Pros & Cons of Implementing Passive RFID Systems

Before taking the leap into implementing a passive RFID asset tracking system, it’s important to evaluate the pros and cons of the decision. An asset tracking system may not be the right choice for every business, so do your due diligence to ensure you have a good fit. In this blog we are going to overview some of the biggest pros and cons of implementing a passive system to give you an idea of what you should consider before purchasing and installing it in your business.

PROS 

  1. One of the biggest pros to a passive RFID tracking system is going to be the reduction of man hours needed to perform an inventory. If you are currently using barcode scanners or a spreadsheet to track assets in your business, RFID will provide you with a much more efficient solution and save you potentially hundreds of hours. inLogic has multiple case studies from customers highlighting the benefits to implementing RFID, including metrics on how much more efficient their inventory process has become. Contact sales@inlogic.com to learn more about our software and our case studies.  
  2. Visibility is another large pro to implementing an asset tracking system. Many businesses, especially any type of government organization, requires yearly inventories to be done and visibility of all assets. Many businesses lose track of assets between different employees moving them, to them going off-site, to them being disposed of. With a passive RFID asset tracking system, you will quickly be able to find and re-assign locations for assets that have been moved. As you move room to room and find assets that were in the incorrect location, your system will account for these assets and have visibility of them, where a manual inventory would not. After you have been through your entire office you will have a better understanding of where your assets are within the walls of the business.   

CONS 

  1. If you are looking for a way to keep your assets secure, a passive RFID asset tracking system may not suffice. You will not have real-time visibility of the movement of your assets unless you choose to implement an active RFID system. Many companies want to track the movement of assets through doorways, and a passive system cannot provide that security. However, upgrading to an active RFID system can help to solve some of these problems because it can catch real-time movement of assets to various locations.   
  2. A passive RFID tracking system is not a great solution for monitoring consumer goods that are being manufactured and will then be shipped out for purchase. Instead, it is more suitable to affix RFID passive tags to the permanent assets of your business such as manufacturing equipment. RFID tags cannot be removed and re-affixed to new assets, so the placement of tags should be on longer term items you need to track for inventory purposes.

Contact inLogic for more information on passive and active RFID asset tracking systems.  Email us atsales@inlogic.com to set up a discovery call, where we will discuss your specific circumstances and help you to evaluate whether an RFID system is right for you.