Radio Frequency Identification or RFID technology has become the latest go-to tech for many small and established businesses.
RFID asset tracking is presently one of the best-known technologies to use for tracking inventory effectively. By using a system of RFID readers, tags, antenna, and a transceiver, businesses can effectively track their assets. But setting up an RFID system in place is not as easy as setting up buying the equipment.
There are many important things to be handled before you can implement asset tracking. Here is your guide to choosing the right RFID company to get the most out of this arrangement.
Educate yourself
Let’s start with the most important thing of all – awareness. If you are not aware of what you’re talking about, you can hardly make others understand it. On top of that, you may risk getting cheated too.
So clear your intent and reason about what exactly it is for which you want an RFID solution. Do you want to make the process easier and more efficient? Or do you have a legit problem that needs solving through RFID technology?
Once you are able to answer the above questions, you can move on to the next step. Which is to determine if RFID is even feasible for you. Yes, some factors, including physical and environmental factors may render RFID useless for you. For example, if the place has extreme weather and pressure, then RFID tags can get destroyed.
Other than this, you need to make sure RFID is even the right solution in regards to your profits and ROI. Even if it makes work easier, it’s important it also provides enough ROI to make the implementation of RFID technology worth it.
And after this, learn all you can about this technology itself – what is it? How does it work? What are the main equipment and steps that are involved in effectively implementing it? Once you are aware of all these things, it’s time to start the hunt for the right RFID company.
Selecting the right RFID company
While you will find numerous companies that claim to be experts in RFID technology, you might end up with either frauds or amateurs. Given the fact that RFID is a relatively new technology, finding a perfect or good enough RFID company can be difficult.
If you want to make sure whether a company is right for you or not, you can refer to the following checklist to make an appropriate choice:
- Statistics
- References
- Experience in RFID technology
- Experience in your industry
- Management team
- Partners and alliances
Now that we have the outline of what you should be looking for, let’s see why these things are important.
Statistics
You must get a hold of the important statistics about that company like the number of employees they have, their recent work, their geographical reach and the number of customers they get. Since RFID is such a new technology, it might not be a bad idea to involve startups since they might have the skills that big companies may lack – like adaptive nature.
Reference
References are one of the best ways to decide if a certain company is worth the dime you pay. You must have either more than a few references to the same RFID company or have few reliable ones. Even more important than this is to determine if those references have had similar projects done as the ones you are considering.
Experience in RFID technology
This is not the foolproof way of determining, but it’s still an effective one. The biggest drawback of this factor lies in the fact that while searching for a long experienced vendor, who is also affordable, you might miss the less experienced but better-qualified RFID companies.
Experience in your industry
While a company might be an experienced one, RFID technology has many uses and applications. It would be better if you find someone who hasn’t just done something with RFID but used it the way you need it to be done now. What’s your use? Asset tracking. Does the company have any previous record of working with that specifically? Consider this before moving forward.
Management team
The management team is a factor that largely depends on how big or small the RFID company is. If it’s a large company, then it’s quite possibly going to be a good one with a large management team. With smaller companies though, you need to ensure that their smaller management team is well qualified with a good experience on their record.
Partners and alliances
Just like you may have often felt the need to outsource some of the necessary work, RFID vendors do too. It will give you a better insight into their company and work processes to know the kind of alliances they form and the sort of professional ecosystem that they operate in.
So now if you have finally selected the specialist RFID company that you’re going to collaborate with for your project, it’s time to proceed to the next important part.
Important questions to ask
Among the many RFID companies present in Sydney, Australia, you finally managed to decide which one you’re going to collaborate with. But before you go and seal the deal, make sure you get them to answer these important questions for you.
- Is there something that can single-handedly bring down the entire RFID system? It’s important to get an answer for this because the RFID technology itself is prone to failure due to external issues. Make sure you are assured of an RFID solution that is not hindered by even the internet or its lack.
- How to access the RFID data? Because it’s basically why you are employing the RFID technology. By having easy access to the data, you can easily keep track of your assets.
- What are the quality standards of the chip providers and who are they? Just like any other piece of hardware, RFID chips also come in various qualities. Do ensure that you get the best quality RFID chips from vendors that your RFID company approves of.
- How long will it take to install the RFID system? While some companies may take a longer time, others can do it in just a few hours. Make sure that you go for speedy work and not end up investing days in this.
With everything settled, you can finally go forth with the instalment and enjoy the benefits of RFID technology. Good luck!
