How Tag Placement Affects Read Range
March 25, 2009
In the early days of RFID, RFID tags were placed haphazardly on the cases and packages with no thought on how it would affect the read range. Now we know better!
We now know that there are locations on every package that are hostile to RF and others that are friendly. This is important to not only the individual package, but also when the packages are stacked or in a line. Why does this happen? Packaging material and item materials play a major role. For example, if you have a case of liquid laundry detergent, the tag will perform better when away from the liquid. There is RFID software that shows you the RF-friendly locations (in green) and the RF-hostile locations (in red).
This is a small but critical step in any RFID solution. After all the time, money and resources utilized in the design and implementation of an RFID solution, wouldn’t it be a shame if the warehouse personnel placed the tag right in that big red spot?
Next time I will discuss the challenges of metals and liquids.