Power efficient RFID chip improves supply chain management

The new auto adjust feature ensures a consistently high performance read-rate across different product materials and global deployments. Additionally the brand identifier feature validates product authentication and helps identify fakes to combat grey market activities. The solution is particularly well-suited for retailers, brand owners, label manufacturers, system solution companies and others seeking to use RAIN RFID technology for supply chain management and brand protection.

“In the retail industry, there is an ever-increasing demand for optimised inventory visibility and improved process efficiencies to support their omnichannel strategies and create a better shopping experience for consumers, ensuring that they have the right product available at all times via all channels,” said Ralf Kodritsch, Director Segment Manager of RFID Solutions at NXP. “UCODE 8 provides unparalleled performance, addressing exactly those dynamic needs of the retail market, where accuracy, speed and brand protection are crucial throughout all retail processes — from manufacturing and distribution to in-store inventory and the final customer sale.”

Saving cost with the auto adjustment feature
The RAIN RFID Chip platform features auto adjustment to deliver consistent readability when used on different materials across different frequency ranges. The feature lowers cost by reducing the need for dedicated regional antenna designs. The automated error correction for memory data also improves data accuracy and ensures that memory data content will remain unchanged over the entire product lifecycle. Its dual-axis glue spacer design and large area gold contact pads can reduce failure rates caused by mechanical stress at the antenna contacts and thereby eliminate performance degradation.

“The RFID inlay is the only element that touches every read point throughout the global supply chain. Our vision is to create inlay products that help the industry unlock new use cases while delivering consistent global performance across each read point,” said George Dyche, Director RFID Innovation and Product Management at Avery Dennison. “The UCODE 8 from NXP, coupled with our global antenna engineering teams, will enable innovative designs to meet current and future market needs.”

“UCODE 8 pushes the envelope by creating a chipset that is optimised across many other use cases such as functions on conveyor systems in dense packages, handhelds on loading docks, overhead systems in warehouses or on retail floors, exit portals for loss prevention, or close-range readers for point-of-sale or parts verification,” said Justin Patton , Auburn University RFID Lab. “UCODE 8 powers inlay products in all of [Auburn Retail Categories] ARC’s current approved categories (A, B, C, D, F, G, I, K, M, N and Q) and meets the demands of the inlay industry from not just global tags, but from truly universal tags used in the different use cases as well.”