The radio frequency identification (RFID) is growing as the tech is integrated into the Internet of Things (IoT), tracking devices, location beacons, product identification and more. Barcoding, Inc., provider of supply chain efficiency, accuracy, and connectivity, predicts the RFID market will continue to grow in 2016.
The company cites the high adoption rate of RFID along with increased standards, improved reliability, lower system cost and technology development.
Tom O’Boyle, director of RFID, Barcoding, Inc., said, “Although barcodes will remain relevant for years, RFID will continue to become more widely used, as companies are finding new, cost-justifiable applications. However, the goal of deploying RFID remains the same – to improve data collection and gain visibility into that data in order to drive greater efficiency, accuracy, and connectivity.”
Unlike static forms of identification and tracking technology, such as barcodes, RFID can deliver real-time information on where a particular item is located. And with price points of the technology more affordable than ever, it can be deployed on tens of thousands of products.
Barcoding foresees the RFID industry will be driven by the following five trends in 2016: RAIN RFID, low-energy Bluetooth tags, Hybrid RFID systems, use of memory space and pre-printed tags.
The biggest news in the industry is RAIN RFID. This is a wireless technology that can connect billions of things to the Internet, providing a cheap way for anyone to identify, locate, authenticate, and engage each item. The technology it uses is based on a UHF RFID protocol standard developed by GS1 and ISO, which has been used around the world since 1990.
The technology is the very concept of the IoT, which allows passive objects to communicate valuable information that can be used to identify each specific object at an exact place and time. Barcoding said RAIN RFID technology has connected over 20 billion things and it is expected to grow at a 29 percent compound annual growth rate, especially in retail apparel, healthcare, pharmaceutical, supply chain and logistics applications.
According to Zion Research, the global RFID market was valued at $9.5 billion in 2014, but it is expected to grow to $22 billion at a CAGR of around 15 percent from 2015 to 2020. The market in the report was segmented into retail, supply chain, aviation, healthcare, smart cards, public transit and other applications. The market was dominated by the North American region, accounting for around 44 percent share of the total market in 2014.
Edited by
Kyle Piscioniere
