Interview with Guohua Tao
1. Mr. Tao, why are laundry companies choosing to use RFID technology?
Guohua Tao, founder of Huayuan, has over 30 years of experience in the smart card and RFID industries. The Shanghai University graduate established Huayuan in 1995, driving key projects like China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s prepaid cards and implementing the first public AFC system-based transportation e-tickets for Shanghai Metro Line 1.
Guohua Tao: Companies in the laundry industry expect real results. This means achieving a great ROI. Only then will they be convinced to adopt RFID technology. Many have already seen the benefits that RFID generate.
In the laundry industry, RFID technology is used to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize errors in managing textile assets. Traditional methods of counting and tracking textiles, especially in sectors like hospitality and healthcare, are labor-intensive and prone to mistakes due to the similarity of items. RFID enables quick and accurate inventory management without the need for direct line of sight, saving both labor and energy costs.
Large textile service companies like Elis in France are using RFID, for example. These companies share the benefits that they receive from using RFID and encourage other companies and groups to use the technology.
Guohua Tao: Companies in the laundry industry expect real results. This means achieving a great ROI. Only then will they be convinced to adopt RFID technology. Many have already seen the benefits that RFID generate.
In the laundry industry, RFID technology is used to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize errors in managing textile assets. Traditional methods of counting and tracking textiles, especially in sectors like hospitality and healthcare, are labor-intensive and prone to mistakes due to the similarity of items. RFID enables quick and accurate inventory management without the need for direct line of sight, saving both labor and energy costs.
Large textile service companies like Elis in France are using RFID, for example. These companies share the benefits that they receive from using RFID and encourage other companies and groups to use the technology.
Guohua Tao, founder of Huayuan, has over 30 years of experience in the smart card and RFID industries. The Shanghai University graduate established Huayuan in 1995, driving key projects like China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s prepaid cards and implementing the first public AFC system-based transportation e-tickets for Shanghai Metro Line 1.
2. What is important to consider when deploying RFID technology in industrial laundry applications?
Guohua Tao: The end users of industrial RFID laundry tags see the shared benefits of using the technology. RFID is always an add-on. It helps the IT system work more efficiently and stably. It is also important for both the end users – hotels, hospitals, and etc. – and textile service companies to make sure that the data in their respective IT systems match, in order to prevent disputes over costs.
Large laundry groups with a mature IT infrastructure are seeing a significant return on investment from RFID deployment and a more standardized system of implementation. The durability and stability of a qualified RFID laundry tag is a critical part of the system, as it should continue to perform well even after hundreds of cycles in industrial laundry processes.
All of our RFID tags undergo hundreds of thousands of rub and age tests on our proprietary washing and high-temperature drying test facilities, simulating an environment more demanding than typical industrial laundries.
3. What about in China? Is RFID adoption on the rise there?
Guohua Tao: Yes. In fact, this year, the largest hotel management company in China, H World Group Limited, formerly known as the Huazhu Hotels Group, are seriously working towards the step-by-step implementation of RFID. The group has over a billion rooms, and over 10,000 hotels.
The project is currently in its evaluation phase, and Huayuan is part of this process. Strict tests are currently being carried out to test the quality and reliability of RFID tags from different suppliers. By collecting big data based on these tests, the H World Group sees the quality, performance after 100 or 200 wash cycles, RSSI, and insights into sensitivity data. This big data is then analyzed from their servers.
As newcomers to the project, we are working closely with them on the technology side. In fact, before this year, we’ve had zero sales of RFID laundry tags in China. The reason for this is because our sole focus is on the international market. However, after seeing how serious H World Group was in implementing RFID on a professional level, I believed it was a good opportunity to cooperate.
The Group welcomed Huayuan as one of their supplier partners due to positive feedback from the big data analysis, and from our good reputation on the international market. We are the sole supplier from China for RFID laundry tags for this project.
In 2019, H World Group bought an entire German hotel group worth several billions of euros. However, the situation soon became drastic when the Covid pandemic hit three to four months later. Even now, after several years, the company has not yet managed to get a good balance. I am currently consulting them on a possible solution for this in terms of laundry management. This is a great example of globalization, especially between China and Europe.
Huayuan’s HLT laundry RFID tags are designed to be embedded into all kinds of textiles. The goal is to enable seamless traceability throughout the lifespan or the textile. The digital transparency offered by RFID surpasses barcode and other wireless technologies in the laundry industry.
4. Which industries have the highest demand for RFID-based laundry lifecycle tracking?
Guohua Tao: The highest demand for RFID-based laundry lifecycle tracking is seen in large textile service groups and companies that handle rental, laundry, and distribution of substantial textile assets. These groups can be divided into three sectors: hospitality, healthcare, and workwear. In the hospitality sector, including hotels, restaurants, and events, RFID helps manage linens and uniforms efficiently.
In healthcare, hospitals, nursing homes, and care facilities require precise tracking of textiles like bed linens and medical gowns to maintain hygiene standards. The workwear sector also relies on RFID to track uniforms and protective clothing used in various industries.
The retail industry is also beginning to adopt RFID technology for laundry management. Although we do receive many inquiries from the market, we believe that very large companies and groups that deal with thousands of tons of laundry on a daily basis have the most to gain from RFID deployment. An RFID system is optimally used in a large system.
5. What makes RFID tags suitable for the demanding requirements of the laundry industry?
The picture shows an HLT RFID laundry label from Huayuan that has been sewn onto a towel. These RFID linen tags come in a robust, soft, and flexible stripe form. They can withstand heavy physical stress and pressure, are heat resistant to temperatures of over 180°C for washing processes, and over 210°C in ironing processes, and can last through a minimum of 200 wash cycles.
Guohua Tao: RFID tags used in the laundry industry must balance conflicting requirements: They need to be soft enough to embed seamlessly in textiles without being noticeable, yet robust enough to endure industrial laundry conditions. These conditions include exposure to high pressures of up to 60 bars, extreme temperatures, and harsh chemicals. Additionally, the tags must withstand at least 200 industrial wash cycles without compromising performance.
Our HLT Laundry RFID Tags, for example, also support GS1 standards, with compressed data and unique EPC codes derived from 10-digit GTINs, ensuring compatibility with global tracking systems. These features make RFID tags a reliable solution for textile tracking in industrial environments. Our tags are programmed with the GTIN EPC code by default, offering flexibility for customers who do not require customized encoding.
In order to meet different customer requirements from different countries, our RFID laundry tags have been certified by various organizations.
Guohua Tao: RFID tags used in the laundry industry must balance conflicting requirements: They need to be soft enough to embed seamlessly in textiles without being noticeable, yet robust enough to endure industrial laundry conditions. These conditions include exposure to high pressures of up to 60 bars, extreme temperatures, and harsh chemicals. Additionally, the tags must withstand at least 200 industrial wash cycles without compromising performance.
Our HLT Laundry RFID Tags, for example, also support GS1 standards, with compressed data and unique EPC codes derived from 10-digit GTINs, ensuring compatibility with global tracking systems. These features make RFID tags a reliable solution for textile tracking in industrial environments. Our tags are programmed with the GTIN EPC code by default, offering flexibility for customers who do not require customized encoding.
In order to meet different customer requirements from different countries, our RFID laundry tags have been certified by various organizations.
The picture shows an HLT RFID laundry label from Huayuan that has been sewn onto a towel. These RFID linen tags come in a robust, soft, and flexible stripe form. They can withstand heavy physical stress and pressure, are heat resistant to temperatures of over 180°C for washing processes, and over 210°C in ironing processes, and can last through a minimum of 200 wash cycles.
6. Can you tell us more about the certifications of the RFID laundry tags?
Guohua Tao: Yes, of course. There are a multitude of regulations in the textile industry. All our RFID tags are compliant with all requirements. The laundry tags should not contain any harmful substances or materials, for example.
Our laundry tag certifications include: OEKO-TEX Standard 100, Eurofins Color Fastness, SGS, ATP Certificate of EECC, POPS (Persistent Organic Pollutants), RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals), and PFAS (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances). These certifications prove the quality, safety, and reliability of our tags.
In January 2024, the REACH standard was updated to include an additional 200 or so materials. This shows how strict the certification and testing is, for harmful chemical substances within RFID tags for the textile industry.
7. What challenges must RFID tag manufacturers overcome when developing RFID tags for the laundry sector?
Guohua Tao: Manufacturers must ensure the tags perform reliably in harsh industrial laundry environments. This requires rigorous design, aging tests, and mass production quality control to maintain performance and durability. The integration of chip modules, antenna design, and adhesives demands advanced technical expertise and continuous innovation.
Manufacturers also face supply chain complexities, requiring large inventories of raw materials to ensure timely delivery, especially for unplanned orders. During the COVID-19 pandemic, chip shortages caused significant disruptions in the laundry RFID market.
In addition, the evaluation and approval process for new products or changes to existing products can take six months to two years, particularly in markets such as Germany and France. Any weaknesses in design or performance could result in significant losses for textile service customers, making meticulous testing and customer approvals critical. We are pleased to say that our HLT RFID Laundry Tag has not received a single complaint from any of our of our shipments.
