another.

For applications requiring the highest level of protection, Identiv has included high-security NFC chips with encrypted authentication capabilities. These chips are designed to guard against cloning attempts, ensuring that each tag remains uniquely tied to its original product. Combined with unique identity encoding linked to cloud-based systems, the technology effectively creates digital product twins that can be tracked and verified at every stage of the supply chain.

The practical benefits of the expanded portfolio are wide-ranging. Stakeholders across manufacturing, logistics, and distribution can verify product authenticity with a simple NFC scan. When a package is opened or compromised, the tags register irreversible state changes, such as broken antennas or altered electrical signals, that serve as permanent indicators of tampering. This makes it significantly harder for bad actors to engage in counterfeiting, gray market diversion, warranty abuse, or product refilling fraud.

Andreas Walsner, Global Vice President of Sales at Identiv, highlighted the growing need for verifiable trust in physical products. “Trust in physical products can’t be assumed anymore – it has to be verified,” Walsner said, stressing the importance of confirming authenticity from manufacturing all the way through to the point of use.

The technology is already proving its value in real-world deployments. Identiv’s NFC-based solution is currently being used in an award-winning anti-counterfeiting smart packaging system developed for luxury wine producers, built in collaboration with ZATAP and Genuine-Analytics. The project demonstrates how NFC-enabled packaging can protect high-value products while also delivering a richer consumer experience through digital interaction.

As counterfeiting threats continue to grow across global supply chains, solutions like the ID-Safe portfolio represent a critical tool for brands looking to protect both their products and their customers. With the combination of tamper evidence, encrypted authentication, and cloud-connected digital identities, Identiv is positioning its NFC technology at the centre of next-generation product security.

Read more at https://ir.identiv.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/453/identiv-expands-id-safe-nfc-tag-portfolio-to-enable-secure-product-authentication-tamper-detection-and-traceability

The post Identiv Expands ID-Safe NFC Tag Portfolio to Enable Secure Product Authentication, Tamper Detection, and Traceability first appeared on RFID News.

Map Out the Full Cost Picture

The biggest mistake in RFID budgeting is focusing solely on tag prices. Tags are just one line item. A complete cost model should cover five categories:

Tags and consumables. Unit costs vary widely. A passive UHF inlay for retail might sit below five pence, while a ruggedised on-metal tag for asset tracking could reach several pounds. Multiply by expected volume and factor in attrition rates for tags that get damaged or lost.

Readers and antennas. Fixed readers at dock doors, handheld readers for cycle counts, overhead readers for conveyor lines. Include mounting hardware, cabling, and any edge-computing devices needed at the read point.

Middleware and software. This is the layer that filters, deduplicates, and routes tag data into your existing systems. Some organisations use commercial RFID middleware platforms; others build lightweight connectors directly into their ERP or WMS. Either way, licence fees, hosting, and ongoing support belong in the model.

Integration. Connecting RFID event data to warehouse management, ERP, or point-of-sale systems is often the most underestimated cost. Budget for API development, data mapping, user acceptance testing, and a parallel-run period where old and new processes overlap.

Training and change management. Staff need to understand new workflows, how to handle exceptions when a tag fails to read, and how to interpret dashboard data. A rushed training phase leads to workarounds that erode ROI.

Quantify the Benefits

Hard savings are the easiest to defend. Calculate current labour hours spent on manual counts, barcode scanning, or searching for misplaced assets, then estimate the reduction RFID will deliver. In retail, inventory accuracy improvements from around 65 percent to above 95 percent are well documented and translate directly into fewer stockouts and markdowns.

Soft benefits matter too, but label them honestly. Faster receiving, improved compliance audit times, and better customer experience all have value. Assign conservative estimates and flag them as secondary gains rather than primary justification.

Calculate the Payback Period

A simple payback model works for most initial business cases. Divide total project cost by annual net benefit to find the number of years until the investment breaks even. Many RFID projects in logistics and retail achieve payback within 12 to 18 months. For asset tracking in healthcare or manufacturing, the timeline may stretch to two years but often comes with regulatory or safety benefits that carry weight beyond pure financials.

For larger deployments, consider a discounted cash flow approach that accounts for phased rollouts and scaling costs. A pilot phase covering one facility or product line keeps upfront risk low while generating real data to refine the model before full-scale commitment.

Present It as a Template

Structure your business case document with an executive summary, a cost breakdown table, a benefits summary with assumptions clearly stated, a payback timeline, and a risk register. Keep the language plain and the numbers auditable. Decision-makers trust a model they can stress-test over one that looks polished but hides its assumptions.

Building a business case for RFID is not about proving the technology works. That debate is long settled. It is about proving it works for your operation, at your scale, with your constraints. Get the cost categories right, quantify benefits conservatively, and let the numbers make the argument.

The post How to Build a Business Case for RFID first appeared on RFID News.

“Marks that simply indicate the existence of a technology are not sufficient for NFC. To be successful, we must guide users to a tapping location,” the NFC Forum said in its announcement.

The Wayfinding System comprises four distinct variations, each tailored to different use cases and levels of user familiarity with NFC technology.

The Directional variation is aimed at tags and occasionally used devices, providing clear guidance to the precise location of the NFC antenna. This is the most explicit of the four options and is best suited to scenarios where users may not instinctively know where to tap.

The Simplified variation strips back the visual cues for everyday use cases where consumers are already comfortable with contactless interactions. However, the NFC Forum cautions that adopters should think carefully before choosing this option, as it offers “significantly less wayfinding guidance” and could confuse less experienced users.

A dedicated Charging variation confirms NFC charging functionality and highlights the antenna location. This mark is reserved exclusively for charging applications and should not be used in other contexts.

Finally, the Instructional variations serve as complementary marks for situations where user awareness of NFC is assumed to be low. These provide the most literal visual guidance, illustrating the action of tapping a mobile device to establish a connection.

All four variations can be displayed in sizes ranging from 5mm to 14mm and above, with multiple colour options available. The NFC Forum says this gives “designers and product manufacturers flexibility while enhancing those brands that integrate contactless connections in their consumer journey.”

The introduction of a standardised wayfinding system could prove significant for the broader adoption of NFC technology. As tap-based interactions become increasingly common in retail, transport, access control and smart packaging, a consistent visual language will help reduce friction and build consumer confidence.

The NFC Forum’s approach recognises that the success of any contactless technology depends not just on the hardware, but on how clearly users understand the interaction. By offering a scalable system with options for varying levels of user sophistication, the Wayfinding Mark is positioned to become a familiar sight on NFC-connected products worldwide.

The post NFC Forum unveils Wayfinding Mark as global identifier for NFC tapping locations first appeared on RFID News.

The project brings together SAF-HOLLAND SE, a major trailer axle manufacturer, alongside Tageos, identytag GmbH and Winckel GmbH. Together they have embedded NFC technology directly into the hub caps of trailer axles, creating a durable link between physical components and their digital records.

At the heart of the solution is the Tageos EOS-920 NTAG213 inlay, a compact 20mm NFC tag with 144 bytes of user memory. The chip sits inside a specially designed label that is fixed to each axle hub cap, where it can survive the rough conditions of road transport and still deliver reliable reads when scanned.

Workshop technicians interact with the tags through SH-Connect, a dedicated app that opens up a full suite of services the moment a tag is scanned. From one interface, mechanics can order spare parts, pull up technical documentation, find the nearest authorised workshop and access training materials. The result is a faster, cleaner workflow that keeps trailers moving rather than stuck waiting for paperwork.

Before this rollout, technicians were often forced to hunt for QR codes tucked away in awkward spots beneath vehicles or inside inspection pits. Dirt, grease and damaged labels turned what should be a routine check into a time sink, and misreads led to ordering errors and avoidable downtime. NFC sidesteps these issues entirely because it does not rely on line of sight or a clean surface.

Felix Passia, Head of Sales at identytag, said the partnership “embodies the power of the RFID ecosystem” and creates “systems that don’t just track corporate assets: they generate valuable product information and intelligence.” His comment captures a broader shift in the industry, where tagged components are becoming active sources of operational data rather than passive identifiers.

The benefits stack up quickly. Fleet operators get unambiguous identification of every axle, immediate access to up to date product information, faster service turnarounds and lower spare parts errors. Because the tags can be retrofitted to existing axles and scanned with standard smartphones, there is no need for specialised readers or expensive new hardware. The move to NFC also cuts down on printed documentation, delivering a modest but welcome environmental win.

For Tageos, headquartered in Montpellier, France, the project reinforces its position in industrial NFC applications where durability and data density matter. For SAF-HOLLAND, it offers a clear differentiator in a competitive market and a practical answer to customer demand for smarter, connected components.

As trailers become more connected, expect the humble hub cap to keep doing more than its share of the work. NFC at the point of service is a small change with a surprisingly large ripple effect across the logistics chain.

Read more at https://www.tageos.com/en/why-tageos/news/news-details/smart-axles-revolutionize-trailer-maintenance.html

The post Tageos launch Smart Axles Revolutionise Trailer Maintenance first appeared on RFID News.

So what is fuelling this momentum, and where does the technology go from here?

The Chip Shortage Is Finally Behind Us

Between 2021 and 2023, the global semiconductor crunch hit RFID hard. UHF tag IC demand outstripped supply by more than 50% at its peak, lead times ballooned, and prices spiked across the board. Manufacturers began stockpiling chips, which only amplified the panic.

By mid-2024, new wafer fabrication capacity from the likes of TSMC and GlobalFoundries started to ease the bottleneck. Today, supply chains have normalised, inlay prices for standard UHF tags have dropped below $0.04, and the market is shipping an estimated 55 billion passive RFID tags annually. The shortage left its mark, though. It forced the industry to diversify its supply base and gave domestic chip producers in China a significant opening they have been quick to exploit.

Retail Mandates Keep Expanding

Retail remains the single largest driver of RFID adoption, accounting for over a third of the market. Walmart’s ongoing rollout continues to pull suppliers into item-level tagging, and the scope has widened well beyond apparel. Electronics, home goods, stationery, and even perishable goods are now in play.

The payoff is tangible. Retailers deploying RFID consistently report on-shelf availability above 95%, inventory accuracy improvements of 25% or more, and meaningful reductions in shrinkage. For grocers, RFID-enabled expiry tracking is proving its worth in reducing food waste, a metric that resonates with both the bottom line and sustainability targets.

Digital Product Passports Are Changing Everything

Perhaps the most consequential development for RFID in 2026 is the EU’s Digital Product Passport (DPP) framework. Under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which came into force in July 2024, nearly all physical goods sold in the EU will eventually need a digital record covering material composition, carbon footprint, repairability, and end-of-life recycling instructions.

The first delegated acts are landing now. Textiles compliance rules are being published in early 2026, with iron and steel following shortly after. Batteries already have their own passport requirement arriving in February 2027. By 2030, the EU wants full coverage across all major product categories.

Each product must carry a scannable data carrier linking to its passport. QR codes will handle some of this, but for supply chain environments where line-of-sight scanning is impractical, RFID and NFC are the obvious choice. This regulation is not just a European story either. Any manufacturer selling into the EU market must comply, which means global supply chains need to get on board.

The Sustainability Push

Sustainability is no longer a side conversation in RFID circles. It is a core business driver. Beyond DPPs, brands are using RFID to track garments through circular economy programmes, verify ethical sourcing claims, and monitor waste streams. The technology’s ability to provide item-level traceability from raw material to recycling bin makes it a natural fit for ESG reporting requirements that are tightening across multiple jurisdictions.

Tag manufacturers are also cleaning up their own act. Recyclable antenna substrates, thinner inlays, and reduced use of hazardous materials in chip packaging are all gaining traction as the industry practises what it preaches.

AI and IoT Integration

RFID is no longer just about identification. Paired with AI and cloud platforms, it is becoming a real-time data engine. Machine learning algorithms are being layered on top of RFID data streams to deliver predictive inventory management, anomaly detection in supply chains, and automated replenishment triggers.

In healthcare, RFID-enabled asset tracking combined with AI is helping hospitals locate equipment in seconds, manage pharmaceutical inventories with near-zero error rates, and improve patient safety through automated medication verification.

What Comes Next

The RFID market in 2026 sits at an inflection point. Regulatory tailwinds from the EU’s DPP programme, continued retail expansion, and the integration of AI are combining to push the technology deeper into everyday commerce and industry. UHF remains the dominant frequency band, commanding over 40% of the market, but NFC is seeing renewed interest thanks to consumer-facing applications like product authentication and smart packaging.

The companies that thrive will be those that treat RFID not as a compliance checkbox but as a data platform. The tag on the product is just the starting point. The real value lies in what you do with the information it carries.

The post The State of RFID in 2026: Market Trends and What’s Next first appeared on RFID News.

NFC and UHF RFID in One Wearable

One of the standout aspects of the WS501-R is its inclusion of NFC RFID alongside UHF RFID capabilities. NFC is built directly into the device, giving workers the ability to interact with short-range NFC tags and smart labels without carrying a separate reader. The UHF RFID functionality uses an integrated upward-facing antenna and delivers a read range of approximately five feet, which can be configured and dynamically adjusted depending on the task at hand. An optional external downward-facing antenna is also available for applications that require it.

Beyond the onboard RFID hardware, the WS501-R is designed to pair with Bluetooth BLE UHF readers. This means the device can act as the processing and display hub for extended UHF RFID operations, with a connected BLE reader handling tag capture at greater distances or in different orientations. This flexibility makes the platform well suited to complex workflows where a single read range or antenna position is not enough.

Barcode Scanning and Display

The WS501-R integrates the SR560 1D/2D imager, which is built to handle damaged or poorly printed barcodes and offers a wide field of view for capturing multiple codes in a single scan. The 2-inch AMOLED colour display runs at 460 x 460 resolution and supports both fingertip and gloved-hand touch input. Two programmable buttons allow workers to customise functions to match their workflow, and a built-in speaker and microphone add push-to-talk capability for on-the-floor communication.

Processing Power and Connectivity

Under the hood, the WS501-R runs on a Qualcomm QCS2290 quad-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz, paired with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of flash storage. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6 for high-throughput network performance and Bluetooth 5.3 for reliable short-range pairing with peripheral devices including the BLE UHF readers mentioned above. The 9.24 watt-hour battery is hot-swappable, so workers can keep the device running through extended shifts without downtime.

Built for Industrial Environments

Durability is a core part of the WS501-R’s specification. The device carries an IP65 sealing rating for protection against dust and water jets, is drop-rated to five feet onto concrete, and operates across a temperature range of 14 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. A replaceable front shell adds further longevity to the hardware investment.

Zebra is targeting the WS501-R at warehousing, distribution, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and retail operations. Use cases include picking, inventory management, sorting, and asset tracking, all areas where hands-free RFID capture can reduce errors and improve throughput. With NFC RFID on board alongside UHF and BLE reader pairing support, the device covers a broader range of tag types and read scenarios than many single-frequency wearables.

Read more at https://www.zebra.com/gb/en/products/spec-sheets/mobile-computers/wearable/ws501-r.html

The post Zebra launch the WS501-R RFID wearable mobile computer first appeared on RFID News.