In order to fully digitise industrial processes, the ability to identify and locate components and tools is incredibly important. For example, it allows production facilities to optimise their processes, railways to speed up their maintenance services and logistics firms to track goods across their facility.
HARTING’s range of UHF Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) products are robust, reliable and versatile, meaning they’re suitable for a wide range of industries and working environments. Our portfolio includes special transponders (known as RFID tags) for applications within transportation, on-metal smart labels for use on containers or identifying tools and antennae which can be seamlessly installed on conveyor belts or used to create reading zones for smart shelves in stores, allowing you track spare parts in service centres.
An RFID system is also able to cope with harsh, industrial environments, as many HARTING RFID products are IP65/IP67 rated and can endure wide temperature variations, high humidity and continue to be readable in dirty environments where the tag may become coated in oil and grease. Tags can also be securely encrypted and password protected to protect sensitive data. In addition, RFID hardware is future-proofed through the addition of features like WLAN, Bluetooth Low Energy and GSM.
A practical example of RFID being used to speed up processes and save money can be found within train maintenance and servicing. Using the transponders mentioned above, different components of a train are identified and tagged. The RFID reader then automatically identifies the train and its important components, such as the axles and individual carriages, as it enters the maintenance area. The system then notifies engineers about the condition of components which require maintenance, allowing them to focus on the parts that urgently need attention and servicing.
A key benefit of using RFID is that, unlike barcodes, you do not need direct line of sight to read the transponder. It’s also possible to get information and data from multiple tags at once, with the high-speed technology allowing you to read up to 300 tags per second. Another advantage for the rail industry is that tags can be read at a distance of several metres, even when trains are travelling at over 120mph.
If you’d like to learn more about HARTING’s range of RFID products, including readers, tags, antennae, complete systems and integration software, please click here to visit our website.
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