Lost Luggage? Lose the Scanner
Lost Luggage? Lose the Scanner
Month Date, 2006: Airports across the world are slowly loosing the unreliable barcode-based scanning methods of baggage processing to make way for RFID technology.
It’s a method designed to curb the high levels of misrouted and lost luggage. The current luggage tags attached to bags fail frequently if moist, dirty, dusty or even folded. That means the customer data, the digit based identifier and flight information is lost or misread, deeming the laser scanners somewhat useless in the process.
Last week the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a Sydney Airport spokesman had pointed to the use RFID for tracking passenger luggage at Mascot. By relying on tags to store and retrieve the data, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says Sydney Airport could use RFID to constantly track bags using an antenna.
IATA is pushing for the implementation of RFID technology in airports across the world. The association introduced global standards for the tracking system in November last year, pointing towards the enormous costs to the industry and passengers of mishandled baggage. With what IATA reports as 95 to 99 percent reading success rate, the association suggests that airports could save millions by improving on the current laser scanning based system’s 85 percent success rate.
The RFID technology provides an electronic identification system. IATA describes it as working by incorporating a silicon chip emitting a radio signal matching user-defined serial numbers with particular items.
RFID based tags are tougher against water, dirt and dust then their paper based counterparts. The electronic system eliminates the need to use lasers and the subsequent line of sight required between the reader and paper tag.
Andrew Price, project manager for the RFID initiative for IATA told the RFID Networking Forum in London that he expects the industry to take an increasing interest in the tagging technology over the next year. Some airports such as Hong Kong and Las Vegas have already implemented the system, yet with a pricey cost attached to every tag, it seems budgetary restraints may well prove a problems for airports attempting to make the move to RFID based tagging.
“The two most irritating things I hear about RFID are ‘We will do it when it is less than 10 cents,’ when with a 20 cent tag more than $US2 million is already saved,” Price told the RFID forum. “And ‘But in a year we will have a better technology,’ when more than $20 million will be lost that year through inaction.”