Written by Andy Neat, Product Manager, Marking and Installation

Morning everyone. Thanks for clicking the link and welcome to another Monday morning rambling from myself, only this time on RFID markers. I can sense the excitement!

I have blogged about RFID before, and with the reputation that movie sequels have these days it would appear I’m doomed at keeping your attention with this blog sequel, so let’s hope this blog is more ‘Empire Strikes Back’ and not ‘Jurassic Park II’.

We all know what RFID is whether we realise it or not, it is all around us. In fact you’ve probably got some RFID technology sitting in your wallet or purse; your contactless bank card is the obvious one. Hotel door keys, Oyster cards, Park Run trackers and even your smartphone, all have RFID technology and we’re using them every day. In fact some hotels are stitching RFID chips into towels and bathrobes to utilise laundry systems and of course theft. Even my Portsmouth FC season ticket has RFID to let me through the turnstile (please send jokes on a postcard).

Now I know what you’re thinking, how can Pompey afford RFID turnstiles?! No seriously, why is there so much RFID in everyday life in 2017?

The simple answer is speed and ease. We as humans are starting to want to do mundane tasks like paying for your bread & milk quickly and easily without fuss, we’re busy people and let’s face it, if the technology is ready and affordable then why not?

So let’s talk about our world, the industrial side of things. Where does RFID fit into it? Well again, it’s already here but we probably don’t realise it. One thing to be clear on is that RFID uses various radio frequencies, for example when tapping your smartphone on a payment point, this would be a relatively low frequency meaning the communication between devices only happens within a few centimeters. Whereas in an industrial world, when a train pulls up at a signalling point, this will be using Ultra High Frequency to communicate from signal point to train operator at some meters away that the train has arrived and that’s where Phoenix Contact come in.

We have a range of Device, Equipment and Cable markers available and ready to revolutionise your products. A common application is maintenance inspections. This is where device markers are printed to identify part of a machine or facility with an embedded HF RFID chip which is scanned during a maintenance check. This way you can ensure that someone actually has to go to that area as RFID’s can be written to be unique and not duplicated. This would be using HF RFID of course because you have to be very close for it to read. Then there is UHF RFID markers available from us for reading from a distance. All this data then can be used to your requirements, Saving time and effort elsewhere.

All our device and equipment markers are printed on the Bluemark CLED. This is because the printing process of LED light curing ink ensures the markers are more durable in harsh environments, which is where we see some of these markers going. Although, for cable marking with RFID we have rolls of cable wrap labels available for our Thermomark Roll or RollMaster printer.

Oh and Phoenix Contact also have HF and UHF readers in the product range.

There we have it, who’d have thought a plastic marker could hold RFID technology. So why not look at bringing your equipment’s marking up to speed with a bit of smart technology to help you save time with…well, whatever you need to save time doing.

Thanks for reading; I hope the sequel blog lived up to the first blog.

Now excuse me while I watch Jurassic Park III 🙂

For more information on our inspiring and efficient RFID marking systems, contact Andy Neat, Product Manager, Marking and Installation

Twitter: @pxc_andyneat

LinkedIn: Andy Neat

E-mail: aneat@phoenixcontact.com

Tel: +44(0)1952 681700