by Johana Alejandra García
The technologies of identification of goods and tracking are those that have to do with the recognition and automatic capture of data, allowing the collection of information about a product or specific good, its characteristics, origin, serial number and, depending on the technology used, location.
Taking into account the above, we can affirm that information capture systems are indispensable tools when it comes to keeping track of assets within companies; either simply with the implementation of an inventory or also to make a real-time record of each movement made within the entity. Therefore, VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD wants in this edition to make a count of the most used asset identification technologies.
We will start this tour with the widely known barcode, which is undoubtedly the most used in all kinds of companies and for very varied purposes throughout the commercial process.
Barcode technology is based on representation by a set of vertical parallel lines of different thickness and spacing that together contain certain information. The barcode allows you to quickly recognize an item at a point in the logistics chain and thus be able to carry out an inventory or consult its associated characteristics (price, country of origin, among others); in the case of documents, it allows the capture of information in a fast way and offers the possibility of collating it or storing it in a database, as explained by William Barrera of Insetrón Ltda.
The barcode then allows to have a detailed inventory of each of the assets of the company, but for its control requires a manual review carried out with the help of a reader, which can slow down the process of monitoring the assets.
One of the advantages of implementing a barcode-based system is its cost, as it is relatively economical, since it is labels attached to products or goods, however its scope of action is reduced to the distance between the reader (scanner) and the barcode, which forces you to have a direct line of sight.
"The barcode is widely used in the consumer goods market such as retail stores and is mainly a data capture mechanism," explains Hervé Calderón Blanchot, CEO of the OXTEN Group. In addition, he added that its importance and diffusion is due to the use that is given in almost the entire supply chain, from manufacturing, distribution to marketing at the point of sale.
Another very popular system in supermarkets, shopping centers and chain stores is the VEA (Electronic Article Surveillance) or EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) technology. This system is based on the use of control points or security portals, when an EAS tag passes through these areas an alteration in the pattern of the signal is generated which is detected by a reader. It is very useful to keep track of the entry and exit areas of the companies, because unless the label is deactivated an alarm will occur when the asset crosses the portal. {mospagebreak}
Real-time localization
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) systems, like the previous systems, are integrated by two main components: the tags and the reader. But in this case the tags can be active, that is, they have a power supply which allows the permanent emission of a radio frequency signal, on the other hand the passive tags are activated only when they are in the transmission area of an antenna.
Although RFID is beginning to become widespread, its use is still limited due to its price, higher if compared to the two technologies mentioned earlier in this article. However, asset control systems based on passive RFID technology are considerably cheaper than active tags.
RFID is especially attractive for its wide coverage, in addition "being a relatively novel location mechanism and of a higher cost, this system is mainly found in places where high value goods are held and real-time control is required, one of its main applications is control in shipping yards", Hervé Calderón tells us.
William Barrera adds that a great advantage of this permanent monitoring is that "in this way it is prevented that by some method, someone can avoid reading the tag when passing through the reader. When the asset associated with a specific place or area is monitored, it is also prevented from being taken to another place and then being removed from the building by an unmonitored area. When active tags are used that are constantly transmitting if someone tries to destroy the tag or detach it, the system will immediately detect an alarm condition."
When talking about RFID, we also have to mention the Electronic Product Code (EPC), this is a unique number designed to uniquely identify any object worldwide. "It is considered as the standard identification solution and it is expected that its use will become widespread and become a tool as widely used as the current barcode. This unique number is stored in an RFID tag ," Barrera explained.
"Unlike barcode, EPC applications are unlimited and can deliver benefits at every link in the supply chain. The objective of this system is to make the value chain increasingly efficient and allow full visibility of the objects that move in it; it also increases the quality of the flow of information shared between business partners," said Barrera; The EPC is already being adopted in countries such as the United States and England.
On the other hand, thanks to the use of real-time location systems based on wireless local area network technology, keeping a minute-by-minute track of goods in a company is already a reality, since this system allows high precision asset control. For its implementation it is necessary to use WiFi tags or that the same goods have this type of technology. It is also required to have a good wireless structure, since the system to achieve the triangulated position obtains the information from the access points.
This technology uses the same principles as global geopositioning systems (GPS) to do the control of goods, only instead of using satellites to do the triangulation of the signal it uses the access points of the wireless local area network. "Lately, we are beginning to hear more and more frequently about the use of real-time tracking systems through wireless local area network technology," says Hervé. {mospagebreak}
Choosing the best option
Each of these technologies has different operating parameters, offering different possibilities that can be used and become advantages or disadvantages according to the needs of the company, in front of this Calderón affirms that to make an adequate choice "you have to look more at the side of the installation and the scopes that are desired with the control of assets, also in the type of assets that are going to be controlled and the policies that the company has in this regard."
He also adds that these technologies are not exclusive of each other and admit to be implemented simultaneously "the situation can arise where certain goods of high value could be controlled with systems in which the human being interferes less such as RFID or WiFi, while others are handled with a bar code," he said. "In many cases, implementing an asset control system involves more than just pasting labels or tags, it is necessary to create or modify internal policies, change processes, all this for the benefit of the company's assets," Calderón added.
For his part, William Barrera indicates that, for him, the most advisable thing is the implementation of RFID in association with an access control system, since this "allows the employee to be assigned the management of certain assets and is authorized to move inside or outside the company with them."
In addition, "by having tags that transmit continuously and antennas that present a large reading range, you can implement an asset control system that monitors permanently, and not only the entry and exit points of the building. This is a great advantage in terms of safety," Barrera said.
With the above we see how the use of any of these systems of identification and tracking of goods, applied to the monitoring of assets, minimizes the chances of theft, loss or unauthorized movements of material in companies, guaranteeing an optimal use of resources and any item of importance within the company.
The technologies are there, it is just a matter of analyzing their potential uses within corporations, taking into account institutional policies and the advantages that can be obtained from their implementation.
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