Use of RFID labels is becoming increasingly common in a range of sectors as businesses seek greater efficiency in supply chains – and this provides opportunities to resellers.
As supply chains become more complex and regulated – and customers demand ever-shorter delivery times and greater traceability – the label is more important than ever. Increasingly, RFID labels are becoming the option businesses in a range of sectors turn to as they seek to ensure their supply chain runs as effectively as possible.
“Sectors like retailing, manufacturing, healthcare and logistics have been working for decades with UPC/EAN barcodes, indeed 10 billion barcodes are said to be scanned every day,” says Benoit Charnallet, product manager for the EMEA region of TSC Auto ID. “But, as industries increasingly need to comply with retailer mandates and regulations such as the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and Food Traceability Rules, which need item-level identification and data, then transitioning to RFID is no longer a nice to have, it’s becoming essential.”
Deyon Antoine, product manager at Toshiba Tec, agrees that RFID labelling is rapidly moving from a specialist technology to a core requirement for organisations seeking greater automation, traceability and real-time visibility across their operations. “As supply chains become more complex and customer expectations continue to rise, RFID offers a practical way to bridge the gap between physical assets and digital systems,” he says.
“In retail, for example, accurate, real-time insight into what stock is in transit, on the shop floor, or already sold is critical to maximising availability and reducing lost sales. RFID enables bulk item reads and near-instant inventory checks, helping retailers improve accuracy while significantly reducing the manual effort associated with traditional barcode scanning. Logistics and distribution organisations face similar pressures, with end customers now expecting live shipment updates as standard. RFID labelling supports this by allowing items to be tagged and tracked from source to endpoint, providing visibility at every stage of the journey.”
Paul Kim, managing director, BIXOLON Europe, adds that RFID-enabled labels are becoming increasingly evident within supply chain and logistics management situations such as distribution centres or fulfilment centres. “The technology is becoming more prevalent, not only because of its benefits across a range of different industries, but also as the price of implementation is falling, meaning smaller and mid-sized companies can take advantage of RFID smart labelling,” he adds.
Benefits
There are various benefits to using RFID labels. “The driving force behind increased RFID adoption is organisations’ desires to streamline operations with automated data collection and real-time visibility,” says Benoit. “RFID tagging enables fast, accurate identification of inventory without line-of-sight scanning.
“It can bulk read hundreds of tags in seconds with a comfortable read range of five to 10 metres compared to the traditional barcode’s one metre range. RFID can help organisations optimise their labour and stock, reduce their shrink, eliminate manual errors like double scanning, provide visibility of sales data and support warranty and returns tracking.”
Deyon adds that compared to standard labels, RFID tags can store far more data, which can be updated throughout an item’s lifecycle without the need for relabelling. “Encrypted tag data improves security, while the durability of RFID labels makes them well suited to harsh or high-risk environments,” he adds. “Integration with wider IoT, AI and analytics platforms is also unlocking new use cases, from predictive maintenance to automated replenishment and smarter, data-driven workflows.”
Paul notes that RFID labels help ensure real-time, accurate inventory management and traceability. “RFID labels can be coded to help automate inventory management and provide an accurate view of stock from purchase and delivery to arrival at stores or shoppers’ front doors,” he says.
“RFID labels can also be coded with vital SKU data and can be printed with standard 1D or 2D codes when required, which is great for retail and supply chain management in those contexts. This approach provides a failsafe for situations where an RFID system is down.”
Aileen Ryan, president and CEO of RAIN Alliance, notes that some RFID labels can also have a longer lifespan than traditional labels. “For instance, in the pharmaceutical industry, RAIN RFID labels are used for seamless operational efficiency and inventory management, but also as a critical patient safeguard,” she says.
“By providing a tangible, accessible, and infallible record of authentication for each product, RAIN RFID labels provide protection against counterfeit medicines. These labels must therefore be readable throughout the entire lifecycle of the medication, which for some products can be months. They must also be available in a range of sizes, as they may need to be attached to an item as small as a single syringe.”
Customer demands
But as uptake of RFID labelling accelerates, the demands made on them by customers is changing. As Benoit notes, RFID is such a physical technology that can be affected by the environment, by metals, liquids, fixtures, even the product itself. “So it’s vital to work with partners that understand that.
“At TSC Auto ID, we continue to validate RFID chips, inlays and tags from major manufacturers at our printer and label validation lab to ensure that our range of RFID printers can handle the growing variety of labels on the market. We also collaborate with standards organisations like GS1 and the RAIN Alliance to ensure our printers correctly and sufficiently support various encoding standards, even as they evolve.
“Customers obviously want reliability and our RFID printers are not just physically robust and capable of handling challenging environments and workloads but also technologically advanced. And RFID tagging can be automated with our print engines.”
Aileen adds that, fundamentally, customers want a solution that they don’t need to think about. “They need a solution that they can trust to work first time every time, regardless of variables such as the environmental conditions,” she says. “RAIN RFID labels provide this trusted functionality to capture data that can then integrate seamlessly into an organisation’s wider supply chain management software to provide actionable insight, regardless of form factor.”
AI impact
As with the rest of the print sector, AI is impacting the development of RFID labelling. “AI allows for much greater volumes of data to be reviewed and analysed that would otherwise not be possible manually,” says Aileen. “This unlocks a host of options for those who deploy RAIN RFID labels, supporting enhanced, real-time tracking of raw materials and finished goods throughout any given supply chain.
“Additionally, AI tools can monitor the movement of all RAIN labels in a system for any supply chain choke points far more efficiently than would be possible manually, helping to identify vulnerabilities and divert additional resources before they have chance to undermine production.”
Benoit notes that in the retail sector, AI and cloud platforms personalise shopping, automate inventory tracking, and secure transactions. “AIDC solutions, including Digital Link, barcode scanning and RFID enable real-time product tracking, enhancing omnichannel operations and consumer transparency,” he adds. “Also, as reverse logistics networks become more complex, RFID provides a reliable data layer that automation and AI can build on.”
Reseller conversations
When talking to customers about RFID labelling solutions, there are various things that resellers should highlight. “When choosing an RFID solution, customers need to first consider what business problem they’re trying to solve, like optimising retail labour forces and getting them off mundane, repetitive tasks like inventory checking and onto the shop floor interacting with customers and driving sales,” says Benoit.
“However, we can’t stress strongly enough the importance of working with a partner who’s capable and competent in RFID. It’s not just about the technology; it’s also about the people and the process. There are often five to seven partners involved in the ecosystem of an RFID solution. They can help guide you through the many potential tripping points such as tag selection as it applies to the actual item, or getting the right data encoded into the tag and formatting it correctly, or antenna placement for the reading solution.
“Advise customers to not let cost be the main justifier or decision-maker for the vendor/solution provider they work with because if they choose the lower cost option they may pay for it in the long-term.”
Deyon says that customers are no longer just looking for hardware; they want complete, scalable RFID labelling solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing systems and deliver measurable efficiency gains. “Reduced errors, lower labour costs and improved visibility remain the key selling points,” he adds.
Aileen notes that the first phase of the DPP initiative is expected to take effect as early as 2027, which resellers need to be alive to. “This means that industry must prioritise putting in place the infrastructure they need to comply with the regulation, including the requirement to provide accessible data on product origins and materials, driving greater transparency, re-use and recycling,” she says.
“RAIN RFID labels can provide access to sustainability information throughout a product’s lifecycle. To make sure that customers choose the right form factor, resellers should be able to advise on the various of options available. While embedded or sewn-in labels are currently seeing very strong industry momentum, these options are not feasible or cost effective for all use cases. It is important to consider the material the label needs to be made of – paper and plastic are currently common – as well as if the label needs to detach or stay in place which will in turn influence the adhesive used.
“Each tag is also encoded with an identifier that is guaranteed to be unique. As the number of companies relying on wireless tags increase, so too does the risk that their identifiers conflict with tags from a supplier, a merger, or even their own second facility. A misread could lead to significant a false identification, resulting in operational chaos. RAIN RFID supports two fundamental numbering systems for encoding tags to ensure global uniqueness – one specified by GS1 and the other specified by ISO – to guarantee that no other tag, anywhere in the world, now or in the future, will have the same identifier.”
Future
Commentators agree that use of RFID labelling is set to increase in the coming years. Deyon says the acceleration will be driven by advances in range, security, AI and analytics. “As industries demand ever greater transparency and automation, RFID labelling will continue to be a vital enabler of smarter, more connected operations,” he says.
Paul adds that use is likely to grow quickly as the technology becomes more affordable. “Businesses are also searching for ways to improve productivity and their operations and RFID supports here. A significant development is the newly available linerless option,” he adds. “Linerless RFID labels bring together two technologies into one solution. It removes the need for backing paper. This reduces waste, lowers disposal costs, and improves sustainable credentials. The RFID within the label enables real-time identification and tracking without the need for unobstructed scanning.”
