Warehouse Management Systems (RFID)

From this picture , we can see how the RFID goes about transfering its message to the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management. The messages are being sent in a short time and helps reduce time for order picking and inventory stocking. RFID is able to ensure that we stock our goods at the right places and pick the right goods for our orders.

This is another picture that illustrates on how RFID works. The RFID reader will read the information found on the tag of the product and transmit it to the RFID system. Eventually, the information ends up in the ERP and WMS system .

First, the basics: RFID is a means of uniquely identifying an object through a wireless
radio link. The identification is accomplished by an interrogator, also called a reader or
"master," and a tag, also called a transponder or "slave" that has a unique identification
code. Data is exchanged between tags and readers using radio waves between the tag and
interrogator, and no direct line of sight is required for the transaction. The interrogator
asks the tag for the code, or processes the signal being broadcast by the tag, decodes the
transmission and transfers the data to a computer. The computer, in turn, may simply
record the reading, or look up the tag ID in a database to direct further action, and may
also direct the interrogator to write additional information to the tag.

The latest generation of RFID allows the dozens of individual objects within a group to
be uniquely identified at the same time. This is in contrast to bar codes, which must be
read one by one, and can be very advantageous in high-speed reading, sorting and
material handling applications. Because no line of sight is required between the reader
and the tag, unattended reading stations can be set up to identify objects on a conveyor
belt or within a transport container. Fast simultaneous processing and unattended reading
are the main performance characteristics that set RFID apart from bar code.

This advanced functionality comes with a price, which in the past often made RFID
systems cost-prohibitive. Today, however, pricing has come down considerably, with
many tags suitable for warehouse and distribution operations costing considerably less
than a dollar per. RFID tags are often reusable and can be packaged to be extremely
durable, which helps amortize the initial system cost and provides strong total cost of
ownership (TCO) advantages compared with identification methods that must continually
be replaced.