So, we’ve talked about how RFID works and how you can get the technical help you need.  Now, let’s talk about a really great RFID product that is simple and easy to use (even for a non-techie!).

                                                         

The BlueBean Simple Conveyor Portal is a radio frequency identification (RFID) conveyor portal/tunnel solution that is specifically designed to be used with existing conveyors.  The portal uses T-slot technology (if I can do it, so can you!) for easy modifications and assembly.  It’s so easy that only one hand-tool is required and it’s even included with your kit!

 

And the best part is that you can use your existing RFID equipment to get this portal up and running.  And, if you don’t have existing RFID equipment, you can order that at RFIDSupplyChain.com too!

 

Additionally, the BlueBean RFID Simple Conveyor Portal Solution kit allows for adjustable antenna mounts and four-side read capability  -- that means less errors and greater productivity.  Even better, the BlueBean RFID Simple Conveyor Portal Solution can be customized for your specific application.  Now that is simple!

Thanks to everyone who sent me their marketing ideas, tips and tricks.  No surprise that many of you said that you are branching out into the world of blogging as a way of reaching more people while staying on a budget.

 

There seems to be some general ideas that apply whether you are selling RFID equipment, some other technology or dog grooming supplies!  Here they are:

Blogging:  this is a great way to not only educate other about your products, but also, as I have tried to do, answer questions and dialogue about what others say they’d like to hear about.

Newsletters:  many of you said that you have switched from the old snail mail versions (hey, no more print or mailing costs!) to enewsletters.  With so many enewsletter distribution  companies out there it’s easy to find smething within your budget that is still able to reach your target audience.

Press releases:  of course, we already talked about these and they are still the most popular way to get news out about your company to those that may be interested in publishing it.  When I started we had to pay a wire service and send out hard copies.  Now, the internet makes it so much easier!

Surveys and “touching base” cards:  I know personally that these can work really well.  Sending a new customer a survey to see how they liked the experience and if they have any recommendation for improvement is a great way to foster a rapport with new customers right off the bat.  Additionally, sending out a note to customers who haven’t either purchased or received a quote from you in the last six months, keeps your company name on their radar screen and reminds them that you are ready to serve their needs.

Editorial calendars:  many of you said that you follow your target publications’ editorial calendars and offer information and/or our expertise if you see an article coming up that your company has a expert viewpoint on.  (this is also a good way to look at where you might spend print advertising dollars if that’s in the budget)

 

 

We’ve talked a lot about the various components of an RFID system and how they work.  Now, let’s talk a little about marketing these products.

 

One of the best ways to get your company name out in public view and without spending a whole lot of money is a press release.  Press releases can be distributed to industry publications and other niche publications that apply to your specific product.  In addition, there are a number of submission sites online that will distribute your release for free.

 

We also use a number of pay sites that guarantee inclusion on google and a number of other search engines.  Everyone has heard the old adage…the best publicity is free publicity.  Press releases are a great way to do that. 

Here is an example of a press release that we sent to industry publications.  Material Handling Management picked up our press release on the BlueBean Dock Door Kit and featured it on their website.

 

This was great publicity for our company and our product and the only cost was our time and effort to write and send out this release.  Pretty cool.  Let me know if you have any tips or tricks on getting free publicity…I look forward to hearing from you!

I was chatting online with one of my fellow bloggers the other day.  He was telling me that the warehouse he works in is going to be receiving and processing RFID-tagged items in the near future.  Being somewhat of a non-techie himself, especially where RFID is concerned, he asked me if I knew how this might work and if I could explain it in non-techie terms.  Well, the first thing I told him was that I had to sit down because no one had ever asked ME for RFID advice before!  But seriously, I did know of a great RFID solution for his company…The BlueBean EasyInbound.

 

The EasyInbound is a RFID case receiving line, specifically designed and engineered to efficiently and accurately process both RFID labeled and non-RFID labeled cases.  As the boxes move down the BlueBean EasyInbound RFID case receiving line, the conveyor’s zones control spacing between boxes which allows for proper separation.  The box then passes through a lightweight RFID conveyor portal that is framed with RF-reflective mesh screens and over RF-transparent conveyor rollers to ensure bottom read capability.  These components provide highly accurate RFID receiving read rates.

 

Once the box goes through the portal on the EasyInbound RFID case receiving line, the status lights will indicate whether or not the box had an RFID read.  If the RFID tag on the box was successfully read, the green status light illuminates and it continues down the line. If the RFID tag was not successfully read, the red status light illuminates and it is automatically pushed off the line and down a conveyor specifically for non-RFID labeled cases or RFID labeled cases that failed to read.

 

So, now, I tell my friend, his warehouse can process both RFID-tagged and non-RFID shipments.   Awesome and, dare I say it, Easy(Inbound)! 

 

So, there you have it, my first bit of RFID advice.  Keep those questions coming, fellow bloggers.  And, if I don’t know the answer, I’ll check in with one of my fellow RFID techies and attempt to translate to something us non-techies can understand!  Looking forward to hearing from you.

In the meantime, check out BlueBean's EasyInbound in action...

Now that we know all of the components of the RFID system, don't you wish you could simply order one kit that contains all of the pieces you need to RFID-enable your system?

Well, BlueBean has done just that for any company looking for Dock Door Kits.  These kits can be ordered with components from the top RFID manufacturers including Alien, Impinj, Intermec, Motorola and Omron.

BlueBean's Dock Door kits include the following:

• portal
• reader
• power supply
• antenna
• cables
  
  
  It couldn't be easier!  The portal uses T-slot technology for easy assembly and modifications and needs only one simple hand tool to assemble (this is included).  In addition, adjustable antenna brackets allow users to optimize antenna placement.
  
  Wow...did you ever imagine RFID could be so easy?  I'll tell you more soon...stay tuned!

We've talked about many of the RFID system add-ons that enhance the performance of the system.  Now, let's talk about RFID printers.

 

The coolest thing that RFID printers do, at least from this non-techie's point of view, is that they can encode the RFID information, print a barcode AND include human-readable information as well! 

 

The cool thing for rest of the world is that these printers provide a label that can be read essentially anywhere...whether by an RFID reader, a barcode scanner or even, dare I say it, ME!

 

This is a great add-on for companies that must use different types of encoding depending on where they are shipping their goods.   See, now if RFID actually stood for Really Fun Irish Dancing, you'd  be missing out on all of this great information.

 

Stay tuned for more RFID add-ons...guess what some companies decided to do?  Put all the components together in an RFID kit.  We'll talk about those soon...

We’ve talked about the necessary components of the RFID system – the reader, tags and antenna.  Now, let’s talk about some other components that enhance this system.  First, the RFID Portal.

 

The RFID portal is commonly placed around doorways, dock doors and conveyors.  Many portals come complete with the reader and antenna which are mounted on the portal.   When the tagged items pass through the portal, the RFID antenna reads the tags and sends the info to the reader (sound familiar).

 

Portals make it easy to RFID-enable shipping and receiving functions in a company and allow companies to easily track assets.  Another great component for finding the blue bean!

 

Ready for software?  We’ll talk about it next time…in non-techie lingo of course!

The RFID Antenna is the last of the three necessaray components (the other two we already discussed -- the RFID reader and the RFID tag).

To put it simply, the RFID antenna is what "connects" the tag to the reader.  When a tag passes by the reader it is the antenna that transmits the tag's signal to the reader.

There are a few different types of antennas.  Linear antennas are used if the tags always pass by the reader in the same way.  Circular antennas are used if the orientation of the tag cannot be controlled.

So, now we have covered the three necessary components of an RFID system.  We'll talk about some other add-on components such as RFID portals, software and RFID printers in upcoming blogs.

Tag...you're it!  Gotcha...now read on to find out about RFID tags....

As we talked about previously, the RFID reader is needed in order to read the individual RFID tags.  An RFID tag is placed on each object that needs to be tracked, just as a barcode is placed on items.

However, RFID tags can hold a lot more information than a barcode.  RFID tags can track each individual item whereas a barcode is the same on every similar bottle of shampoo.  So, with RFID tags you can track down to a specific item (remember, that's the bluebean!)

Once the RFID tag passes by the reader (antennas and portals are key to this process too...we'll cover those soon!), the tag's data is sent to the reader.  Each tag's unique ID is it's individual "finger print" and this is what gives RFID an edge over barcodes.

Make sense?  Good...now stay tuned for more on the role of the RFID portal and the RFID antenna.

Alien Technology has recently introduced what they call a game changer when it comes to RFID Readers.  They introduced the ALR-9650, a single Gen2 reader with an integrated antenna. They introduced a very different form factor then what we expect from RFID readers.  Typical readers have four or eight antenna ports and cost $1500-$2000 each and if you add in one antenna it would cost an additional $200.  The ALR-9650 is a single unit that is a reader and antenna which makes it perfect for single read point applications. Just in case you need a two read point reader it allows for a second external antenna.  The ALR-9650 can be purchased for around $850.

The ALR-9650 takes up little space; at only 9 inches square it uses less than half the real-estate of a typical reader and antenna system. This unit is nice to use in applications where the reader is visible to the consumer or general public since there are no antenna cables and is rather stylish. Colleges and universities could create cost effective labs for students to get some hands on experience.

Alien has again shown that it can compete against the big RFID hardware suppliers such as Motorola and Intermec.  They continue to innovate and are quicker to the market with innovative products like the ALR-9650.


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Now that you have delved into the world of RFID, you have probably heard the main components of an RFID system.  The necessary components are the RFID reader, the antenna and RFID tags. Other components, such as RFID portals, can be used but are not necessary in a functioning RFID system. 

 

I will explain each of these components in some non-techie language so that you can understand what each component is and what it does.  Today, we will cover the RFID reader.

 

Unlike bar codes where the reader needs to “see” the barcode in order to recognize it, RFID readers need to only “hear” the tags (we’ll talk about tags next time).  The RFID reader is an integral part of the RFID system.  The reader logs the information from each tag that passes by it and stores the data. 

 

Think of the scanner at the supermarket as its parallel in the barcode world.  The advantage to RFID, however, is that it can read multiple tags at the same time.  This is unlike a bar code that has to “see’ each bar code before it can register.

 

Stay tuned for your non-techie tutorial on RFID tags…I know you’ll be waiting anxiously!  

I want to take a break from my usual posts and take a little time to brag about a project we just completed.  BlueBean, headquarter in Indianapolis, Indiana, was selected to provide RFID products and RFID services to General Electric (GE) Aviation. As we all know GE is HUGE and what most of us call a pilot would usually constitute a full implementation for most companies.  GE Aviation implemented RFID at one location to evaluate reducing the size of its work in process (WIP).  GE Aviation produces jet engines worth sometimes millions of dollars each.  The manufacturing and assembly of these engines takes place all over the world so it is easy to understand the size (cost) of their supply chain. The challenge for GE was how to reduce the size of their WIP while still maintaining on-time shipments.

RFID to the rescue!  By installing BlueBean’s dock portals equipped with Alien RFID Readers at all dock doors and at choke points between departments provided production planners better visibility and more timely information.   Keep in mind that most engine parts they deal with cost tens of thousands of dollars so they have great interest in just-in-time inventory control.   It is a fine line the production planners must walk between having too much inventory and starving production.  The visibility RFID provides allows the planners to better match WIP with production needs.  With their WIP worth hundreds of millions of dollars company wide even a small improvement would be worth millions of dollars.

Keep tuned in for a follow-up post when the results of the pilot are available.  I would expect sometime by mid 2008.