RFID tag placement: unit-load tagging, on a pallet or otherwise, is not so simple as it looks. After all, someone has to be able to read it once the shipment is delivered

Frontline Solutions, June, 2004 by Brian Albright

Although an RFID verifier industry hasn't yet emerged, the capabilities exist to make sure the tags work before merchandise is shipped. Matt Ream, senior product manager for RFID at Zebra Technologies, says his company's RFID printers can test smart labels as they're printed. Companies that want to set up their own verification process could use a standard reader and a custom-developed application.

"You should still probably verify the tag after application because it could get damaged, and where you place the tag affects performance," Ream says.

Tag and label converters also do some testing. The Kennedy Group, for instance, tests its tags before shipping them to a customer. Jiner says users simply have to add RFID to their standard quality control practices.

In slap-and-ship scenarios, even if the supplier isn't using the tags for any internal application, the tags must be read before shipment to avoid chargebacks for unreadable tags. "Those would be difficult to dispute if you didn't read the tag yourself," says Reynolds.

Others think the compliance-only model is fundamentally flawed. "Slap and ship is just bonkers," says Nolan. "The return on investment will come from internal use of RFID. You better do it right, even if it causes a delay."

The Challenge of Optimal Placement

At the Navy Fleet Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Norfolk Military Ocean Terminal in Norfolk, Va., the Department of Defense found that it needed to enclose the reading area for receiving pallets to eliminate unexpected reads caused by bounces and reflections. Some freight--such as metal drums--needed a backer or spacer between the tag and the container (adhesive weather stripping from the hardware store was sufficient in that pilot).

The trial obtained a 100% read rate for the tags (from Alien Technology), but label placement was critical--and the optimal placement for reading the RFID tag was not always the same as optimal placement for the human readable information on the shipments, says David Cass, transportation systems analyst, U.S. Navy, FISC, who presented the results of the pilot at the DoD RFID Summit in April.

In stow, labels needed to face forward so that pickers could read the information. On a forklift, though, those tags wound up against the mast. A compromise was to put the tag on the side of the box.

Cass added that warehouse employees must understand the principles of RFID technology to understand why certain label positions don't work.

Pallet Experience

One company with a huge interest in the success of pallet tagging is CHEP, the world's leading manufacturer of pallets. The company has been working with RFID for more than five years, and it recently launched its PLUS ID program, which features RFID-enabled CHEP pallets; applications to collect, store, and process data; compliance with Electronic Product Code global standards; and continuous product engineering.

According to Puneet Sawhney, program manager for RFID at CHEP, the company's reusable pallets are tagged in the center block, where they are least likely to be damaged.