A business development division within the University of Maryland, College Park said yesterday that it's launching a new program to help state companies assess whether radio frequency identification (RFID) - a system used to track products and locate individuals - is right for them.
Such RFID chips, which can emit detectable signals, are already being used to pay tolls through E-ZPass and track inventory and supplies at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and the Defense Department.
A unit of automaker BMW uses RFID to connect drivers with interactive billboards on the highway, broadcasting personalized messages. And last year, the U.S. government began rolling out passports with RFID information tags that contained the holder's personal data.
"These tags are actually talking to a computer without manual intervention," cutting down on labor costs, said Paul Vinikoor, a certified RFID technologist, electrical engineer and manager of the university's Maryland Technology Extension Service, which provides business assistance to state companies.
Through MTES, Vinikoor is launching the state business-assessment program. It will be free for the first six to 10 applicants "to get the ball rolling," he said, and likely become a paid service later on.
"This is to make companies in the state more productive. We want companies to make more money," Vinikoor said. "The bottom line is if they make more money, they're going to pay more taxes ... and RFID can help them improve productivity."
For many, RFID chips are the high-tech and pricier versions of a bar code, with tags costing roughly about 20 cents.
Unlike barcodes, however, they don't require a scanner to read the information stored on them. Instead, they can be traced from far away and instantaneously.
Such tags can be attached to labels for tracking products, to bracelets for tracking children, and to books - as they were in 2004 at the White Marsh branch of the Baltimore County Library - for speedier checkout.
In Middle River, Lockheed Martin Corp. is using RFID to track missile launcher parts and finished products. Last year, the Bethesda company acquired California's Savi Technology Inc., which makes RFID tags, Lockheed spokesman Jeff Adams said.
And Prince George's County Circuit Court is in the process of installing an RFID system, spending between $200,000 and $250,000 - 32 cents per tag - to track thousands of court files as they move from office to office, according to the RFID Journal.
