What Sets SML Apart from Others?

SML has its own in-house RFID Tag Innovation Centers located throughout the world.  Each of these RFID Service Centers are equipped to develop and test RFID by a staff of experienced RF engineers.  SML inlay designs incorporate the latest IC technologies, giving the customer the most innovative and performance enhanced inlay to fit the most challenging tagging requirements.

How to Select the Right Inlay?

With so many different inlays and manufacturers to choose from it’s hard to know which inlay is best for your application. Luckily, SML’s vast experience with real-world retail deployments has allowed us to determine some of the most important factors when choosing the right RFID inlays for any retail operation. When evaluating RFID inlays there are important things to consider:

1. Optimal Size:
The best RFID inlays will be small enough to fit discreetly into the label or hang tags, while also still being powerful enough to have a long read range for maximum inventory accuracy.

2. Frequency:
Most applications are using ultra-high frequency (UHF) Class 1 Gen 2 V2,  RFID which has a global bandwidth of 860~960MHz.  Most countries are using 902~928MHz as the UHF RFID frequency. European countries, for the most part, use 865~868MHz. SML optimizes inlays to cover the broad global UHF RFID frequency bandwidth to have an inlay that can be used around the world.

3. Choices for ICs
For inlays to work, you need Integrated circuits (IC). The world’s largest IC makers are NXP, Impinj and Alien.  SML’s product range is comprehensive and includes all the top IC chips, allowing buyers to conveniently select the RFID IC that has the data format and features such as passwords, kill commands and encryption that they require.

4. Compliance: ARC Certified or GS1 TIPP
What would the world be like without performance standards via an objective third party? So, naturally, RFID has its own through the RFID Lab at Auburn University. Its mission states, “… to ensure that retail suppliers are able to deliver RFID tagged product to retailers that meet or exceed the levels of performance necessary to provide benefit to both the retailer and the retail supplier in a consistent and cost effective manner.” Included with ARC is the GS1 TIPP, Tagged Item Performance Protocol grades.

Of course, there are more things to consider but no one has to make this choice alone. SML’s expert team is more than happy to talk with you and help you with choosing the right RFID inlays for your situation. Also, please check out our white paper titled, “How to Choose an RFID Inlay for Retail Inventory Management,” which describes even more factors for picking the right inlay and delves deeper into the technical aspects of SML’s superior selection of RFID technology.

*To learn more about ARC specifications visit: RFID Lab at Auburn University