Recently we had a customer call in with an issue regarding his RFID tags in their Zebra RFID printer encoder not programming and making all the tags default. What could be causing this? The first thought was that the printer was not calibrated properly. But the customer already went through the printer calibration process and that did not fix the problem.
Lets get an understanding of the basics for RFID printing and encoding. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. There are usually 4 main devises required to create a RFID environment. The devises are the RFID Tag, The RFID printer encoder, RFID software, and a RFID reader. RFID tags are very commonly produced as a 4×6 size label that has a small chip imbedded in the label. The chip then has an antenna that reaches to each end of the label. The antenna usually reaches across the 4 inch span of the label. Now, there is a possibility that the chip in the label may not be inserted in the same place by every manufacturer or on every roll you may receive. This will require the user to recalibrate the printer so it will read and write to the new location on each roll.
RFID tags have gone through a change over the last few years. One of those changes is that the tags have been standardized to a Gen 2 format. In 2006 there were Gen 1 and Gen 2 tags in the market place. Gen just references the generation of the tag. Some of the barcode RFID printers in the market only wrote to the Gen 1 tags. Most manufacturers of barcode RFID printers have issued firmware updates to enable the printer to print on the Gen 2 tags, making them compatible with today’s environment.
Our situation began with a customer that bought the RFID setup in 2006 along with Gen 1 RFID tags, which worked perfectly. A reorder of tags in 2008 provided the customer with tags that both had the chip in a new location and a Gen 2 tag. Gen 1 was discontinued in the market place and is no longer available. First the customer tried to write to the Gen 2 tag and all the tags defaulted and voided as a bad read. The customer attempted to recalibrate the printer so the printer would see the new location of the chip. This created more voided tags. Finally through troubleshooting it was found that the firmware in the printer was only for Gen 1 and not Gen 2. A quick firmware update and the problems are solved. Now the RFID tags print like a charm.
Troubleshooting RFID tags is becoming more of an issue now that the market is picking up and more tags are being used in Wal-Mart and DOT operations. Other big companies are demanding the use of RFID tags as well like Best Buy and Sam’s Club. Companies that demand RFID compliance on all products shipped into their distributions systems are called an open loop system because multiple companies will be reading the RFID tag. It is critical to have a read verification on all tags in this environment to prevent penalties.
An RFID closed loop system is where the RFID tag never leaves the company that encoded the tag. This is common in asset tracking, document tracking and laboratory situations. In these applications the RFID tag read is critical for internal documentation requirements to prevent rework, loss of assets, or work.
Whatever the application, a properly coded RFID tag is critical and the above case scenario is not uncommon. Knowing the solution quickly will prevent a lot of downtime and wasted RFID tags.
