Hardware

RFID transponders

Passive RFID tags for goods, equipment, metal, textiles and people

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In a row on a scratched metal worktop lie RFID labels, two round hard tags, an on-metal tag, a textile tag, a white card, a key fob on a key ring and a wristband.

Overview

RFID transponders, or tags, give an object a digital identity that a reader captures without contact. Every tag on this page is passive: it has no battery and draws its energy from the reader.

Which tag fits depends on what is tagged, how far away it is read, how long it stays on the object and what data it holds. It also depends on where the tag sits: indoors or outdoors, on metal, near liquid, or exposed to heat, chemicals or washing.

The frequency band sets the read distance. Low-frequency (LF) tags are read at a few centimetres. High-frequency (HF) tags are read from a few centimetres up to about 1 m; NFC tags are a kind of HF tag, and almost every smartphone reads them. Ultra-high-frequency (UHF) tags are read at several metres, many of them at once.

Many tags store only a unique number that points to a record in a database. Some chips also hold additional data, such as a production date or a maintenance record, and some protect their data against copying and alteration with encryption and authentication.

Identech AG selects the tag for the application, supplies it, and encodes and tests it.

Types

A finger presses a small RFID label with a printed barcode onto the side of a carton.

Labels

A thin inlay of chip and antenna on a paper or plastic carrier, stuck onto cartons, packaging or documents. A label can be printed like a barcode label.

Applications

  • Shipping and goods-in of cartons and pallets
  • Item-level tagging of retail goods
  • Stocktaking in a warehouse
  • Library books, documents and file folders
A small rectangular hard tag is screwed to the centre of the flat front face of a cast pump housing on a workbench.

Hard tags

A tag encased in a durable rigid shell of industrial plastic, ceramic or metal, which is screwed, riveted, glued or tied onto equipment, containers or tools. The shell protects the chip against heat, cold, water, chemicals, washing, sterilisation and impact, for tags that stay on an object for many years.

Applications

  • Returnable containers and pallets in a loop
  • Tools and fixtures in production
  • Machines and equipment outdoors
  • Instruments that go through sterilisation
In a production hall, a technician presses a small tag directly onto the steel door of a control cabinet.

On-metal tags

A tag built to be read when mounted directly on metal or on a container holding liquid. It comes as a flat label or encased in a rigid shell, and is glued, screwed or riveted onto the object.

Applications

  • Machines and control cabinets
  • Metal tools and gauges
  • Drinks and liquid containers
In a laundry, a worker lifts the hem of a folded work jacket, showing a textile tag sewn inside.

Textile tags

A soft, pliable tag sewn into a seam or hem, or heat-sealed onto the fabric. It stays in the garment or linen item through repeated industrial washing, drying and ironing.

Applications

  • Industrial laundries
  • Workwear and uniforms
  • Hospital and hotel linen
A machine operator holds a key fob on a key ring against a reader box beside a machine's control panel.

Cards, key fobs and wristbands

Tags carried or worn by a person: a credit-card-sized card, a fob on a key ring, or a wristband closed around the wrist.

Applications

  • Time recording
  • Login at a machine or terminal
  • Entry at events

Where this product helps

  • A cast aluminium housing stands on a scratched steel workbench. On its flank, side by side on one machined pad, sit a label with a two-dimensional code and an RFID transponder whose antenna coil is visible through it. Two gloved hands reach in from the left. Behind, a blue parts bin, an open carton and metal swarf on the bench.
    Automotive and rail suppliers

    When your customer asks for RFID on the part

    Your customer now expects an RFID transponder on the parts you ship, next to the GS1 label. Your systems were never set up to program one.

    Learn more →

  • A worker at a bench in a machine shop, writing by hand on a form clipped to a part on a trolley. An open ring binder of handwritten records lies in front, beside a closed binder marked "Baureihe DT8.12 — Prüfprotokolle 2024", and a shelf of further binders stands behind.
    Paperless manufacturing

    From route card to digital process

    Your route card is right only on the day it was printed, and traceability ends at a tick in a binder. You spot mistakes at final test, or at your customer's.

    Learn more →

Tell us about your use case

Together, we work out whether and how your process can be digitized.

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