Customer, Industry Participant Education Crucial To Succeed In RFID Industry, According to Report
Many entrants in the RFID industry are not adequately aware of its dynamics, as the industry, particularly in Asia Pacific, is still in the early phase of growth. This lack of knowledge hampers their strategizing and it calls for a thorough understanding of the overall requirements and complexities of running an RFID business. Industry participants will have to implement various best practices and learnings to stay afloat and develop business development plans to ensure that RFID becomes a more widely accepted technology.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan , RFID Best Practices and Learnings, finds that the industry participants' efforts have been catalyzed by end users' growing awareness about the technology's potential benefits and private sector's acknowledgement of RFID as the solution to various inefficiencies related to lack of visibility. All these factors are helping to translate the hype preceding this technology into genuine business cases.
Government involvement in spearheading RFID initiatives could also greatly improve traction and acceptance of the technology.
"Governments in South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia are sparing no efforts to promote RFID in various sectors including animal tagging, aviation (baggage tracking), and supply-chain based applications," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Richard Sebastian. "The governments' initiatives are not only meant to improve the overall efficiency and security in industries but also tag the technology as a vital cog in their countries' development."
However, the RFID industry is still grappling with issues such as the total cost of ownership, making the technology out of bounds for numerous end-user segments. Although there have been gradual price declines, a full-scale deployment is still unaffordable to many small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). RFID stakeholders need to continue focusing on innovation to ensure this technology not only performs better but also becomes more affordable over time.
RFID vendors also need to educate end users about the benefits of the technology -- both tangible and intangible -- instead of solely focusing on lowering costs. As the technology is still witnessing various breakthroughs, it is vital for stakeholders to keep pace with the changes to ensure they deliver sound products, at lower prices. Nevertheless, it is unreasonable to expect the prices to drop significantly over a short course of time.
"Companies intending to leverage RFID's potential need to analyze the market situation and do a thorough cost-benefit and return on investment (ROI) analysis to verify if they can reap significant savings," Sebastian said.