Northwest Aerospace News June | July Issue No. 3 | Page 55

PACIFIC NORTHWEST AEROSPACE ALLIANCE SPOTLIGHT
To enable RFID, former systems required large rugged read-
ers at a cost of $4,000 – $5,000 each; today’s systems can
utilize smartphones and tablets as an RFID reader, hence the
costs have fallen below $1,000. Furthermore, the volumes of
RFID tags now being utilized in industry has driven the cost
of a tag down from several dollars to less than 20 cents for
some passive tags. Coupled with these cost reductions there
have been many advances in IT and connectivity, including
access to 4G and unlimited data. The rise of cloud-based
software and data analytics have led to Statistical Analytics
Systems (SAS) being embraced by more traditional man-
ufacturing companies and hence a hunger for the data that
RFID systems can easily provide.
“Your systems are only as good at the data that you put into
them … and if you have people hand-writing information and
giving it to others by any manual electronic means, the data
won’t be good,”
- Gary Moe, president and founder, ID Integration.
As companies now recognize the importance of good data
and the link to improved operations and efficiency, the time
to fully embrace RFID technology has arrived and the bene-
fits are numerous. The use of RFID enables aerospace manu-
facturers to effectively track work orders and inventory; this
in turn improves productivity by reducing the labor hours
wasted looking for misplaced parts and tools — especially
important when a facility is operating with multiple shifts
and lean headcount. They can also help to drive improved
customer relations, as the inability to locate parts is the
source of frustration for many auditors.
JUNE | JULY 2018 ISSUE NO. 3
55