By Craig Sadler, Chief Technology Officer

This is one of the first questions that comes up when a company decides to move into RFID.   Of course, IPMAS can make suggestions because we know the industry.

However, we always advise that you do your research and take your time. When you implement your RFID solution, the tag vendor that you partner with is one of the most important decisions you will make, and it will likely mean the difference between success and failure. You may end up with multiple vendors, but chances are, you will have a primary.

What are some things you should look for before making a decision?

• The way that company does business is important.  Look into their production standards, their quality control, and the options for packaging the inlays.
• You need a company with years of experience creating tags.  Not just RFID tags, but bar code and “human-readable” as well.  They need to know the performance characteristics of their product line and what works in different environments.

More than the Sum of Its Parts

Your tag has two major components: The first is the inlay, which is composed of a chip and an antenna array.  The second is the packaging, or the “clothes” the inlay must wear to protect it from the elements.

In analyzing the industry, IPMAS found that some inlay companies do produce packaged tags, but there isn’t that much variety off-the-shelf. There are other vendors that purchase the inlays in bulk and package them many different ways.

We looked long and hard for a tag vendor that could deliver the biggest variety of inlay packaging at a fair price.  They needed to deliver tags with a low percentage of failure, and be able to package them in ways that hadn’t been done before.  For us, in the end, that vendor was MetalCraft, Inc.

Meeting Constant Challenges

We have gone to MetalCraft several times and started with the phrase “Bet you can’t solve this one!” So far, we have always been wrong.  If they didn’t have what we needed, they figured it out in a reasonable amount of time. They actually like the challenges!

So, because we are working in an innovative field, one other factor that must be considered in your decision on a tag vendor: Partner with someone that likes to innovate along with you.  You have enough to worry about without failing tags.

We also have clients that expose their tags to extremely harsh conditions.  The tags we provide have to survive deployment environments from harsh deserts to the arctic tundra.  They are frequently submerged in liquids and some even endure acid baths.  They are stomped on by field workers and carelessly whacked against walls, truck beds, and each other.

Not all of our tags go into extreme parts of the world, but even the nice air conditioned offices have workers that fidget with the tags attached to their laptops.  If your tags don’t survive, your RFID system is useless.

A Wise Place to Invest

Fortunately, if you use a high quality vendor, not all of the tags are expensive.  We stuck with our vendor because even their inexpensive tags are tough.  We manage to use something in their range of standard varieties most of the time, and we have never been disappointed.

Finally, when it comes to purchasing tags for your new, critical RFID system, our best advice is always the same: Don’t go for the cheapest solution.  You get what you pay for and this isn’t the place to cut corners.