RAIN RFID on Label Processing Machines: An Overview to Help with Your Choices

Oct 28, 2021

About the author

"I enjoy seeing both Voyantic employees and our customers thrive. The grand majority of my time is invested in projects and initiatives that grow the RAIN RFID market in the long term. My remote office is on a patrol boat somewhere in the archipelago of Finland."

Content

Traditional label producers entering the RAIN RFID business are faced with strategic and practical questions:

What is RAIN?
Is there a new business to be made?
Make or buy?
When and how to invest?
Can my current production machines be utilized in the production of RAIN labels?
Can we add RFID without -compromising productivity?
How can I get started?
Whom to call?

In this third blog of the series created with NXP® Semiconductors, we specifically address production machinery. Read on to learn about the machine types, what approaches to consider, and how to avoid pitfalls that would cost you time, money, and nerves.

Read Part 1 of the blog series: RAIN RFID Deployed in High-Speed Production Machines: Aspects of Cycle Time
Read Part 2 of the blog series: Scaling Up with RAIN RFID Tags: The Path to a World Where Every Item Has Its Own Digital Identity

Yes, There Is a Growing Market!

RAIN RFID adoption is growing at an unprecedented rate; with those markets that have already seen the benefits of the technology, such as retail and automotive, continuing their adoption. Other markets are emerging, for example parcel services, which is driven by the e-commerce boom.

Majority of these applications are based on RAIN enabled labels being added to the item. If you are already supplying labels to consumable products, the day will come when your customer asks you to add the RAIN labels on your supply program.

It Is Easy to Get Started with Outsourced Inlays

If you already have the ability to produce labels, adding RAIN RFID inlay on the backside of your current products would be one easy way to get started. You will need a capable inlay vendor, and you will need to teach the basics of RAIN RFID to your sales and production staff. Investments required to upgrade your current machines are modest, and inlay vendors are easy to find.

As you learn and build your customer base, it is possible later to expand your business also to cover the inlay part. At that point you will likely need to do a few new hires for development and production, as well as make investments on new machinery – the stakes become higher.

Manufacturing Process is No Magic

The manufacturing process of smart labels follows quite a standardized flow, as in the picture below. While some companies cover most of the process steps in-house, other manufacturers have assumed a more networked business model. Traceability across processes is a tremendous asset for failure root cause analysis, which is one cornerstone for enabling continuous improvement in any organization.

The three essential machine types that you should become familiar with are presented in the next picture:

Let’s understand these machine types and some of the related choices.

The IC Attach Machine Is Where the Inlay Quality is Achieved

The main technologies are flip-chip, and direct die attach. The RAIN IC placement on the dipole antenna requires high precision. Precision, combined with high line speed and sophisticated mount pressure control, makes the IC placement head the most expensive subassembly of the whole machine. You should make sure that the placement head is compatible with current and future RAIN IC’s.

As you look at the machines, you will quickly realize that the number of lanes in the machines varies. Multilane machines typically have higher throughput than single-lane machines, at the expense of added machine complexity. On the positive side, a multilane machine does not need that high line speed to reach an impressive throughput, which may lead to a more straightforward technical construction on the IC placement head. If you’re focusing on bulk, go with a multilane system.

A single lane IC attach machine is less complicated and thus easier to operate. It’s also easier to configure for new antenna models, making it better suited for smaller production runs. The capital investment is also lower.

Three Topologies of Converting Machines

In label converting, different material layers are added on top or under the inlay. There may also be cutting and testing involved. Converting machinery is more versatile, but three separate machine families can be found:

You can have a single lane machine that runs in a continuous mode very fast. Alternatively, you have a multilane machine running slower, and even in intermittent mode. At the end of such a machine, you may have a cutting and slitting module to separate single reels from a web.

A third approach, especially for traditional label suppliers, is to start with an industrial press, and add an inlay insertion section on the machine. An outcome is a multilane machine running in continuous mode.

Personalization Makes Labels Unique

Personalization focuses on getting the data right. Data on the tag is stored both in optical and electrical forms. Therefore, most personalization machines handle both printing and RFID encoding.

While that may sound trivial, managing the data, performing all the needed data conversions correctly, and keeping all the process peripherals in sync is easier said than done. When process speed increases, you will need to pay more attention to details, such as triggering. When working with variable data, you should make sure the optical markings match the unique identifier encoded in the RAIN IC.

Got Machines Already? Consider a Retrofit

It is often possible to retrofit the needed RAIN RFID peripherals on an existing production machine. With a low capital expenditure and a short lead time you’re able to pursue your first RAIN projects.

Voyantic delivers solutions to control sub processes, manage the data between the processes and keep both data and sub processes in sync. We also offer transferable bolt-on alternatives. Such frames come complete with the needed sensors, cabling and antennas, and won’t require changes on the signaling of your current machine.

You don’t need to figure all these details out. Let our experts talk with your machine vendor, and come up with a proposal!

On-Demand Webinar:

Quality Management Approaches in RAIN RFID and NFC Manufacturing

Hear industry experts share their experiences in RFID tag manufacturing and quality management. The webinar includes case examples and presentations on how to set quality goals, which standards are relevant, and best practices for quality testing — from setting up the quality program to managing the day-to-day activities.

Watch now

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Smart Label Durability – Bring Facts to the Table

Aug 18, 2021

About the author

Teemu Ainasoja

I am Sales Director at Voyantic. I have over 15 years of experience from the RFID industry in Europe and the USA. I have two master's degrees: in industrial engineering and in marketing, and two patents in auto-ID technology. I am actively participating in RAIN RFID alliance activities.

Content

When there is a need to increase smart label production volumes, it can be done by adding new machinery, more lanes to existing machinery, or by increasing production speeds. All these methods are in use, and they are combined frequently. For example, new production machines have more lanes and higher lane speeds.

At Voyantic, we are seeing that increasing lane speeds combined with smart label component development has put durability testing into the spotlight. In this article, I analyze the reasons behind the increased interest in smart label durability testing, and I will share the basics of the test methodology.

Why is the interest in durability testing increasing?

I believe that part of the increased interest can be seen as a healthy sign of technology maturation and market growth. RAIN RFID and NFC just work. Technology suppliers do not have to fight with the basic functionality and the focus is shifting to scalability. Outside of some special use cases, durability has been taken as given.

Let’s have a look at the drivers that are now challenging label durability.

Decreasing IC sizes

The latest generation of RAIN tag ICs is becoming smaller. When ICs are getting smaller, a natural question is what happens to the connection between the IC, the antenna, and the liner. And what is the effect on the inlay durability?

The transition from plastic to paper-based labels

Due to ecological aspects, paper is used increasingly as label base material. The “stickiness” of antennas and ICs to paper is different compared to a plastic liner. Paper also stretches and bends differently than PET.

All paper is not just paper, but different additives and fillers are used to create different properties. All these properties, whiteness, polishing, and so on, may affect how the antenna and IC stick to the paper. Finally, add humidity as an environmental variable, and the durability of the paper-based label needs to be studied for sure.

Faster IC attach processes and new bonding epoxies

IC attach machine speeds keep on increasing and the machine vendors are working their way towards 100,000 UPH. The stress to an inlay with a freshly attached IC is higher when lane speeds increase. There is also less time to cure the bonding glues, which has led to new glues being introduced. These new glues require less time to cure, but may need higher curing temperatures. Again, a question about durability comes up: How to fine-tune the bonding process so that the label durability is not compromised?

Faster converting machines

Converting process speeds are also increasing. Higher machine speeds stress the inlays and labels. An obvious worst-case to avoid would be inlays starting to break already during the converting process. Do the inlays survive intact through these fast processes?

Label type NFC tags

Traditionally a label has been one of the major RAIN RFID tag formats. NFC tags have been made more as smart cards, various key fobs, and other more rigid formats. Lately, NFC label production has also started to grow. This extends the label durability question from RAIN RFID to also NFC. Are NFC labels also durable enough to survive through the label life cycle?

All the above changes are happening in parallel. The combined outcome is what matters. Are the inlays durable with all the new materials, components, and processes?

Standard durability test method

Test principles

The basic principle of durability testing is to compare a meaningful parameter before and after a stress, and to analyze the results to determine whether the stress creates unwanted consequences. Because the tags under testing are stressed, potentially to the point of breaking them, the method cannot be used for testing every individual tag. It is rather used to test the designs, and indirectly the manufacturing processes.

For many electronics products, heat cycling is a standard durability test method. Also, drop tests, pressure tests, tumble tests, and shear tests are frequently used. For smart labels, the default test method is bend testing. The need for bend testing comes from the typical smart label failure methods.

The two most likely points to fail in smart labels are chip bonding and the edges of the IC. Bend testing is a way to verify the sufficient durability of both of these possible failure points.

Test method

At the beginning of the test, a baseline performance needs to be measured. The baseline performance of the sample set consists of the threshold sweep result of each of the tags in the sample. The threshold sweeps can be done with Voyantic Tagsurance® devices. The curves describe how much power is needed for waking up the tags at different frequencies.

Threshold sweeps of 98 pieces of RAIN RFID inlays before the durability testing

After the baseline test, stress is applied to the tags, and then the tag performance is tested again.

This cycle of test rounds and stressing the labels are repeated until a targeted performance decrease has been reached. The more test rounds an inlay (label) survives, the better is the durability test result aka durability rating.

Threshold sweeps of 98 pieces of RAIN RFID inlays after several rounds of stressing

The test method document describes the details of the test parameters and stress parameters.

Download the detailed standard test method description

Special tags

There are some special tags where bend testing is not (the only) relevant durability test method. For example, aerospace tags are tested according to the SAE AS5678 standard, which defines environmental conditions such as temperatures, vibration, etc., which the tag must sustain. With these standards, the tag is stressed with vibration and extreme temperatures instead of the typical bend testing, which is designed to highlight the common failure methods of cracked bonding and cracked ICs.

The same test principles can also be combined with other durability testing methods. For example, laundry tags could be tested using ISO15797 standard, which defines how garments are stressed with washing cycles. The idea is the same: to find out whether the tag performance decreases too much when stress is applied.

Also, specialty tags that are intended to be used in extreme conditions, exposed to heat, cold, or chemicals, should be tested in combination with applicable stress methods. IEC60068-2 standards (environmental testing of electronics products) provide help for these. IEC60068-2-2 (dry heat) and IEC60068-2-14 (temperature variation) are likely useful methods, and both can be combined with Tagsurance testing. The IEC60068 family also includes test methods for different mechanical stress types, chemicals, humidity, and so on.

In these special tag durability tests the RFID testing, both baseline and the test after stress, can be made with Tagsurance® systems. Between the RF tests, different stress is applied with the Voyantic Bendurance machine.

How durable is good?

An obvious question related to durability testing is: How durable is durable enough? Or: How durable is good and what is not good enough?

There is no clear answer to these excellent questions. Laundry standard ISO15797 has its criteria and a way to define what is durable enough. SAE AS5678 similarly has its criteria for aerospace tags. But those criteria cannot be extended to other use cases and tag types.

One answer could be: Durable enough is when a smart label survives its intended life cycle. That answer does not help in practice.

Another way is to look at comparison data. It doesn’t give a simple answer but probably helps in practice. If an inlay is as durable as others, most likely it is durable enough. And on the other hand, if an inlay is less durable than a typical inlay, a closer look should be taken, and possibly an improvement is needed.

Comparison data in mind we tested some dry inlays with the following results.

Change of dry inlay yield after each test round

There were significant differences in the dry inlay durability. With the weakest dry inlay model, over 90 % of the inlays broke beyond specified performance with the first test round. The strongest inlays survived more than 10 stress rounds.

About 20 % of the dry inlays got a durability rating of 1-3
About 60 % of the dry inlays got a durability rating of 4-9
And about 20 % of the dry inlays got a durability rating of 10 or higher
Median durability rate for all the tested dry inlays was 4, and average about 5.5

This suggests that dry inlay durability could be considered typical if the durability rating is between 4 and 9.

Summary

Faster manufacturing machines and new materials have increased the need for testing the durability of RAIN RFID and NFC inlays.

Voyantic Bendurance is a durability test system focusing on bending, the typical failure mechanism of the inlays. Bendurance with its standard test method gives comparable durability data of the inlays.

A similar approach can also be used with other durability testing such as the SAE AS5678 test for aerospace tags, ISO15797 tests for laundry tags and tags integrated into apparel, and IEC60068-2 for durability against extreme temperatures, other types of mechanical stress, chemicals, and so on.

Download the standard test method description

Request a Bendurance demo

Request a durability test system quotation

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Analysis of the Cost of RFID Quality – And How (Not) to Lose a Customer

May 03, 2021

About the author

Jingwei Liu

I joined Voyantic in 2020 to write my master's thesis. After graduation, I've been working in the sales team to develop the way we sell our products and services.

Content

We hosted a webinar on managing quality in RAIN RFID and NFC manufacturing. During the session, industry experts shared their views on setting quality goals, on the relevant standards, and on best practices for quality testing through case examples and practical tips. While veterans in RFID quality testing recognize the need for it to achieve excellent and consistent quality, for many less experienced in the field, it can be puzzling to justify the investment for the required RFID test equipment.

With this in mind, it is worthwhile to explore whether the cost of good quality in the context of RFID is justifiable. In an earlier blog post, we discussed optimizing the cost of quality. In this post, we give an example analysis of RFID quality costs.

Analysis of the Cost of RFID Quality

Typically, the three main process steps in smart label manufacturing are chip attach, converting, and personalization. While the process details are specific to the manufacturer and machine, the analysis methods are universal:

Failure analysis: What is the impact of possible machine failures?
Process analysis: How do quality defects impact the process?
Cost analysis: What is the cost of quality defects?

Three main processes in smart label manufacturing

To remain in scope, our example analysis focuses on the cost impact of non-performing RFID tags in production. The case analysis is inspired by the case study presented by our customer Lab ID in our previous webinar session. In our modified case example, we are tasked with the delivery of 1 million labels to a customer. Let us assume that our manufacturing process has a yield of 98%. Out of the 1 million produced tags, 2% would be non-performing, meaning that these tags are bad quality or out of specification. Confronted with this reality, there are three possible actions to address non-performing tags which are described in the picture below.

Different scenarios that can play out based on the action taken to address quality testing and deal with bad tags

The first one is the baseline scenario for the case. We assume that cost and sell price per tag are 0.08 and 0.1, respectively. This leaves us with a margin of 20% for this production lot. In this scenario, we do not take into account any potential cost impact of 2% non-performing tags.

Base scenario – 2% of tags are non-performing

In the next scenario, we ride our luck and deliver all tags without addressing the bad ones. Thankfully, the customer does not notice any defects this time. While the 2% of non-performing tags did not have any repercussions on our margins, the last two scenarios showcase how repeating the action might bite us back the next time. We also do not consider the implications of how the bad tags will inevitably affect our customer’s business.

We get lucky – customer does not notice delivered bad tags

We can also do something about the bad tags. In the third scenario, we decide to test our tags and mark the bad ones during production. This would incur costs in the form of initial tester investment (a capital expenditure that is omitted from the costs of this single production lot) and marker ink (a largely negligible running cost). Marking the tags does not introduce extra production processes or require an operator to supervise the machine. With the help of the tester, we are able to mark the non-performing tags out of the 1 million. This sees our margins decrease slightly (20% to 18%) as we do not charge the customer for the bad tags.

Alternatively, we can also decide to test and then remove bad tags during production. Aside from the initial equipment investment as with the previous scenario, this also requires additional steps in the production, e.g. by handling non-performing tags with a splicing table and changing them to a normal one. This process also requires an operator overseeing the production process which induces additional costs. For our analysis, we assume this removal of a bad tag is ten times the normal cost of producing a tag. This would add a somewhat significant cost to us but our margins remain positive at 2%. Worth considering in this scenario is customers’ willingness to pay more for rolls with 100% working tags. This could help offset the extra costs associated with tag removal.

Testing tags – in both scenarios we can achieve a positive margin

Next, we deliver all tags, 98% good and 2% bad. This time neglecting quality has consequences: the customer notices defects in our delivery, returns the lot, and demands we rework them to reach the promised quality. This requires us to find the non-performing tags from the lot and replace them with good-quality ones. For our analysis, we assume all that tag replacement hassle along with the changes to production planning costs us 25 times the normal cost of producing a tag. Not only have our margins turned negative, but we also need to deal with an annoyed customer whose plans have been disrupted.

Final two scenarios – not testing tags can have grave financial and reputational consequences

In the final “doomsday” scenario, after delivering the production lot, the customer detects the defects, simply returns the lot, and stops doing business with us. Revenue for this production lot has been lost, our customer relationship is severely damaged and our reputation as a tag manufacturer is also at risk. Not addressing quality issues and providing no quantifying proof of quality can have severe consequences. As shown, a single batch of tags mixed some with inferior quality can do much more harm than expected.

Loss of customer relationships is difficult to measure in costs

Being able to quantify quality puts tag producers in a superior position to win and establish trust with customers. Getting there requires effort but as shown in our example it is a worthwhile pursuit in the long run. We are happy to help with your needs in getting there. A good resource to start with is our webinar on managing quality in RAIN RFID and NFC manufacturing.

On-Demand Webinar

Quality Management Approaches in RAIN RFID and NFC Manufacturing

Watch Now

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Successful RAIN RFID Use is Based on Continuous Improvement

Sep 10, 2020

About the author

Teemu Ainasoja

Content

日本語版 Japanese version

Voyantic is mostly working with RFID technology providers. But I still discuss regularly with RAIN RFID users about their projects and challenges they have seen.

missing reads
stray reads
occasional faulty tags or readers
after a small change something doesn’t work anymore
and so on

The smaller technical issues often have a root cause in approach to RAIN RFID, especially how it is treated from a continuous improvement point of view. Sometimes (often) RAIN RFID is seen as a one-off IT project. The initial implementation often is an IT project, but when the system is taken into use, the project should not just be signed as complete, but it should be transitioned to the relevant operational organization and under continuous improvement. From this point of RFID has its own particulars.

Already in the implementation project, the continuous use should be taken into account. During the project, it is important to establish the specifications:

specify the tags including
- performance
- quality
- tagging
specify the readers

Create a Tag Specification for Your RAIN RFID System

When specifying, use standards such as GS1 TIPP, or other methods to specify the performance. An unfortunately common way is to specify a tag or reader model. With a rapidly developing technology such as RFID, tying systems into specific component models is not the best long term approach.

Example of a tagging specification; what elements a specification should contain

This specification is the cornerstone of continuous improvement.

Establish Continuous Improvement and Problem-solving Practices

In several discussions, I have shared a version of a below continuous improvement outline. Let’s build the model step by step to see what it means in RAIN RFID use.

Let’s start with the basic: Do, Measure, Improve cycle.

When this is translated into the world of RAIN RFID use, the elements could be described as in below picture. The specification is the cornerstone of the continuous improvement cycle.

Next, let’s add some details:

Operations refers in this case to the RFID related operations. In-house operations related to RAIN RFID are reading the tags and possibly writing the tags, And then depending on the make or buy decisions, items are tagged, and someone is manufacturing the tags. All of these actions should be based on the specification: What are the tag requirements, how the items are tagged, how the tags are read.

When any system is used long enough, something changes. These changes should be reflected as changes in the specifications.

The changes and problems can be noticed reactively, that is: User notices that something is wrong, for example, missing reads in inventory counting, and reports the issue through proper channels.
The changes can be recognized proactively: There can be various checkpoints in the process and change implementations. Tagged items can be randomly tested; tags can be tested, new tag suppliers can be evaluated, etc.

If a proactive approach is used, suitable test methods need to be applied. The right approach is to have an in-house RFID test lab.

The same RFID test lab can also be used in problem-solving.

Implementing continuous improvement processes during the RAIN RFID implementation project helps to get the most out of the technology and investment. Transferring the RAIN RFID solution with development practices from project organization to operations ensures successful long term RAIN RFID use.

If you would like to discuss your RFID implementation or learn more about possibilities to set up an RFID lab, please contact Voyantic and request an online demo.

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RAIN RFID in Tool Management

Aug 06, 2020

About the author

Smoos Peng

Smoos started his RFID business in 2002. Currently, he manages METAG's daily activities to promote RFID measurement and testing solutions in Taiwan. In the meanwhile, Smoos also handles Voyantic business in Asia-Pacific region as APAC Director since 2014.

Content

中文版 Chinese version

Recent developments in RAIN RFID technology, markets, and global regulations have made the RAIN RFID an even more interesting technology. I believe that with the RAIN RFID a traditional industry such as tool manufacturing can join the digital revolution. In this blog, I will explain why it is a good time for the tool industry to adopt the RAIN RFID technology and how to get started.

RAIN is a brand name for passive UHF RFID technology based on GS1 EPC Gen2/ISO 18000-63 standard

RAIN Is Ready

In 2006, IR DSRC defeated RFID technology and was chosen for the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System in Taiwan’s freeways. Six years later, in 2012, Taiwan’s ETC system was migrated from IR DSRC to UHF RFID technology, which transferred the freeways tolling system from a flat-rate and barrier-based to a distance-based and multi-lane free-flow on all of Taiwan’s freeways. ETC application is an example of how the market will correct technology selection with time. The tool industry is now facing a similar choice as ETC in 2006. Let’s hope the right technology is chosen from the beginning.

I started to see some companies providing tool management solutions with UHF RFID technology back to 2010. Frankly speaking, I was in doubt at that time if the market would value such a solution. The cost of adding an RFID tag on each tool was not cheap. Also, having a tag recklessly attached or glued on tools seems inappropriate and not professional as the tag protruded on tools’ surface may affect the tool’s usage and cause potential danger to tool users. More importantly, I did not see UHF RFID was ready for tools management in terms of technology maturity then.

Around 2015, Stanley Black & Decker launched tool management solutions aimed at minimizing the effects of FOD (Foreign Object Damage) and ensuring the right tools are in the right places at the right time. This kind of tool management solution is quite attractive in industries like aerospace, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and construction. Though barcode is one of the most widely used methods of tools tracking in today’s market, RAIN technology has many advantages over the barcode. For instance, RAIN enabled tools can be read without a direct line of sight even when the tools are covered with dirt or grease. And multiple RAIN enabled tools can be read at once when they are inside a box or bag. RFID Detection Bag is a good use case.

More importantly, more and more tag suppliers are starting to provide RAIN tags for metallic product applications, like industrial tools or surgical tools. Confidex, Omni-ID, Murata, Xerafy, and Etagsys are examples. Some of them can offer customized RAIN tag for the market. This indicates that the RAIN tag industry is ready to serve the tool manufacturing industry.

Built-in RAIN RFID as Part of Product

Using the tools’ metallic surface as an extension of the tag antenna to enhance RAIN RFID read range. A quite high percentage of tools are made of metallic materials, which normally play a negative impact on RAIN RFID performance. The below picture shows a RAIN RFID tag’s (6mmx2mmx2mm) read range when it is measured on air and attached on a metallic surface.

This tag is designed to cover Lower ETSI and FCC bands (865MHz – 930MHz). At the frequency around 920MHz, the tag read range is 0.8 meters when measured on air. If we put the same tag on a 15cm metallic ruler, just like the metallic surface of tools, the read range increases almost 100% to around 1.6 meters.

Tiny RAIN Tag measured on air and metallic surface, 4W EIRP with receiver sensitivity of -75dBm

An innovative tag antenna engineer should think about how to integrate the tag antenna into the tools and turn the challenges of metal into the advantages. Besides, instead of labeling or patching tags on tools after they were produced, embedding RAIN RFID tag into tools in design and production stages not only enables seamless tracking of each tool from the factory to the consumer, but it can also prevent people from removing RAIN tag easily.

Global Regulations

We know different countries have different regulations for RAIN RFID frequency bands. The good news is that Japan had migrated its RAIN RFID frequency band down to 917MHz – 924MHz in 2012. And the European Commission decided to add a new frequency band, Upper ETSI_915MHz – 921MHz, in 2018. By the time of writing this article, about 20 countries in Europe have adopted at least part of the Upper ETSI frequency band for RAIN RFID application. This means that sooner or later, we are going to have a global RAIN RFID frequency band which is allocated around 920MHz. What does it mean for the tool and RAIN RFID industries once the global frequency is widely adopted?

Global frequency simplifies the production of RAIN RFID enabled tools/items. The same RAIN RFID enabled tools can be used and sold worldwide. This will help to scale up production and reduce the cost.

This opens the possibility to optimize tag performance for the narrow frequency band tag around 920MHz. Either tags can be made smaller, or longer read ranges can be achieved, read more from Voyantic CTO Dr. Jesse Tuominen’s blog. Though the variation in the RF performance has a larger impact on read ranges of a narrowband tag than on a broadband tag, fortunately, Voyantic’s Tagsurance UHF has proved to be a great solution in tackling this challenge.

No doubt, RAIN RFID provides much superior performance and potential capability compared to the barcode. However, the initial investment of adopting RAIN RFID technology is still more expensive. And it is true that RAIN RFID is not going to replace the barcodes entirely. In some use cases, the combination of RAIN RFID and barcode can be the optimal solution. But I want to point out: after a decade of market development, technology advancement, the cost decrease of RAIN components plus the global regulation change, RAIN RFID is now a feasible solution for the tool industry.

Benefits of RAIN Enabled Tools Management

I recently visited some tool manufacturing companies in Taichung and asked them what are the major problems that the tool users are facing. Their answers include lost, stolen, and misplaced tools. To be honest, I am a little bit surprised by such answers, but it again explains the importance of tool management. RAIN RFID is the ideal solution to reduce the pain points and inefficiencies. From the tool user point of view, RAIN RFID together with other IoT technologies can enhance tool management, for example:

Locating and tracking tools become easier
Improve security and avoid internal/external thefts
Increase tools utilization and availability due to full visibility
Minimize the effects of FOD
Enhance automation of alerts and reports
Eliminate human error and increase management data accuracy
Reduce total cost of ownership of tools

The demand for better tool management is apparent, and the market is huge and worldwide. The traditional tool companies surely need to think about how to take this demand as an opportunity and reinvent themselves with RAIN RFID. From my view, tool companies can gain invaluable business advantages if they successfully embrace RAIN RFID into their businesses:

Differentiate the product from the competition. This is an especially good opportunity for small and medium-sized tool companies to transform themselves from purely manufacturing to IT-driven business.
Sell more higher-value products than tools, for example, smart carry cases, smart drawers, and tools management software.
Facilitate sales if the IT system is well designed and developed. Then the customer can check data from smartphone and place order, for instance:
- Data shows XX2 and XX5 are used over 90% of the time, click here and order both.
- Data shows XX4 has not been seen in a month, click here and order a new.
Every RAIN enabled tool has a unique identification number which can be utilized for anti-counterfeiting and supply chain management from manufacturing to customer.

I am sure there are many more benefits that RAIN RFID can contribute to the tools management applications. I will leave some room for the imagination of the readers. Now let me briefly describe how to implement the RAIN RFID tracking system. There are some possible ways to carry out:

Tool company makes the whole solution in-house, including the IT system development and tag antenna design.
Tool company outsources RAIN RFID part to several different professional suppliers who provide software development, tag antenna design, and other components independently.
Or tool company cooperates with an RFID solution provider to cover all RAIN RFID related tasks.
Software company develops and sells tool management solutions to end-users.

It does not matter how the tool management solution is built; the performance and the tuning of RAIN enabled tools need to be carefully tested. Otherwise, the readability would be a big issue. And it is necessary to remind new players that commercial UHF reader is unable to verify RAIN RFID performance. After all, the reader is designed for the application, not for tag design and production quality control. SAG’s story in Taichung Taiwan will explain why it is important to utilize the right testing equipment in the R&D and the production line.

GS1 TIPP

Once the performance of RAIN enabled tools is verified in the actual use case, the tool company can consider applying GS1 TIPP [Tagged-Item Performance Protocol] to streamline RAIN enabled tools specifications. GS1 TIPP is a RAIN RFID grading system developed initially for the supply chain management in retail, but it can be applied outside retail to scale up RAIN RFID applications across industries. Currently, there are fifteen TIPP grades, and tool company can select the grade(s), which can reflect the RAIN enabled tools’ minimal performance requirement. By doing this, it will simplify the communication among tool company, solution provider, and tag supplier. After all, grading is a much more efficient way to define the RAIN enabled tools’ performance. In case the existing grades do not meet the performance requirement, the tool company can submit a new performance grade to GS1 for validation or even create a custom grade.

TIPP Grades or Custom Grades can be used to verify RAIN enabled tools performance

In addition, the tool company can use the grade to source RAIN tag or RAIN enabled tools from several different suppliers if the specified grade level, tag size, and tagging method are met. GS1 TIPP also gives RAIN tag suppliers more flexibility in how they design the tag. This will encourage the tag supplier to be more innovative and creative to design the products to maximize the business benefit. Finally, any company can build its TIPP testing lab based on GS1 guidelines, and operating GS1 TIPP testing is easy and straightforward. This will help the whole tool industry to scale up the deployment of RAIN RFID technology.

Voyantic is the only company in the world specializing in performance testing systems for RAIN RFID and NFC tags from R&D to manufacturing. If you have any questions about managing the quality of RAIN enabled tools, feel free to contact us.

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Triple Your NFC Label Production Capacity

Apr 17, 2020

About the author

Teemu Ainasoja

Content

中文版 Chinese version

In a recently published success story, Mr. Kevin Kuo, Technical Manager of a Taiwanese RAIN RFID and NFC tag manufacturer SAG discussed the improvements they have seen in production after taking the Voyantic Tagsurance HF system into use. He mentioned the improved capability to detect tags that are not working as specified, and also 200% increased production capacity. In this article, I explain more in detail some background features enabling the improvements.

“Tagsurance HF testing speed is much faster than normal commercial HF reader. The UPH has been increased over 200% after Tagsurance HF replaced the commercial reader in our converting line. Tagsurance HF can sort out those weak performance tags that a normal reader is unable to achieve. More importantly, Tagsurance can also record each tag minimum turn-on power, which is very useful information for our engineers to adjust the machine manufacturing parameters and to enhance the tag quality control.”, said Mr. Kevin Kuo, SAG Technical Manager. Let’s look at the two main improvements in detail.

200% increase in NFC label tag production capacity after installing Tagsurance HF

This amazing capacity increase was achieved entirely without adding new machinery. The capacity increase has its’ roots in the Tagsurance system. Tagsurance is an integrated real-time system, whereas typical NFC readers are combinations of a reader, computer, and reader software, or at least combinations of integrated reader + computer and software. These divided systems spend some time in moving data between the system parts. With Tagsurance, there is no time wasted on any overhead activities, and the data handling is optimized.

NFC communication standards are powerful and enable a large number of different use cases. The downside is that in typical use cases, the communication time is not minimized. There is a lot of communication flowing between the tag and reader, even in a simple read. The Tagsurance system is purpose-built for high-speed production quality testing. Some of the typical reader functionalities are left out, and focus is on a higher speed.

The difference is clearly visible when communication of Tagsurance HF and an NFC tag is compared to communication between an NFC reader (smartphone) and a tag. In the below picture, the communication is recorded with Voyantic Protocol Analyzer hardware and downconverter. The time Voyantic Tagsurance needs for checking the tag quality is a fraction of the time a typical reader needs when reading the NFC tag.

Recordings of the reader to tag communication between Tagsurance and an NFC tag; and a reader and a tag. Tagsurance HF needs a fraction of a time compared to a typical reader.

Replacing NFC reader with Tagsurace increases production capacity because Tagsurance HF:

is an optimized real-time device
does not need overhead time for moving data between system parts
is purpose-built for high-speed quality testing
uses NFC protocols efficiently for quality testing

-> 200% production capacity increase

Sort Out Tags With Weak Performance

Being a quality test device, the Tagsurance HF is capable of accurately sorting out good tags from non-performing ones. It is more interesting to look at why a regular NFC reader cannot do the sorting as well.

It starts with NFC tag performance. NFC tags are designed for different uses and are thus tuned differently, that is: the frequency where the tag needs the least amount of power is different. This frequency shifts to the 13.56 MHz HF RFID frequency only when the tag is in its typical use.

In the production line, the tag is not in its typical use environment, but the reader is still limited to operate on the 13.56 MHz. As a result, the reader only shows if the tag operates with 13.56 MHz in the manufacturing line. And how the tag works with a reader on the manufacturing line may be completely different from – let’s say someone is having the label glued behind a glass window or carrying a travel ticket inside a wallet.

In the below example, the tag with red tuning is out of specs, but in a production environment, it may even appear better than the good tags, even though in use, it requires a lot more power (does not work as well).

Tagsurance HF is not limited to the reader frequency. It uses the frequency that is relevant for determining the quality of each tag design.

Another limitation of a typical NFC reader is that they are not accurate and calibrated test devices. Many readers just have their own (high) power level designed to maximize tag reading probability; some readers may have a power setting but not calibrated. As a result, the readers cannot properly detect tags that are working out of specs.

Having exact performance information also enables production personnel to adjust the machine parameters based on real data, and to enhance the tag quality. Our expert team has seen many cases of the tremendous impact of the Tagsurance system in various production lines with ‘side effects’ being improved transparency to Quality Assurance and better communications with suppliers and customers. Tagsurance is truly a unique asset that can drive impressive results in the production environment.

Download the Tagsurance Catalogue

Learn in detail how the Voyantic Tagsurance UHF and HF testers can improve the efficiency of your organization!

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RAIN RFID Deployed in High-Speed Production Machines: Aspects of Cycle Time

Mar 16, 2020

About the author

Juho Partanen

Content

中文版 Chinese version

As RAIN RFID matures both technologically and businesswise, tagging requires scalable and flexible processes. I recently heard James Goodland, RAIN RFID Solutions Manager at NXP stating: “Going forward, the RAIN-ability of an item will be more likely integral to product design, rather than just added on an item” This implies a steady flow of new players and end-users getting into our industry, and the RAIN technology vendors need to be ready to support and help them out.

Beginning with this, the first of blog series with NXP® Semiconductors, Voyantic will address technical issues that should be considered when adopting RAIN RFID in various manufacturing environments. We shall start by understanding how the cycle time greatly affects your options, even down to the selection of the tag IC.

Translating Line Speed Into Available Cycle Time

Accelerating into the new decade 2020 RAIN tagging still dominantly relies on inlays which are converted either into tickets or labels. Printing of variable data, and encoding of RAIN labels, is done in a process that runs tens of meters per minute. Taking a figure of 30 m/min as a challenging benchmark example, and assuming a label or ticket length of mere 3.2 cm (1.25 Inch), the processing speed translates into 16 labels/sec.

Turning the numbers around 1 Sec / 16 labels gives 62.5 ms/label. This is the available cycle time in which you need to move in, process, and move out the label. If your RAIN encoding sequence stays within this cycle time, your production capacity stays unaffected.

Singulating the Tag Without Wasting Time

Quite often in a manufacturing environment, you need to singulate a RAIN label among others in the proximity. You can either use the protocol to do it or rely on skilled engineering.

Going with the protocol, you would first perform an inventory followed by the encoding process for the label. Inventory requires time specifically if high Q-values are used. This increases timing overhead, which you barely have in high process speeds.

An RF engineer can have a label singulated with careful triggering, use of dedicated antennas and appropriate reader settings. As a result, singulation does not add timing overhead at all. The Voyantic solution supports both of these approaches. Specifically, in high process speed, we usually prefer to handle singulation based on the antennas.

Efficient Cycle Time Can Be Close To 100%

A label does not need to be in the optimal position in relation to the antenna all the time for a robust encoding system to successfully complete the job. Thus, the efficient cycle time can be fairly close to 100%. This means the reader won’t idle at all when the machine runs at the specified maximum speed.

However, if encoding fails at high line speeds, you rarely have the luxury to retry encoding. If you’re working with an encoding system that is not reliable or stable enough, but you want to protect the production yield, you may need to bring the cycle time down to < 50% simply to reserve the time for a second encoding try.

An alternative strategy is to have a second reader available to process the failed labels. Obviously, a second reader adds cost and complexity and increases the space needed in the machine.

I would say that your overall preferred strategy in a production environment is to utilize RAIN encoding systems that have high reliability and high stability.

A Few Alternative Commands to Write With

All the GS1 EPC Gen2 (aka ISO 18000-63 standards family) ICs need to support the WRITE-command. The protocol also includes an optional command BLOCKWRITE, which was specifically developed to speed up the encoding processes.

It is up to the design of the IC to either support the BLOCKWRITE or not. Also, beware that the number of words that can be written with one BLOCKWRITE-command varies. Let’s look at how the NXP UCODE® 8 performs:

a) WRITE
WRITE protocol control (PC) word, UID / EPC 96 bits and access password (nine words) + lock + read : 66.5 ms

b) BLOCKWRITE
BLOCKWRITE PC word (1 word at the time), UID / EPC 96 bits (3 blockwrites, 2 words at the time), and access password (1 blockwrite, 2 words) + lock + read : 49.4 ms

Only the latter case satisfies the example limit of 62.5ms and even leaves a comfortable margin to play with. With that said Blockwrite can be a lifesaver. At the same time, the example shows that specifying the encoding sequence using Blockwrite requires expertise.

RAIN Tag ICs Keep on Improving

The design teams of IC’s need to calmly work in a crossfire of conflicting requests: please deliver a tag IC design which boasts a fantastic feature set, is smaller than the previous model and complies with RED. “And yeah,” adds the marketing expert with colourful graphs, “kindly make the new IC also more sensitive than any other RAIN IC in the market. OK?”

“OK, no problem” responds the Engineering Director, takes a longer-than-average-sip of Dr. Pepper and starts orchestrating the design effort.

Eventually, the new IC lands at the Voyantic lab, where various issues will be verified and addressed:

RAIN RFID Tag ICs Benchmarked for Write Speed

One of the IC characteristics we look at is the time required to perform the WRITE or the BLOCKWRITE operation. You rarely find those numbers in datasheets, and even if you do, it’s really difficult to make sense out of them. Although meaningless for the majority of RAIN end-users, when one encodes labels at max speed, this timing parameter has to be known.

If you’re fascinated to learn more, please download the “RAIN Tag IC Encoding Speed Test Result Overview”. As we’re writing the UID / EPC, ACCESS password, locking the memory and verifying the UID / EPC, not all the IC’s are under the example target of 62,5ms.

Download Results

The write speed of ICs may be dependent on the protocol settings. For the purpose of this story, we have used the same settings for all the different ICs, and those are specified in the document.

Is That All?

There are plenty of fascinating details of how an encoding system is engineered to perfection, but if you’re either designing or operating a label processing machine, this is pretty much the story of encoding speed.

Read the next part in our blog series with NXP: Scaling Up with RAIN RFID Tags: The Path to a World Where Every Item Has Its Own Digital Identity

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NFC Encoding With Ensurance

Aug 27, 2019

About the author

Jukka Voutilainen

I am the CEO and co-founder of Voyantic, a company that specializes in RFID test and measurement solutions. Before starting Voyantic in 2004, I worked as a researcher at the Helsinki University of Technology focusing on passive RFID sensing for moisture in building structures.

Content

中文版 Chinese version

NFC (Near Field Communication) seems to be in a positive growth phase at the moment. One reason for the positive trend is Apple’s gradual opening of NFC in their mobile phones, which means that soon nearly every smart phone in the market will be equipped with NFC capabilities. And it’s about time: the NFC Forum has been advocating the technology for the last 15 years.

In the RFID industry, NFC is often thought of as rebranding and repackaging of several HF RFID technologies that have been around for decades. However, the most valuable thing about NFC is the abstraction that it provides for application developers. Instead of learning about different radio protocols, they can focus on the actual use cases.

Similar thinking should be brought to the RFID manufacturing industry, especially in NFC tag encoding. Instead of talking about writing data into an ISO 14443-A tag, the focus should be in encoding a NTAG203 tag with a link to a web page.

NFC Just Works

When things are done right, NFC just works. Tapping an NFC tag with a mobile phone brings you to a brand owner’s website or gives you the contact information of an interesting person you have just met. But how is it done?

Essentially, NFC provides a defined way of organizing data inside a tag. This is done with the NFC Data Exchange Format (NDEF). NFC data is stored in an NDEF message in the tag memory. The NDEF message can be seen as a “folder” that contains one or more NDEF records. One record can contain for example a URL, WiFi credentials, or raw text.

So that’s it? Can we now encode NFC into any RFID tag? Well, not quite. NFC Forum has defined a set of “rules” a tag must follow to be NFC compliant. These are divided into (currently five) NFC Forum Types that define the used RF interface (ISO 14443A/B, ISO 15693, etc.), the command set, and the memory layout, among other things.

For example, to be compliant to NFC Forum Type 2, the tag should work with the ISO 14443A air interface and support Read and Write commands. In addition, the memory should be laid out so that the NDEF message starts at page 4, the serial data is in the beginning of the tag memory, and the locking bits should be at certain pre-set locations.

Encoding NFC Tags

Encoding small quantities of NFC tags is simple. All you need is an NFC enabled mobile phone and a suitable app. One pretty good app is TagWriter from NXP that allows encoding an NFC tag with different datasets such as a link, an e-mail, a telephone number, etc. The user does not need to understand the used RF protocols under the hood.

However, encoding NFC tags on an industrial level can be more tedious. For that, you typically need some machine that is able to process the tags roll-to-toll. If you know what you are doing, there is an abundance of different HF RFID readers and reader modules out there that can be used to encode NFC tags. However, typically, the readers are designed for reading rather than encoding NFC tags. In addition, different modules support different RFID protocols and NFC types, which may complicate the choice.

Voyantic’s encoding philosophy is that you shouldn’t be thinking about readers, RF protocols, or such. We will take care of that. What you need to know is what is the tag that you are encoding, and what do you want the tag to do when the end user interacts with the tag. This has been our approach when designing the Ensurance tag personalization solution.

Setting up NFC encoding in the Ensurance GUI requires selecting the used tag type and defining the encoding tasks. That’s it! And when combined together with performance testing, passing and failing tags can be encoded differently.

Ensurance is also available as a turn-key solution with Reelsurance Pro, which enables label encoding and performance testing, variable data printing, and barcode-based programming of the tag memory in a single office-sized machine.

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Smart Labels – Great Opportunity for Traditional Label Companies

Apr 26, 2018

About the author

Harri Tuulimaa

At the time of publishing this article, I was heading the Voyantic Sales and Marketing. Before entering the growing RFID business, I had dealt with cellular networks, handsets as well as measurement systems for the prior 20 years.

Content

中文版 Chinese version

Smart labels are one of the most common RFID tag types, especially in retail business, but also in numerous applications in other industries. Increasing acceptance of RFID and the double-digit growth rate of inlay/tag volumes in the past years have made smart labels an attractive business segment not only for the established RFID companies, but also for the traditional label manufacturers.

The barrier for a label company to enter the RFID/smart label business is very low as their core business comprises of printing and converting anyways – adding “inlay insertion” or “inlay lamination” to the converting process will increase the label manufacturer’s value-add and enables meeting the customers’ RFID and IoT requirements.

The Smart Label Opportunity

Label market is a big business, but expected to grow only a few percent a year, which is roughly double compared to print market in general though. The big opportunity lies in smart labels where CAGR of 15 to 20 percent is expected in the coming years, thanks to continuous tag cost reduction and huge amount of new application areas utilizing RFID technology.

Retail industry has been working long and very hard to utilize RFID technology and counts for the biggest tag volumes as of today. If one of the initial drivers justifying RFID in the early days was efficiency improvement in logistics, today there is an increasing number of drivers and quantified value-add right next to the consumers:

Integrated customer experience in omni-channel environment
Customer engagement and consumer interaction
Unmanned stores
Freshness and cold-chain tracking
Labeling obligations by authorities
Anti-counterfeiting measures.

RFID is the dominating technology today in smart labels, and RFID labels are successfully used to address all the requirements mentioned above. The big volumes of smart labels are typically produced by key players in RFID industry, i.e. either inlay/tag manufacturers or converters, however there are also several smart label producers focusing on specialized tags and applications. Integrated part of the smart label business are also the value-add services like tag performance testing and encoding of product and supplier specific information in each tag.

The current suppliers will certainly increase their capacity as the demand grows, but at the same time there is an opportunity window open for new entrants to take their share of the smart label market and related services.

How to Make Your Labels Smart?

Smart labels based on RFID technology (RAIN and/or NFC) are produced with a dedicated converting machine laminating the RFID inlays between the top material and the liner as shown in image below.

The selection of suitable RFID inlay type and supplier would be based on the RFID application and customer specification or alternatively smart label manufacturer’s own specification. Below image by permission from BW Papersystems, from their Speedliner RFID Converting machine brochure, illustrates RFID converting principle:

It is not only about manufacturing though, as smart label production brings also new requirements for the process:

Functional and/or performance testing to manage the RFID tag quality
Encoding capability to store customer-specific data in each tag.

The good news is that these capabilities can be integrated into converting machines and they create a value-add service opportunity. Smart labels can be an entry point to the RFID value chain for a traditional label company with increased turnover and profits.

Testing and Encoding Added-value

With the increasing tag volumes and adoption of RFID, the demand for RFID testing has grown even faster. This is caused by the fact that many RFID applications are fully integrated into various business processes where the basic requirement is that each tag can be read reliably every single time in the field – otherwise the efficiency of the process would collapse.

Accordingly, the RFID end-users are setting more requirements for quality assurance in RFID production and demanding actual performance measurement instead of simple pass/fail testing by RFID readers.

RFID Performance Testing

Ensuring high smart label quality (= successful read in the field) requires more than simple pass/fail testing with an RFID reader. More reliable performance testing can be done by measuring the tag sensitivity in the production line with variable power levels and several frequencies using an RFID production testing system.

Voyantic Tagsurance inline production testers can be used in single and multi-lane configurations integrated with various third-party RFID machines, like Mühlbauer CL Light RFID Converting Line pictured here.

The same Tagsurance solutions are also available for Voyantic Reelsurance and several 3rd party offline test machines for sample testing of finished labels or incoming inspection of the outsourced RFID inlays.

Encoding and Personalization

New requirements are set also for encoding functionalities as new RFID applications and users are emerging. There is a growing need for managing deliveries of special tags with customer specific memory content, often with short delivery time and rather small batches. Encoding functionality can be integrated either in converting machines or alternatively done in dedicated offline personalization machines.

How To Learn More?

If you are considering making your labels smart, please contact us to schedule an online meeting to discuss your needs. You can also learn more about our production testing solutions and reach out to us to learn more about Voyantic solutions with our machine vendor partners.

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Can Versatility and High Capacity be Combined in Smart Label Personalization?

Apr 04, 2018

About the author

Juho Partanen

Content

中文版 Chinese version

Smart labels are basically really simple RF devices and look identical to each other. However, smart label deliveries are highly customized especially in high value specialty label segment. This sets two conflicting requirements for production machinery: high capacity and high flexibility.

To address this dilemma, Voyantic has spent more than two years developing a new breed of smart label personalization solutions. At the RFID Journal Live 2018 exhibition in Orlando we are proud to unveil the Reelsurance Pro – a flexible reel-to-reel machine for smart label personalization.

Large Smart Label Manufacturing Volumes are often Sum of Numerous Small Projects

Global RAIN RFID tag production volume continues to grow and NFC is doing very well, too, especially now that the majority of iPhone users can utilize the technology to its fullest extent. According to IDTechEx there will be more than 30 Billion tags sold in the year 2020.

A peculiar fact is that even as the tag volumes grow, still the demand of customer specific tag production lots remains high. Practically this means that smart label production must remain flexible enough to meet the various requirements of end user projects.

Printers are an Obvious First Step for Many

RFID label printers are the perfect way to supply small quantities of labels that are often immediately applied on products. As such printers will continue to serve a great variety of customers engaged with luggage tracking, healthcare and event management.

The sheer scale and complexity of production often exceeds a point where buying more printers is not feasible: special label form factors, sophisticated substrate materials, large reel sizes or complicated NFC / RAIN / custom encoding. I’ve come to learn that managing specific encoded data over numerous printers requires plenty of manual processing, which especially in the long term may not be sustainable.

Printers are good for many applications, but how is the scalability?

Industrial Grade Machinery Available for High Volume Label Programs

On the other end of the spectrum, label presses and high-end personalization lines serve the needs of high volume label and ticket suppliers. If you are in the business of supplying steady volumes of tickets, hang tags or bulk labels, those machines should serve you well.

But what is the option for those ambitious companies, that want to take both NFC and RAIN jobs, and dispense variable and highly specific label batches day-to-day?

Perfect environment for label presses and high-end personalization machines

Reelsurance: Office-sized Machine for Varying Smart Label Projects

Voyantic Reelsurance Pro fills the gap for those who need a flexible reel-to-reel machine to finalize a range of different smart label jobs for their customers every week. The machine won’t stop shy of features either!

Voyantic Reelsurance Pro is a small footprint machine dedicated for RFID smart label personalization

Voyantic Fitted NFC, RAIN RFID, Barcodes and Quality Control in a Smaller-than-a-horse-sized* Machine Frame

The list of printing and encoding options on this machine is impressive, and special effort is put on label output quality. Sophisticated RFID quality testers, line tension control, ESD protection, splicing table and slightly tilted machine frame provide reels that are 100% quality tested and immediately ready to deliver. The tilted frame also makes the machine ergonomic for the operator!

May We Propose a Machine for You?

Since 2013 we have supplied quite a number of Reelsurance machines for inlay and label quality assurance processes. Now that the Reelsurance Pro supports printing and encoding too, we would be thrilled to craft a proposal that meets your specific requirements. Please contact us to schedule the first demo and conversation!

(*) As a salute to honorable Mr. Tauno Matomäki, a highly esteemed Finnish business man, President and CEO (EVP), Voyantic is still working hard to supply larger-than-a-horse-sized machines after more than a decade of exporting smaller-but-way-more-expensive-than-a-horse-sized testers around the globe.

Get Answers to Your RFID Tag Encoding Questions!

Download our white paper of RFID tag encoding! You’ll find answers to many baffling questions regarding tag memory and what should be coded to it, which codes to use and how to get the codes to the tags.

Download Now

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