Challenges and Opportunities of RFID in Industrial Laundries
- RFID-tagged textiles
- Benefits of RFID in the textile industry
- The challenges of RFID adoption
- Efficient laundry management
In the laundry and textile industry, the need to efficiently manage inventory, track assets, and reduce costs is critical. The solution: robust RFID tags that can withstand adverse conditions. In an interview with RFID & Wireless IoT Global, Tao, Managing Director at HUAYUAN gives insights into the challenges and opportunities of RFID adoption in the laundry industry.
Mr. Tao, why is RFID technology so important for the laundry industry?
Tao: In just three years, the world has seen countless crises. The COVID-19 pandemic, severe supply chain disruptions, the Ukraine war, the energy crisis, and tensions in banking markets. Global economies are continuously being disrupted. The only way out is to improve business efficiency, and reduce labor costs through digitized management. RFID is increasingly being used as a key technology in digital management solutions for laundries worldwide. In the laundry industry, having complete control and visibility of linen is a prerequisite for efficient linen management. The benefits and potential of RFID technology in the laundry industry are vast.
What Needs to be Considered in an RFID Deployment?
Tao: Significant investments are required for the deployment of RFID in industrial laundries. Laundries need to consider the RFID software system development and embedding, RFID hardware deployment, RFID tag imports, and changes to the original workflow. Also important: Any mistake at any point of the operation of the entire system will result in serious problems.
As a tiny data carrier, RFID tags contain virtual data to a physical product, creating a dynamic link. The reliability, stability and durability of the tags are very important. An RFID chip measuring approximately 300 square microns with several microns of space for the connection of the RFID antenna is very fragile. Textile products must withstand wear, wash, and industrial laundry processes with challenging environments. RFID tags for textiles must be soft, thin, and even a little elastic. The tags should be able to withstand an external mechanical force of max. 60 bars, liquid chemical erosion, and a temperature of more than 200°C. The tags should also be able to withstand 200–300 cycles repeatedly. The RFID tags in textiles must remain stable and function throughout the entire lifespan of the textile. A defective RFID tag is a serious problem for customers. HUAYUAN offers decades of expertise in this field and is able to consult customers on the RFID tags that are best suited for specific applications. With the RFID laundry tags, HUAYUAN offers companies the opportunity to achieve long-term ROIs.
What are the potentials of RFID-tagged textiles?
Tao: We see great market prospects for RFID in the laundry industry in the coming years. Over 30 billion RFID tags are being disposed annually in the retail industry. This number increases by around 20 percent each year. We believe that 30-50 percent of disposable RFID tags will be replaced by durable RFID tags like the HLT RFID Linen Tag. These robust tags are a more sustainable alternative and can track garments throughout their lifecycles. With RFID tags, it is possible to build a bridge between brand owners, distributors, retailers and the end users. The management of linen is digitized and made transparent for all.