RFID tags find home in high-end retail chains

Technowave Group, a Dubai-based automatic data capture and electronic security solutions provider has used GITEX Technology Week to debut radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions for retail groups that deal with high-value goods.

The RFID solutions are intended to replace existing barcode scanners that are time consuming and tedious for stock checking, explains Nainan Kurian, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai-based Technowave Group.

“RFID is the latest technology. The conventional mode of capturing data is through scanning the barcode. You can’t scan more than 200 items per hour with the standard barcode scanner, which means you can only scan 2500 items in eight hours. With the RFID scanner, you can scan thousands of products in minutes as the tags come with an in-built chip and both are linked, in turn, with the back office stock management software,” explains Kurian.

Technowave’s team of in-house software developers helped create the inventory control system with RFID technology. The solution is foolproof, claims Kurian, as missing items are instantly conveyed from the back office software to the stock taker.

However, Technowave is quick to add that the solution is currently targeted only at stores that stock high-value apparel or luxury goods as the security tags are expensive.

He says: “We’ve had a lot of interest from visitors and will be doing pilots for two or three jewellery shops. We also have four customers in the garment industry lined up. But this solution is not financially viable for supermarkets.”