Beisel went on to say there are many exciting things in the works in terms of the use of RFID chips for asset management. For instance, the company is working on a type of system that would allow utility companies to track reels of cable in their warehouses. He noted this would be a way for utilities to save money, prevent theft and be more efficient.
“If, for example, an electric company, needs X number of feet of cable per application and [if] they don’t track the amount, they could show up with the wrong size,” Beisel explained.
He continued, saying this could require an employee returning to a job, which would cost a company in time and man hours.
Cost is a very important factor especially during these belt-tightening times. “Even with the economy where it is, it’s a good time to look into RFID because of the cost savings and efficiencies,” Beisel commented. “Especially for retailers, in these lean times, they don’t want to carry anymore inventory than they have to.”
Despite the slow economy, Rochelle Heinl, vice president of Tipp City, Ohio-based Repacorp, believes RFID usage is on the rise. “It seems that the economy is in a slow spot right now, but companies are still interested in saving money, or looking for methods to help them save money,” she explained. “If companies work closely with an integrator and know going into a project that they lose, for example, $100,000 a year in lost merchandise, if setting up an RFID system in their warehouse only costs $50,000, the company should see an immediate [return] on [its] investment and will at that point choose to spend the initial costs associated to help [it] out in the near future. RFID is a great technology and can be used in such a vast number of ways that with times being slow for companies right now, there is extra time to research RFID and look into what savings it can offer if implemented.”
On another note, since RFID use seems to continue to grow, Heinl remarked that Repacorp added a new digital press that is linked with prestolabels.com. The site allows distributors to log in and get discounted pricing immediately on short-run, quick turnaround products printed with very high quality.
Heinl went on to say that Repacorp has the ability to convert both UHF and HF RFID inlays and verify and encode both types of technology. UHF makes up the largest portion of Repacorp’s RFID sold product line and accounts for close to 75 percent of its RFID business. “We are just as able to convert HF RFID products, but since HF inlays are about double the cost of UHF products, I think that less people are jumping into that field right away,” Heinl noted.
To keep with changing marketplace demands, Repacorp tries to make sure it addresses all customer needs. Heinl explained the company has a large stock offering of RFID labels in a range of sizes. It also stocks all of the main UHF players, Avery, UPM Rafsec and Alien inlays, all in the di-pole form. Along with its stock offerings, Heinl remarked Repacorp runs more than 50 percent of its current RFID business as custom.
“We convert inlays into any type of material: papers, direct thermal, poly-synthetic stocks, tag stocks, synthetic tag stocks—we really are able to run most materials the customer might find necessary to fit their application,” she said.
In addition, Repacorp offers testing tags for start up applications. “We work very closely with the inlay suppliers and stay up on what new inlays are available and how they work with different products for the customer application. If the customer has the size of the label, the read distance needed, and what the final inlay/label is being applied to, we can usually recommend a starting/testing point and provide some inlays for that test,” Heinl explained.
Heinl noted that the company’s ethics gives it a competitive edge. She believes this allows the company to build strong relationships with customers.
“We pride oursel[ves] in customer service and feel that this is something corporate America has allowed to go by the way side—every time you call Repacorp, you will receive a friendly voice answering the phone instead of an automated system which is not necessarily common practice anymore,” Heinl enthused. “Along with our customer service and very quality products, we offer a one-stop shop for our customers. We have a large variety of stock items, RFID and standard non-RFID labels and we also have the ability to produce most custom products needed from our customers. At the end of the day, if we can make our customers’ job easier, we are happy.”
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