by Ana María Restrepo
To address this issue, VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD spoke with Jesús Montero, director of Kimaldi, Ricardo Flores, from the technical area of the Oxten group in Mexico and César Augusto Zapata, director of research and development of Línea Informática S.A Colombia.
As mentioned above, asset control allows continuous observation of the important elements or goods of the company (merchandise, laptops, telephones, machinery, etc.) through an active device or tag , which emits a signal that is read by the antenna to verify its position and status.
"Active tags normally operate at 2.4ghz, and carry an emitter chip along with a battery that gives enough life of operation. By emitting at 2.4 Ghz they can be placed in computer equipment such as laptops, and electronics for their protection, "explains Jesús Montero.
For his part, Ricardo Flores explains that this control is carried out thanks to the fact that each of these objects usually has a serial number, which is registered in a database. "Normally an inventory of this equipment is made every six months in companies."
But this technology did not begin to be used to provide protection to assets as it happens today, César Zapata affirms that the use of this type of procedure is born by accounting provisions, but that today technological elements are involved that seek to streamline the process and guarantee the security and reliability of the information.
RFID, tracking from vehicles to soldiers
Although barcode is one of the most widely used and preferred asset control methods worldwide, radio frequency identification is gaining traction, especially for those companies that need to monitor their assets over long distances. This technology is the perfect choice if you want to track not only the movement of equipment, but also of people, machines and materials.
This system has an advantage over the other types of control and that is that it does not require a direct view between the sender and the receiver of the signal. This statement is reinforced by Cesar, who adds that RFID guarantees unequivocal identification in order to provide its tracking, monitoring and immediate location, in addition to having the "visibility" of the asset in real time.
This identification allows, in addition to tracking, to know all the information related to that particular asset. In the physical facilities where you want to carry out the control, antennas are located that are the ones that allow you to always monitor the exact location of the asset.
Broad spectrum of use
Radio frequency identification works under several types of frequencies and depending on them the use that is given to the tags is focused, as Montero explains "it depends on RFID, if we work with frequencies of 125khz, or mifare are oriented more to access control or asset control, but always thinking about relatively short distances. If we work with UHF, which are frequencies of approx 900Mhz, it can be combined with passive tags that give about eight meters away, which is ideal for inventory control, mobile units, containers etc. If we use active tags we can control all kinds of electronic equipment, it can also be used on people or babies via special bracelets with which you can have a reading range of up to 50 meters. "
The other types of frequencies are also widespread in the market, such as the high, 13.56 MHz, which does not work near metals. It is normally used in applications such as product traceability, movements of aircraft baggage or access to buildings. For its part, the microwave frequency (2.45 GHz and 5.8 GHz), is used for long reading distances, as well as for high transmission speeds, and is used for tracking and traceability of people or objects.
The control of assets by radio frequency can be implemented in industries, companies, commerce, government, among other sectors such as those cited by Flores and Zapata in order to protect their equipment, people and locations, since they are not only used for tracking but also, for example, to allow or restrict access.
In the government this system is implemented to control assets, access and identification of vehicles and access of people (proximity cards). Similarly, in the health sector it is used for the identification of patients for the purpose of recording the hospital consumption that they carry out as well as the registration of the medication that is being applied at that time. It also supports the identification of medical assets found in hospitals and medical centers. Avoids costs for wasting patient and hospital staff time, as well as equipment replacement costs. Since about 10 to 20% of the equipment found in hospitals and medical centers are stolen or lost. In the textile industry, on the other hand, it is implemented to supervise assets and inventories.
It is also implemented in the security of special personnel, for example, a few years ago identification tests were developed for people who are in conflict zones (personnel of humanitarian organizations, Red Cross, military, etc.) or in cities with high rates of kidnapping.
For the identification of animals, this technology is used as a control and registration tool in livestock breeding programs. While in libraries it allows the control of collections of books and inventories, streamlining routine processes, in addition to enabling a permanent record on the stocks and use of collections.
In logistics its use is conventional in order to track products throughout the supply chain. And in RFID chain warehouses it allows articles or merchandise to be controlled, but in this sector there are some changes as Cesar explains, because in certain countries tests of use of RFID technology are being developed together with EAS technology (Electronic Article Surveillance), in a device known as a dual tag , which serves as a tracking device and as a security device, which must be deactivated at the time of purchase to ensure that the product was indeed paid.
Reliability and security
Like all systems that are implemented in order to provide protection in an area, company or city, radio frequency identification has a margin of error and reliability that makes it "desired". According to what was expressed by the three professionals, their degree of confidence is high, since as Ricardo explains, several tests have been carried out in all sectors and all these have been successful, so much so that one could speak of 97% effectiveness. "There are some other fields where you can't get in because like all technologies they're not 100% reliable in all environments." Comment that supports Montero, who assures that when making the study of the project the quality of receptions must be taken into account, in addition to the possible interferences to size the solution well so that the antennas read all the tags. "In a well-analyzed project, the reliability is total."
Similarly, Zapata affirms that as an electronic control tool RFID technology guarantees a unique identification method and reinforces the position of Montero and Flores, asserting that its reliability will be given not only by the correct choice of hardware and software elements that it involves, but for the adequate definition and application of the procedures for its implementation, monitoring, maintenance and above all administration, since in most of the failed implementations of this type of technological instruments the lack of an administration and management of the devices, once implemented, it ruins all the effort made for their installation. "A significant percentage of these projects "dies" months after their implementation due to lack of who manages and administers them"
In the security industry, RFID identification is basically implemented between 125khz, mifare, UHF, and 2.5ghz, although it also depends on the field in which the technology is applied. For example, in logistics, the supply chain and retail trade, the use of passive UHF RFID tag tags is the most widely used, while in personnel and vehicle access control HF passive tags are used. In the case of mobile assets such as electronic equipment, industrial equipment, medical equipment, material handling equipment, computer equipment, etc. Wifi location devices have been implemented with great success.
Regarding other methods of asset control, RFID is well positioned in the industry, however, and according to what Jesus believes, for asset protection you always have to analyze the cost of the asset to be protected vs the cost of the solution, as well as contemplating the loss of the asset. For his part, Zapata believes that this system is gaining ground more and more and that aspects such as cost and integration into companies' information systems keep it away from replacing traditional asset identification systems, although it must be taken into account that its application, for the moment, does not cover all the possible scenarios of the industry, there are still technological aspects that must be resolved to allow its complete integration.
Recognition and tracking in Latin America
As is well known, Latin America has evolved substantially in the adoption of new technologies in the security industry and in the field of RFID is no exception.
According to Flores, Mexico is one of the countries in the region most interested in the technology, there have been several pilot tests and many are already implementing it. But there are countries such as Colombia, Chile, Guatemala, Venezuela and Uruguay that also express interest in this technology already with some implementations, especially in health and logistics.
For his part, Montero assures that the markets that work most with these technologies are Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. Likewise, Zapata explains that in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Chile RFID is used for various purposes such as logistics and trade processes.
For these three professionals, the future of this technology in Latin America is promising, as it is increasingly demanded and reliable.
It should be noted that in February of this year the consulting firm Gartner predicted that the RFID market, of electronic product identification cards, will come to invoice -in 2008- the 1,200 million dollars, which means an increase of 30.9%, with respect to what was invoiced in 2007, when it ended up billing $917.3 million.
In this case, Ricardo assures that the most interesting thing is the prospect for the year 2012: according to the consultants the global RFID market will reach $ 3,500 million. At the same time, Flores paraphrases Chad Eschinger, Research Director at Gartner, who assures that the RFID market has begun to change, from an incipient market to a sector of innovation and generator of turnover and business.
