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Today’s business has a challenging climate which requires gas suppliers to remain competitive. Liquid gas monitoring solution has a cloud-based monitoring system that helps you double your efficiency. It will decrease the costs of your business, and increase the profitability.

Cloud-based monitoring allows the gas cylinder business to achieve profits at a faster rate and open doors to improvement of your cylinder’s quality. Let’s talk in detail about the ways Cloud-based monitoring helps in doubling the efficiency of your cylinders.

1- Management of Operational Workflow: Manual system of recording data makes it difficult for a gas cylinder business to review, monitor and manage the information. The paperwork is not only time-consuming but requires funds for the employees. There are errors in the data as humans read, write and enter it. By using cloud-based monitoring for your cylinders’ business, you can decrease labor exhaustive paperwork. Liquid gas monitoring solution enables to maintain cylinders’ accurate records and needs no labor help. The RFID reader reads the cylinder tags and stores it on the system. All information is recorded online, and gas cylinder suppliers can review, monitor and manage the operational workflow and processes easily.

2- Sign in from Anywhere: Gas cylinder supply is a business where information access anywhere anytime becomes important. The statistics in various gas cylinder companies are stored in registers and files. Access at any time from anywhere becomes impossible in such a case. By cloud-based monitoring your cylinders, you have the pulse of your network in your hand. Through e-mails and text messages, you can be notified about important deliveries and emergencies. You can easily log-in from anywhere at any time to the web and have a glance at your real-time data.

3- Present and Prior Information Access: Not only the current information but historical information access is very important. However, in manual records lot of past information gets lost. Cloud-based monitoring system allows access to customer’s present and past data information. It predicts and foresees usage of customers and plan for its availability. It also allows taking business decisions with greater ease. It doubles the efficiency of services as historical and current details are transparent. Also, users have access to this information from anywhere and everywhere, with defined authority levels.

4- Monitoring and Tracking Cylinders over Internet: Monitoring and tracking cylinders is crucial. Various gas cylinder companies cannot monitor and track tankers from anywhere at any time. The cylinders can be connected to the cloud by employing cloud-based monitoring solution. Monitoring and tracking the tankers over the internet is possible 24*7. It monitors the pressure, temperature, pH and more. RFID technology tracks the cylinders easily and eliminates loss of cylinders, which are assets to the company. Measurements can be checked from your office or on the road by logging into online data portal. Liquid gas monitoring solution uses new sensing and telemetry technology to sense and gauge consumption and transfer data to a distant location.

5- Cloud-based Monitoring can be Run in Short-time: Various gas cylinders employ an in-house implementation to do the business’ different jobs. An in-house implementation takes a lot of time to run. Cloud-based monitoring your cylinders doubles your efficiency. It can be up and running in a short measure of time contrasted to an in-house implementation. Cloud-based monitoring system is not risky as it is complete and properly tested.

6- Convenient Ordering: Ordering gas cylinders verbally has proved to be inefficient. Cloud-based monitoring allows customers to order their products in a convenient way. It’s a speed up process as it minimizes company’s paperwork and leaves no room for errors. It makes sure that supply of gas cylinders remains smooth without intervention. It doubles the efficiency of order easily.

7- Access to Order Status: When customers get worried about their order status, they try to gain information verbally. Providing proper and complete information for humans becomes difficult at times. As a result, customers remain dissatisfied with the service. Cloud-based monitoring doubles the efficiency by allowing customers to view their current order status online, from remote locations. Monitoring multiple accounts becomes easy with cloud-based monitoring.

8- Built-in Alerts Eliminate Emergency Calls:  Emergency calls puts sustainability of customers at stake. Liquid gas monitoring solution is a cloud-based monitoring system which manages schedule delivery and eliminates emergency requests at odd times. Customers and companies can have rich, dynamic cloud-based reports. These reports are efficient and provide timely alerts for refill and delivery.

Cloud-based monitoring your cylinders can elevate profit and double the efficiency. It will make the business run smoothly and allow proper rotation and tracking. It will enhance the customer’s experience for using the company’s services. So what are you waiting for? Switch today for the good!

When I was a child, my mother used to stress on the importance of organizing things. She used to say that information is a source of knowledge. If well organized and processed information is made available to the right people, it becomes an asset. Organizing information is a key to success.

What about you? Does your company have its data scattered in numerous files and registers? Do you struggle in accessing your company’s facts and statistics? Are you sure your company’s details are 100% accurate? Various gas cylinder companies have switched from manual data entries to monitoring system.

Come; let’s have a look at the number of ways in which the gas cylinder companies win through monitoring.

1.  Latest Technology Tracks it All!

In the past, Gas Cylinder Companies’ data was manually stored. It was easy back then to manage and access valuable data. At that time, gas cylinder companies were dealing with a small market. They were fully aware of their products’ whereabouts. In today’s time, tracking the supply of cylinders has become extremely difficult. The market has expanded, and customers have increased. The growing demand has resulted in supply expansion. It has become very crucial to track the company’s gas products. From the gas cylinders’ availability to its whereabouts as well as its operational status, everything has a direct impact on business productivity.

Manual system involves attaching barcode labels.Today, barcodes have become an outdated form of tracking. They are expensive and unable to resist the harsh environment. One cannot easily duplicate them. Many gas cylinder companies have switched to Industrial gas cylinder management solutions to solve this problem. Industrial Gas Management solution comes with built-in RFID technology. It is the latest form of unique identification code. RFID technology makes it possible to track an asset. It comes with a high impact-resistant case, and one cannot duplicate them.

2. Efficiency of Data!

Reading, writing and data entering of cylinders has become time-consuming and challenging. On top of that, 10% of manual entries are incorrect. RFID technology built in Industrial Gas Cylinder Management solution gives accuracy in data. It covers the products’ data of receipt, filing, issue, delivery, and pickup. The data converts into automatic operation. The company does not have to spend this way on their employees’ wages. It helps in reducing large number of the company’s cost. It’s built-in data validation, and information control lets you trust your data.

3. Proper Knowledge of The Products’ Status!

Gas cylinder companies that rely on manual data remain at a loss. They are unable to maintain the proper status of their products. Various gas cylinder companies are depending on the Liquid gas monitoring solutions for proper assistance. Its interface is easy-to-use and meets the standards of the industry. It gives them the ability to view the current status of their cylinders. It is imperative to maintain the products’ status as their availability and delivery are not only critical but time-sensitive.

4. Easy Business Decisions!

Some gas cylinder companies do not have proper reports. They are unable to view historical movements and take correct business decisions. However, the case is different for gas cylinder companies who have a monitoring system for their data. The industrial gas management solution efficiently tracks and traces the real-time movements of the past. The history of their products is like an asset for them. They can quickly analyze the related reports of the past for making future decisions.

5. Safe Products Secure Companies’ Traffic!

Gas cylinder companies fail in maintaining their products. Safety issues can lead to a permanent damage. Customers lose their trust in the particular gas cylinder company, and the business comes to an abrupt end. RFID technology enabled industrial gas cylinder management solutions save the companies from losing their customers. It detects the cylinders that are due for testing. It provides customer satisfaction as it delivers the right and safe products every time.

6. No Extra Cost or Loss of Revenue!

Customers receive cryogenic liquid gas in tankers by Industrial Gas Cylinder companies. Recording tank content manually has proved to be a failed process. As a result, there are a lot of emergency calls to the gas companies. Frequently, the request for immediate delivery of gas comes at odd timings. The non-availability of gas leads to loss of revenue. Various gas cylinder companies using liquid gas monitoring solutions do not face such problems. In these companies, there are no more emergency calls for delivery. The LgMonitor solution allows tracking, processing and managing the liquid gas consumption. It reduces the cost of non-planned production and delivery. The real-time monitoring allows the transporting of number of products in one turn.

7. Transparency is Trust!

There is no data transparency in various gas cylinder companies. So, one cannot blindly trust the statistics and details of the products. Moreover, the clients remain in the dark about the process. However, the gas cylinder companies who are using Liquid gas monitoring solution do not face this issue. The monitoring system is cloud-based which uses sensing devices and telemetry (remote) technology. GPRS telemetry technology transmits radio signals in a periodic fashion. Periodical load of data is transparent to the central system.The customers have full details about the process. The cloud-based monitoring system allows clients to trust the gas cylinder company. After all, transparency is the trust.

8. Information access at just one touch keeps the companies forward!

At times, employees need to access the products’ information. Unfortunately, the information is unavailable to them at the required time. On the other hand, the gas cylinder companies having access to the liquid gas monitoring solution have got rid of this problem. Your valuable information is now available at just one click. It enables access from anywhere and everywhere at all times. Both employees and customers can have a controlled and customized access to information from their Desktops and Smartphones.The Liquid Gas Monitoring Solution built on latest technologies like Microsoft mobile, web, database, electronic pressure sensing and GPRS telemetry technology makes its access easy.

9. Use of powerful technology makes the companies advanced!

Gas cylinder companies using outdated technology remains at a loss. While the companies using liquid gas monitoring solution are much ahead. The monitoring solution has evolved from cryogenic sensing technology. It is built-in with durable and robust processes and controls. It is user-friendly and can sense, convert and transmit error-free data. They also offer a big cost reduction.

10. All assets back at their proper place!

Sometimes, the gas cylinders companies do not get back their products from customers. Due to the complex supply chain, the companies lose 1-2% of their outgoing cylinders. There are no records of these losses, which leads to inaccuracy. RFID technology in the monitoring solution is economic and improves the rotation of returnable assets. The technology uses RFID tags (microprocessor)to establish its contact with the network database. Its data storage capacity allows the company to get back all of its products at the right time. Also, all the empty cylinders go back to the correct company for refilling.

11. Increasing Productivity!

The gas cylinder companies using manual entry systems are less productive as compared to the companies using monitoring system. Industrial gas cylinder management solutions provide monitoring to the gas cylinder companies. The solution alters business processes. Their productivity is increased by 30% on an average- from the initial point to the last point of delivery.

12. Right consumers receive right products!

At times, the suppliers of gas cylinder companies deliver products to the wrong consumers. The real cause of this inefficiency is the lack of specification on cylinders. RFID technology built in industrial gas cylinder management solution eliminates such a problem. It makes cylinder tagging easy and supplies cylinders to its right consumers.

13. Sustainable service due to proper leak detection system!

Most gas cylinder companies do not have a leak detection system. The consequences can be irreparable damage. On the other hand, gas cylinder companies using liquid gas monitoring solution, are able to detect leakage. It has a flow sensor that detects the amount of gas that move through a gas flow passage. Its location system monitors the products due for service within the right time.

14. Access to perfect records and warehouse monitoring!

Gas companies using monitoring system have proper knowledge about the filled cylinders. In the warehouse, they are easily tracked. They can be accurately identified and delivered using RFID tags. With the help of remote monitoring system, the warehouse can be monitored centrally from a location. It not only saves the money spent on manpower but also saves a lot of time.

15. Maintenance of cylinder’s limit!

The gas cylinder companies do not have proper records and reports. At times, due to the improper information, a consumer‘s monthly limit of cylinder increases. On the other hand, various gas cylinder companies who use monitoring solution do not face this issue. The solution allows proper maintenance of customers’ reports. There is a proper maintenance of the reports from customers’ average daily consumption of the number of cylinders they hold per month.

Hence, the gas cylinder companies are advanced and totally win through monitoring. The technology they use has benefited them tremendously.

With the advent of bigger demands and rising competition, the industrial gas industry has come of age to cater to larger and more varied markets. Around a decade back, the supply chains were smaller and business logistics were simpler. The current scenario requires the gas producers and suppliers to be on their toes to meet the ever-rising expectations of the end consumers. Any individual or business entity dealing with gas supply will agree that keeping up with the present times in the industry is increasingly getting difficult. Optimum operations are hardly achieved and the industry players are forever yearning for 100% customer satisfaction.

So, in spite of putting in their best efforts, where are they failing? What exactly is going wrong? Let’s go through some glaring mistakes that gas cylinder suppliers make and how can they overcome them.

1.Overhaul the Management Processes –  Many businesses still rely on old-age labour-intensive system that is time consuming and proves to be costlier to the organization in terms of wages and manual discrepancies. Employing cost-effective technology and software applications for crucial tasks will not only save time but will also lead to better performance outputs.

2. Accurately Track Cylinders’ Movement – It becomes extremely difficult to trace individual cylinders and keep a tab on their utilization throughout their life cycle. Many gas suppliers face the problem of wrong delivery, delayed pick-ups and even theft of products in transit. Tracking technology systems like RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) help suppliers accurately trace each cylinder’s whereabouts along with keeping a software based data-base for future references.

3.Let go of Traditional Barcode Technology – Barcode system may seem less expensive but is not feasible and cost-efficient in the long run. It requires tedious man labour and is still not fool-proof. RFID technology on the other hand, is far more viable. RFID is a data collection system that uses electronic tags for products’ identification and a wireless reader device to track it.

4. Up-to-date Record Keeping is Inevitable – Manual data entry takes up a lot of time and can also be erroneous. These days, many companies are outsourcing data management tools designed to effectively store and manage information of gas cylinders. This helps in better stock analyzing and inventory management.

5.Go for Regular Product Testing – According to US regulations, hydrostatic or ultrasonic testing of gas cylinders should be done after every five or ten years, depending on the cylinder. An independent quality agent should be hired for regular safety inspections and quality assurance.

6.Always Adhere to Safety Standards – Bottled gas is always under pressure and may be hazardous if handled improperly. Many companies do not follow adequate special safety regulations which may lead to accidental damage. For their rescue, there are many independent organizations offering installation, replacement and maintenance services by trained personnel.

7.Proper Product Labeling is a Must – If a cylinder is not rightly identified for its various specifications, chances are it might be delivered to the wrong customer or not be refilled at the right time. It’s important that a cylinder has an electronic-based RFID tag for its type, contents, weight, refill and inspection due date etc.

8.Invest in Durable Tracking Products – A trusted, branded, tracking product goes a long way in keeping operations running smoothly. For instance, Trakaid provides high-quality RFID tags specially designed for industrial gas cylinders. Companies using branded RFID readers, tags and bonding agents swear by their long-standing utility.

9.Regular Monitoring is Important – Many gas supply companies fail in keeping a regular tab at their internal and external operations, causing huge monetary and procedural losses. The solution is to engage a specialized organization offering on-site and off-site remote monitoring services. Such organizations have software-based applications operated by experienced staff, helping in regulating all business operations.

10.Get Rid of Discrepancies in Records – There is a huge possibility that there are differences in the information records of manufacturers, distributors and consumers. This may lead to delayed deliveries and wastage of empty cylinders. RFID based asset tracking system involves electronic tagging of each cylinder right at the start of its distribution cycle, enabling all stakeholders get uniform data through their mobile readers.

11.Build and Update Comprehensive Reports – Real-time reporting of all operations will assist in assessing, analyzing and managing business activities in a better fashion. These days, outsourced organization offer built-in, automated reporting techniques, producing customized reports on daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.

12. Seek Professional Assistance – A gas supply company may not be well-versed with modern techniques available and how to use them for their overall infrastructure. Partnering with a professional IT consulting firm like TSPLLC, will greatly enhance a gas supply company’s growth. These professional firms offer comprehensive technical support services, reconditioning the entire supply system backed with web based technologies.

It is imperative for ambitious industrial gas cylinder suppliers to revolutionize their management system from time-to-time, imbibing the latest work methods. If you belong to the gas supply industry, you will definitely agree with it. We invite you to share your views on it. Please give your inputs in the comments section below.

RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) is considered a part of AIDC (Automatic Identification and Data Capture) technology. Basically, it is a wireless system that is used in tracking animate as well as inanimate objects via RFID tags. These tags contain electronically stored information about the object that is being tracked. To decode the information present in the tags, we use RFID readers.

RFID has been considered as a revolutionizing technology by many experts. Over the years, it has transformed numerous business applications. We are witnessing a new dawn of the age of cylinder logistics solutions. Cylinder tracking has always been a major concern for suppliers, and RFID technology is their only hope.

Have you lost productivity due to cylinder identification issues? If your answer is yes, then you should definitely continue reading this article. Nowadays, customers rely on industrial gas cylinder industry that utilizes RFID technology. RFID-based cylinder tracking systems provide effective and efficient cylinder tracking solutions. But the irony is that more than 90% of cylinder suppliers still rely on traditional management systems. If you are one of them then here are the seven mistakes you are still making:

Too much of manual labor and expenditure

Suppliers who are not using RFID technology for cylinder management rely on traditional management systems. As a result, management process becomes labor-intensive and demands a lot of capital to be invested in human labor.

Lack of Efficiency

Traditional management system offers inefficient inventory management. This poses a problem for suppliers as well as the consumers. RFID-based cylinder tracking system provides effective inventory management solutions.

Use of Barcodes

To save their money, many suppliers use barcodes to track the cylinders. This may seem like a cost-effective solution for management, but it is not. Barcode labels are fragile, highly sensitive towards dirt, and requires human labor to attach labels to every cylinder. Finally, it’s time to get rid of barcodes and adopt a better technology known as RFID. TRAKAID CyTRACK solution (RFID-based cylinder tracking system) provides cost-effective and efficient way to manage your inventory.

Barcodes Technology is Very Expensive

For people who are dedicated disciples of barcoding technology and are in no mood to change it for the better, one should be aware that barcoding tracking system requires complicated printers. Purchasing and maintaining these printers are far more costly affairs.

Inadequacy in Maintaining Records

At present, we are not dealing with the customer who is unaware but a far more smarter one. Customers expect reliable records for cylinders such as the exact date of refilling, dispatch, etc. With RFID, it becomes easy to give the customers what they want.

Losing that One Percent

As per the studies, suppliers lose about one percent of total cylinders due to inventory mismanagement. It has become a necessity to maintain complex records effectively to prevent such mishaps. RFID-based cylinder tracking solutions can put an end to all your mismanagement problems.

Falling for Rumors

There have always been many rumors regarding the RFID technology. Some may be true, but some are baseless. The most prominent of all rumors related to RFID is that it has a lot of maintenance cost. Now the scenario has changed. With continuous improvements in this technology. RFID tags have become a lot cheaper.

Are you one of those who are still making these seven mistakes or are you facing some other problems while supplying cylinders?

If you have any other suggestions, please mention in the comment section.

RFID technology has been adopted by numerous industries for specific applications. It provides accurate tracking of objects using the radio waves. RFID tags that contain stored information are attached to specific objects. On the basis of the power source, these tags can be classified into two types that are active tags and passive tags.

Over the years, RFID technology has been used in various applications. Utilizing RFID in the toll booth management will help in developing an automated toll collection system. It will overcome the drawbacks of manual toll collection systems. It can provide solutions to many issues such as traffic congestion, time consumption, and other related issues.

RFID-based Toll Collection System

At present, most of the toll booths are using traditional toll collection methods, i.e., the manual method. It requires human labor and is very time consuming as it requires drivers to stop at the booth and take the receipt for the payment.

With RFID, the toll collection method will be more efficient and cost-effective. RFID readers can be fixed at the toll booths. They will read the tags attached to the approaching vehicle and toll deduction will take place through the prepaid card assigned to the owner.

RFID-based toll collection system is a convenient system as it is time-effective and hassle-free. This system will make tollgate transaction easy for the public. The tags can be attached to the vehicle’s windscreen, and the payment will be made from the owner’s account. This system is also useful in tracking the vehicles that are exceeding the speed limit.

Only a couple of decades back, the only source of information about new brands was hearsay. People used to get brand recommendations for services and products only from their friends, relatives and acquaintances. But now things have changed. Social media has become an ideal platform for effective brand promotion. Nowadays, people are made aware of new as well as other existing brands through Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other social networks.

With the increased use of technology by market agencies, social media has gained the ability to make everyone an online brand ambassador. People share their experiences with a specific brand and hence they promote it indirectly. Integrating RFID technology in an online brand promotion strategy will help in fostering the effectiveness and efficiency of the promotion strategy.

With RFID technology, it will become easier for the consumers to share their experience in the social network in real time. Companies such as Nissan, Nokia and others have utilized RFID tags to enhance the customer experience. Consumers get RFID-enabled badges (with attached RFID tags) in the exhibition stalls or booths of these companies, before taking part in interactive activities. They have to provide their social media account information, and then they are allotted a unique ID number. Consumers have to pass through various RFID readers located in different stalls for activities. This way they are automatically updating their activities through their social media account.

RFID readers located in specific places along with the RFID tags that are attached to consumers in the form of badges or wristbands will help the consumers share their experience online and promote the brand as well.

Barcode technology was the backbone of SCM (Supply Chain Management) in the 1980s. For years, the company owners considered it as the only effective solution for asset tracking but they were wrong. With the advancements in asset tracking technology as well as the wireless communication technologies, barcodes started losing their grip. There were many disadvantages associated with barcodes, and technologies such as RFID (Radio-frequency Identification) managed to strike while the iron was hot.

The loopholes in barcode technology were successfully overcome by RFID. However, barcodes are still in use because they are comparatively cheaper than RFID, when it comes to the initial set up cost. The following are the 5 reasons why one should stop using barcodes for asset tracking:

Time-Consuming

Most of the barcode tags have a 12 digit serial number for identification. They require a barcode scanner to scan the tag. It is a very tedious job to tag each of the assets with these barcode tags and then scanning each of these tags for asset identification. This process takes up a lot of time as well.

Ineffectual Inventory Management

When it comes to managing the inventory using the barcode technology, the job becomes a lot more tedious, and time-consuming compared to personal asset tracking.

Fragile Labels

If a barcode label or tag gets damaged then it becomes impossible for the scanner to read it. Barcode tags are usually printed on paper due to which they have a low-durability.

Costly Procedure

Even though the initial set up cost of barcode is cheaper compared to RFID, it  is still a costly procedure. When this technology is used in the management of a huge inventory for many years, a lot of money is spent on human labor and the installation complicated printers.

Frequent Breakdowns

Similar to a computer system, a barcode scanner can also break down. Barcode scanner breakdown causes delay in tracking procedure. Therefore, expensive, high-quality scanners have to be used.

Gas companies invest a huge amount of capital on gas cylinders as they are still preferred for delivery of industrial gases over pipeline and tankers. The current cylinder tracking system which is being used by most of the companies is very complex. Due to this complexity, gas manufacturing companies lose about one percent of their cylinders every year. With the current outdated tracking system, it is difficult to differentiate between dealer-owned, customer-owned and company-owned cylinders, which is leading to inaccuracy in records. These problems can be overcome by the RFID-enabled cylinder management system. Below is a step-by-step procedure for carrying out RFID cylinder management:

Attaching RFID tags to new Cylinders

Whenever a new cylinder comes from the manufacturer, it is checked for any possible disparity before it is moved to the warehouse. If there are no disparities found, then an RFID tag will be attached to the new cylinder.

Checking the empty Cylinders

The empty cylinders with RFID tags that are received from the clients, are checked manually with the help of the hand-held reader. If the cylinder and its manufacturer is different, then it is returned back to the client.

Refilling the empty Cylinders

Before refilling the empty cylinder, it is tested for the due date. RFID readers that are attached to the filling points read the tag on the cylinder and then refill it.

Final verification and Delivery

The tags that are attached to the cylinders are tracked using the hand-held reader. Finally, the tag information is uploaded on the server, and the cylinders are loaded in the vehicle for delivery to clients.

TRAKAID’s Cytrack result is the first business financially feasible answer for the modern gas chamber industry that uses RFID innovation without bounds.

RFID engineering is quickly developing in production network administration. For Industrial gas organizations, RFID engineering can assume a huge part in expanding operational and generation effectiveness, decreasing expenses and enhancing stake security. The following of advantages with the capacity of the RFID labels to withstand brutal natural conditions make the engineering suitable all through the store network.

RFID labels are composed particularly for mechanical gas barrels. With the assistance of RFID engineering, we can get access to precise information that you can get to convenient and settle on educated business choices. Creative utilization of RFID engineering gives exact information catch of chamber development amid receipt, filling, issue, conveyance, and pickup.

It helps in changing business forms that bring about expanded gainfulness from accepting of barrels to their conveyance. Additionally, RFID empowered methodologies locate chambers that are expected for testing or stamped physically harmed at each venture of the procedure. Track and Trace usefulness permits clients to view ongoing and recorded development and investigate related reports.

RFID has consequently ended up being a momentous developing power for benefit and productivity for mechanical gas organizations.

Resource: – TrakAid

At the beginning of the Internet era, businesses could see only the raw potential of its functionality. Many wild ideas and theories were proposed, and some of them worked out and many of them crashed. In the end, though, the Internet affected business according to a few common patterns. Business-to-business purchasing, extranets, intranets and email all became part of the Internet-enabled corporate landscape.

Nobody yet knows what all those patterns will be for RFID technology. The way that real-time awareness amplifies the value of adaptive business networks probably means that it will become a common pattern for highly competitive, consumer-facing industries that have complicated value chains. Preventive maintenance using predictive analytics also seems to be a powerful concept. But many others are waiting to be discovered. The future does indeed look bright for RFID technologies.

Each industry is likely to figure out its patterns, and some vendors will create killer applications and the next Amazon, eBay, or Yahoo will be born as companies learn to leverage the power of RFID. At this stage, the question seems to be how a company can get ready for all this.  RFID experts and proponents are of the opinion that the best way is to ‘know yourself’. The more you understand your business and its operations, the easier it is to implement RFID when the time is right. The stages that most companies pass through as they grapple with the arrival of RFID involves first gaining access to and taking advantage of better information to improve process steps, and, finally, creating entirely new innovative ways of working.