EP 253: Zebra and RFID

Matt Seltz

In this episode, I was joined by Matt Seltz of Zebra Technologies to discuss RFID. Matt is the Senior Director of Operation and Product Success for Zebra’s Advanced Location Technology Business Unit. We discuss the evolution of RFID in the warehousing space, how it creates efficiency, and Zebra’s new portals.

Key Takeaways

• RFID is a radio frequency technology that can be utilized to locate assets through tags. As Matt explains there are both active and passive tags depending on the application. One thing about RFID is that it has been around for quite some time but there have been limitations when it comes to the cost of the tags and also the accuracy in reading and range. Matt explains how the technology has now developed to the point where the accuracy of the reading is very good and the technology improvements are also allowing the cost to come down.
• The benefits of RFID are creating more efficiencies in your operation, increasing inventory accuracy and traceability. With RFID technology in place, you can get incredibly accurate location placements of your inventory so it helps to prevent the loss of inventory and can help you to pinpoint where certain items are. Additionally, depending on the application it can also help you to be more efficient and reduce the amount of labor needed for certain tasks. Matt gives a great example of how it can reduce the amount of paperwork that receiving docks need to worry about because there is data capture happening on the RFID scans.
• Zebra just released new RFID portals that are designed for multiple different applications. There is a portal specifically for dock doors which has improvements that create better scans and reduce accidental captures from other nearby tags. There is also a table that has an RFID reader built-in which allows workers to capture RFID information right on the table without needing any additional hardware. The tunnel portal allows RFID tag data to be captured while assets travel along a conveyor.

Listen to the episode below and leave a comment with your thoughts.