From closed to open applications, the potential of RFID is only the tip of the iceberg

A few days ago, the RAIN Alliance released market statistics, which aroused widespread concern in the industry. According to research conducted by the RAIN Alliance on a global scale, the sales of RAIN RFID tags and reader technology have achieved significant growth in 2020, and the global sales of ICs have increased from about 18 billion in the previous year to 21 billion.

Market demand continues to open RFID is in a stage of rapid growth

In recent years, application scenarios led by warehousing and logistics, retail, aviation, asset management, books, medical and other fields have continuously increased the application of RFID technology, which has caused the market demand for RFID to continue to rise, and the market volume also continues to increase.

According to statistics from the RAIN Alliance, RFID has increased four-fold in just five years from about 5 billion IC sales in 2015 to 2020, reaching a total of more than 20 billion. In the future, this growth is expected to accelerate. The most optimistic scenario is that IC sales will reach 30 billion units this year and 83.7 billion units in 2024. The most conservative forecast is 58 billion units.

Let us cut in from the perspective of the industrial chain, and be able to understand the changes that are taking place in this market more accurately.

At present, it can be seen that several major label manufacturers are actively expanding their production capacity to meet the increasing demand of downstream customers. In addition, the traditional printing industry has also been actively turning to RFID technology, and hopes to promote its own digital transformation.

In recent years, the international giant Avery Dennison has continuously increased production and expansion, mergers and acquisitions and other activities. First, the Tianjin expansion and construction project was launched in July 2020; at the beginning of 2021, it acquired Acpo in Ohio, the United States, and then less than a few months later, it acquired JDC Solutions in Tennessee, the United States. Inc., through successive big moves, Avery Dennison further consolidated its own strength and seized market opportunities.

Cinda IOT, a subsidiary of Xiamen Cinda, has seized the opportunity of industrial development and used existing sites to accelerate production expansion. The annual design capacity of RFID electronic tags has reached 2.5 billion pieces and is still improving.

Shangyang Wireless produced approximately 1.5 billion tags of various types in 2018, and its output increased by 45% compared with 2017, and the growth rate was rapid.

Due to the impact of the epidemic and other factors, Wing Dao's listing journey was not as expected, but according to the content announced in its prospectus, we can also see its determination to increase production and expand. The prospectus indicated that Yongdao intends to raise 618 million yuan for projects such as the construction of new electronic tags with an annual output of 3 billion.

Since RFID entered the market, it has been closely linked with the Internet of Things. As the data collection method at the bottom of the Internet of Things, RFID is often viewed from a bottom-up perspective, and when we talk about the Internet of Things, we are accustomed to thinking from the top down.

When we combine the two ideas, we can clearly perceive the huge volume of the Internet of Things, but also understand the importance of RFID technology in the construction of the Internet of Things.

At present, although RFID has been applied in many industries, on the whole, the vast majority of these projects are discrete. They are often adopted by a certain company or a certain link, rather than acting on the entire industry, nor have they brought a revolutionary impact on the industrial chain, which is precisely where the core potential of RFID lies.

From closed to open applications, the value of RFID has not yet been fully utilized

Because the application of RFID presents multiple and scattered situations, to a large extent, RFID can only be used in a fixed range. Although in these scenarios, RFID can also play an obvious data-based role to improve the efficiency of business management, but it can only be counted as the "partial Internet of Things". Therefore, it can be said that the value of RFID has not been maximized.

In order to maximize the value of RFID, it is necessary to break through closed-loop applications. The scope of RFID projects should not be limited to a certain company or a certain application link, but enter a higher level, such as the transformation of the entire industrial supply chain.

Take Wal-Marts project as an example. From the very beginning, this project was aimed at the transformation of the entire supply chain. It needs to be implemented together with many channel suppliers. The size and difficulty of the project are beyond imagination.

In order to maximize the value of data, Wal-Mart has also established a huge data center at its headquarters to receive retail data transmitted by communication satellites and backbone networks, including product information of all stores operated by the Wal-Mart Group, logistics, and distribution centers. Box information, etc. As long as it is data related to retail operations, Wal-Mart's supply chain system can achieve real-time monitoring.

Fully electronic chemical product supply chain management based on RFID technology can share sales, inventory, cost and other information with suppliers in real time. Suppliers can keep abreast of the sales and inventory status of their products, greatly reducing communication costs and replenishment time, and have a more accurate grasp of market response.

Wal-Marts supply chain digital reform takes RFID technology as the core, and integrates cloud computing, big data, AI, positioning technology and other technologies, which not only greatly improves its own operating efficiency, but also brings great convenience to suppliers.

According to estimates by retail industry analysts, Wal-Mart can save 8.35 billion U.S. dollars per year through RFID technology. Although cutting in from the direction of industrial construction will make the implementation of RFID projects much more difficult, the benefits brought are extremely considerable and benefit the entire industry.

当射频识别技术进入行业的水平application, it will inevitably need to face a more complex application environment, need to integrate more other technologies, and will also involve more manufacturers in the industry chain. The security issues and standard issues will also be involved. Becomes more complicated.

The next smarter IoT era: RFID opportunities and challenges

At present, barcodes can be seen everywhere on the shelves of goods in supermarkets. In fact, it took about two decades of efforts for the popularization and application of barcodes to develop into what it is today.

In the context of globalization, cross-border e-commerce is constantly rising, and RFID plays an increasingly important role in international trade. On the one hand, it can promote the efficiency of commodity circulation in the international market, and on the other hand, it can achieve more precision. Efficient anti-counterfeiting traceability.

As far as Wal-Mart mentioned above is concerned, since most of Wal-Mart's products are produced in China, these products can be affixed with RFID tags when they leave the factory, and they can play a role in all aspects of product production, circulation, sales, and services. , This is a further exploration of the value of its data.

All in all, the value of RFID lies not only in the transformation of individual manufacturers and application links, but in the transformation of the entire industrial chain, realizing the transformation from project to platform, and providing smarter and more diversified services. Driven by the development of the Internet of Things and the construction of smart cities, RFID technology is bound to usher in a faster development.