Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has numerous advantages over the bar code that has been in place for decades. There are major advantages of RFID technology. One of the advantages of RFID is that it isn’t a line of sight reader, so the coding information does not need to be on the outside and can be reusable, whereas reusing bar codes is difficult due to their nature and construction.
There are active and passive tags; they offer advantages of RFID tags in that you can read them at greater distances. The active tag only works as long as it has power, and can be read at a distance of one hundred feet or more. They are more expensive and larger than most other tags. The passive tag can only be read over a short distance; only a few feet. They are much cheaper and smaller, and they can last as long as twenty years in service.
Without having to use bar codes, which at times the readers have trouble with, the advantages of RFID technology and the passive tag for things like inventory control and more applications loom large. Yes, the passive tag may be read at a short distance, but it requires no power like the active tag and the reader will have no problem reading the tag like bar code. I know this because I have used line-of-sight readers and they do have problems with an external code tag. The passive tag can be as small as a grain of rice which is another reason for the advantages of RFID in the workplace as well as other applications. I can see another of the advantages of RFID in the fact that the VIN plate could become obsolete. All you need is a passive tag and a RFID reader to find the information. If the passive tag can last for twenty years, which is much longer than most people keep their vehicles, a reader in the hands of law enforcement and a passive tag could contain all of the information about the vehicle which is another of the advantages of RFID.
When I was at work and had to track equipment, all I had was a line-of-sight reader. Many of the tags I had to read, which were outside tags, were hard for the reader to read the first try. With the light source on a line-of-sight reader, you need to find the right distance and angle for the reader to obtain the information. These are the advantages of RFID; you don’t have to worry about the position of the reader to obtain the information. The only disadvantage to the passive tag is that the tag is still readable after what the tag is on has been sold, or is no longer being read for say inventory control.
With any technology there are advantages of RFID, and there are also some disadvantages of RFID. For most uses the advantages of RFID outweigh the disadvantages.