INSIGHT REPORT RFID

RFID, BARCODES & MOBILE SOLUTIONS
PATHS TOWARDS INTELLIGENT
MAINTENANCE

INTRODUCTION

AUTHOR Jörn Grote

RFID, BARCODES & MOBILE SOLUTIONS:
PATHS TOWARDS INTELLIGENT MAINTENANCE
The intelligent maintenance concept has not lost any of its relevance and was
intensively discussed in all its facets at the "RFID, Barcodes & More"
conference. Technical details, single solutions and the interaction with co-
workers during an introduction of RFID all had their place at the event.

This insight report introduces current
developments in intelligent maintenance which
both users and providers are currently involved in.

The first article, a conference report, examines to
what extent intelligent maintenance has
established itself. It focuses on RFID technology
which, however, is still uncertain to flourish in wide
areas of all industries. The second article examines
the relationship of RFID to barcodes. The third
article details data collected in our study and
clearly supports the trend that the use of RFID is
increasing. The report concludes by including
experiences that have been gathered in practice.
Presentation by Harald Neuhaus, Aluminium Norf GmbH, Neuss,
leader of central installation technology, Chairman of the Board of
Another important aspect of the conference was
FVI e.V.
the presentation of products and technologies in
On the 27th and 28th of September 2010 the 6th the context of the conference lectures and in
FVI Annual RFID Forum took place at the Hilton discussions between users, potential customers
Hotel in Cologne. At the conference, titled “RFID, and suppliers. Taking this aspect into account a
Barcodes & Mobile Solutions: Paths Towards further report deals with the recent activity of
Intelligent Maintenance”, participants from various RFID suppliers addressing maintenance areas.
industries met to inform themselves about the Other innovative products, which have originated
latest developments in intelligent maintenance. with end users, are also presented.
Also present was T.A. Cook’s Research & Studies
Rounding up, this Insight report takes a look at the
team, both to present their latest study for RFID
legal aspects of RFID usage and its future with
use in maintenance, titled “RFID Best Practice”,
SAP maintenance Asset Management (MAM).
and to monitor market activities.

CONTENTS
State of RFID ................................................................................................................................. 3
Coexistence of Barcodes and RFID ................................................................................................... 4
RFID usage is increasing ................................................................................................................. 5
“RFID Best Practice” study............................................................................................................... 6
Maintenance customers as a target group ......................................................................................... 7
Innovation from practice ................................................................................................................. 8
Mobile maintenance helps RFID break through .................................................................................. 9
Legal aspects raise questions ......................................................................................................... 10
SAP MAM: uncertain future ............................................................................................................ 11

2
T.A. Cook Consultants Insight Report 01 – 12/2010 | RFID, barcodes & mobile solutions: paths towards intelligent maintenance

CONFERENCE REPORT

AUTHOR Jörn Grote

STATE OF RFID
RFID in maintenance is no longer just theory but daily practice. The
conference showed in a very impressive manner that users come from a wide
range of industries. However, to establish RFID as an industry-wide standard
we must intensify the exchange of experiences.

hours examining each individual vest they can do
the job within a few minutes on a single tour. This
example demonstrates that meaningful use of
RFID can reduce staff’s regular workload.

The conference also showed that despite the same
targets the features of the individual solutions
turned out to be very different. This is exactly
where the conference performed well because if
there is one thing that must be expanded and
strengthened it is the exchange of RFID users’
Frank Bruderreck, Evonik Energy Services GmbH, system
technologies leader of the MTR (Maintenance Team RFID) experiences. Standardised RFID solutions have yet
team, FVI to appear in the industry.

The overall focus of the event was intelligent The differences in functionality and
maintenance. However, RFID was a specific theme implementation offer a significant potential
of many presentations. If the conference showed opportunity. After all, users already have IT
one thing, it was that RFID technology has now infrastructures in place and additional RFID
arrived in maintenance. The RFID discussions are systems are much easier to implement as add-ons
no longer dominated by potential applications; than to introduce a new system. In this report
instead they are now about practical users can learn from each other to get to know
implementation issues. This means that the former other uses of RFID.
hype has cooled down and shows also that RFID is
actually being used in practice. The fact that RFID
cannot meet all expectations and is not the
solution to all problems has yet to be recognised.
However, the practical experience from recent
years shows that the hype was not entirely
unfounded.

Opportunities to simply optimise existing processes
are limited. For example, it is impossible to
completely avoid errors in the transmission and
identification of assets in manual maintenance
work. With RFID supported processes this is
possible.
View into the audience

However, this does not make a paean promoting
blind adoption of technology. There are steps that
are more suitable for automated systems but they
can only support people’s work. Companies that
have realised this successfully use RFID. For
example, Lufthansa has drastically simplified the
inspection of the life vests in aircrafts through
RFID use. Instead of employees having to spend

3

CONFERENCE REPORT

AUTHOR Mateus Siwek

COEXISTENCE OF BARCODES AND RFID
Intelligent maintenance is not the domain of a single technology. RFID and
barcodes both have their own advantages. In practice it is about finding the
right solution for a company; barcode, RFID or another alternative.

RFID was only one aspect of the intelligent
maintenance conference. Frank Matheußik from
NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg and
Marian Pufahl of SD&C presented a choice of
mobile workforce management systems offering a
choice of RFID and barcodes. Rainer Brenk-Ortolf,
head of the department of mobile business at
Begis mbH also dealt with the differences between
RFID and barcodes. The consensus among the
conference participants was that RFID will not
replace barcodes. Each have their places. The first
question is always what should be achieved and
what solutions are most suitable. Depending on
the answers to those questions, different
technologies can be considered. Frank Matheußik, NBB Netzgesellschaft Berlin-Brandenburg mbH
& Co. KG, and Marian Pufahl, IT Consultant, SD&C Solutions
Development & Consulting GmbH
As Rainer Brenk-Ortolf of BEGIS mbH mentioned
however, it is clear that there is a growing interest
in RFID. One reason for this is the range of
possibilities enabled by use of RFID solutions. In
particular, recording information on assets’ RFID
tags is of interest to maintenance workers, who
usually have to work with offline solutions. And in
harsh industrial environments RFID offers a clear
advantage over other solutions due to its
robustness.

Despite this positive development RFID has not yet
widely established itself. The interest is there but
many companies shy away from RFID deployment
because of lack of experience. The costs of RFID
are also viewed critically however; this is not the
main reason why users decide against RFID. Rainer Brenk-Ortolf, head of department Mobile Business,
Begis mbH
Unlike five years ago, many providers of RFID
solutions and technology can now provide
references from maintenance departments. The
choice of a competent implementation partner will,
in future, be even more important.

4

STUDY

AUTHOR Jörn Grote

RFID USAGE IS INCREASING
Mateus Siwek of T.A. Cook introduced the first results of a recent best practice
study about the use of RFID in maintenance. The results of the study clearly
show that RFID use is increasing in maintenance.

For T.A. Cook’s RFID Best Practice study around
350 interviews were conducted, 73 of which were
with companies that currently use RFID in
maintenance The number of RFID projects
starting up has significantly increased over recent
years. Only eight percent of all RFID projects
began between 2000 and 2005 whereas in the
three years between 2005 and 2008 44 percent of
all current RFID projects started. Between 2008
and 2010 another strong increase is visible.

Introduction of planned RFID projects

Of those companies not currently using RFID in
maintenance almost half (45%) of them are
planning projects. Of these, 65 percent have
concrete plans for the use of RFID in the next five
years.

Practical Experiences
Now that RFID projects are no longer determined
Introduction of existing RFID projects
solely by technical considerations the topic of
dealing with unions and staff has become more
significant. This can become a problem but does
However, RFID concerns are normally not over not have to be one. As Dr. Frank Müller of Solvay
with the introduction of a solution. If an RFID noted, it is important to communicate right from
solution is judged positively then companies often the beginning openly and transparently about what
find other areas to deploy RFID. The majority of is planned. To include the union early allows them
RFID users are planning to extend existing RFID to recognise that RFID is no risk to the employees.
solutions. Otherwise it is easy to give the opposite
impression.

The question of processes is also of particular
importance during the introduction of RFID. One
approach is simply to let certain manual work
processes be taken over by RFID. However, the
process remains unchanged and it does not take
advantage of the full potential for efficiency
improvement. If RFID is introduced in this manner
the value achieved remains far below expectations.
Expansion of existing RFID projects

To actually exploit the full efficiency savings,
companies should conduct a process analysis and
clarify how the process can be improved. From this
the requirements for the technology can be
effectively derived. The search and selection of

5

technical components should be a significant
consideration.

One of the biggest changes that the introduction
of RFID makes is a significant improvement in the
database. This enables proactive maintenance
processes that, due to previously inadequate
databases, could only be reactive before. For
example, thanks to an improved database failure
times can be forecast and spare parts can be
procured in advance, rather than responding to
Mateus Siwek, Research Consultant, T.A. Cook
failures as needed.

"RFID BEST PRACTICE":
RFID USAGE IN MAINTENANCE
Although the possibilities of implementing RFID solutions are now well known, many
companies still have questions. Especially in the field of maintenance, there is little
information available. This study aims to close this gap in the future.

The study answers the following questions:

» What benefits do companies generate by using RFID in maintenance?
» What RFID solutions are available?
» How expensive are RFID projects and applications?
» How fast can RFID solutions be installed?
» What challenges arise during the implementation of an RFID project?
» What maintenance applications or processes is RFID used for?
» How are business processes changed by introducing RFID?
» What are the prerequisites for a successful RFID implementation?
» What technologies are suitable for RFID solutions?

A large part of the study addresses case studies that show specifically the use
of RFID in maintenance. It offers the maintenance industry a practice oriented
set of examples for practical implementations. The study offers the reader
the chance to assess the feasibility, cost estimation and cost-benefit analysis
of RFID implementations. To support this there is a study document and a
cost calculation tool enclosed.

"RFID Best Practice: RFID Usage in Maintenance" can be ordered
online at http://www.tacook.co.uk/studies.php

The study costs 1.500 Euro (plus Vat.). Survey participants will receive a
discount of 10 percent.

RESEARCH & STUDIES
T.A. Cook’s Research & Studies department focuses on detailed market and company analysis in the
context of asset performance management. The team focuses on analysing current markets, anticipating
developments and assessing their consequences for participants in the market. In addition to themed
studies, we develop trend reports and maintain specialised knowledge databases which can be used to
support specially-commissioned studies.
Contact: Mateus Siwek, m.siwek@tacook.com, Tel.: +49 (0)30 - 8843070

6

EXHIBITOR

AUTHOR Mateus Siwek

MAINTENANCE CUSTOMERS AS A TARGET GROUP
RFID Providers have recognised that maintenance teams represent an
important target group. Many requirements for which a few years ago there
were no suitable products are now covered by the providers’ product
portfolios.

A few years ago maintenance managers had
difficulties finding tailored solutions to suit their
needs; but today the situation has now changed.
In particular, RFID tags used to be more tailored
to the needs of trade and logistics than the harsh
environmental conditions in industry. Attaching
RFID tags to metal surfaces presented problems in
the past as this interfered with reading data.
However, several of today’s solution providers
such as Meshed Systems, microsensys, Smart-Tec,
TNB an others now supply RFID tags that function
without problems on metal surfaces. Almost all
manufacturers of RFID tags currently offer
Exhibition stand for Evonik Energy Services GmbH
variations to suit heavy industries. These work in a
wide temperature range and are protected from
dirt, dust and liquids.

Maintenance teams also require ATEX certified
RFID tags. These are already available from
manufacturers such as Tectus, microsenys and
Trovan. At the conference, however, it was noted
that these RFID tags only have an ATEX category
2 certification. For practical application, ATEX
category 1 certified RFID tags are necessary but
not yet available.

In addition to the RFID tags, mobile readers
dominated most discussion themes. An array of
very different experiences was made using PDAs, Exhibition stand of mircrosensys GmbH

cell phones and tablet PCs. Each of these variants
had their advocates. One user said that given the
small size of the keys only the tablet PCs are
practical. For other users, these were not
successful because of the weight and size.

Users’ experience indicates that the choice of
reader should be made in consultation with
employees. It is the employees that ultimately use
the equipment and thus guarantee the success of
the project.

Exhibition stand of Movilitas Consulting AG

7

CONFERENCE REPORT

AUTHOR Jörn Grote

INNOVATION FROM PRACTICE
The further development of RFID technology in maintenance is not only being
driven by the suppliers. Users also initiate the development of new products
motivated by their needs or ideas and from their use of the technology.

The many demands on maintenance require
constant innovations. If the RFID tags do not
match the specific needs of a user, they often
develop a customised solution in collaboration with
the provider. One example was a collaboration
between Lufthansa, Hartig and the Frauenhofer
Institute for Integrated Circuits, which produced
the first air transport approved RFID tag. This
transponder also works outside the cabin and is
used for permanent identification of aircraft
components.

Other solution providers also reported that
collaborations between users and providers led to
marketable, competitive RFID solutions.
V-RFID usage in practice
Ideas for improvements and suggestions for
further applications often come directly from
practice. Once the employees are convinced of the
advantages of RFID technology, they often provide
useful information for further development. At
Evonik, for example, normal RFID tags were
developed further into visual RFID tags. The idea
that it might be possible to see the information on
the RFID tags without a reading device led to this
new development. This “V-RFID” displays basic
information about the asset it is attached to. They
can be used for activating electrical systems or for
periodic inspections and maintenance. Evonik
plans in the future to offer the V-RFID as a distinct
product.
At the exhibition stand of Evonik Energy Services GmbH

8

MARKET TREND

AUTHOR Mateus Siwek

MOBILE MAINTENANCE HELPS RFID BREAK
THROUGH
Seven of the 20 presentations and discussions at the conference dealt in part
or completely with the practice of mobile maintenance. As the “RFID Best
Practice” study shows, the greatest interest both for current and future users
lies in mobile solutions.

Usage and planning of RFID in Maintenance / Source: T.A. Cook “RFID Best Practice” 2010

Fixed mounted reader devices, called ‘gates’, limits Because of these advantages mobile reading
the use of RFID to small objects that can be taken devices are often used where not absolutely
past them. The introduction of mobile reading necessary. For example, in repair shops which
devices first made the use of RFID tags on objects receive the tagged objects to be read.
of all sizes possible. Moreover, mobile reading
devices eliminate costly transportation to The flexibility of mobile reading devices for reading
permanently mounted readers. the RFID tags anywhere has led to the increased
use of RFID in maintenance.

9

CONFERENCE REPORT

AUTHOR Mateus Siwek

LEGAL ASPECTS RAISE QUESTIONS
One topic that was of great interest for many visitors to the conference was
the legal side of RFID use. What statutory documentation requirements are
there and how does RFID data relate to data protection?

One advantage of RFID is the improved control of
activities carried out by a maintenance engineer.
There were different views amongst the
conference participants on whether and to what
extent these readings meet the legal
documentation requirements of inspections. Some
users reported experiences showing that RFID
readings are not an acceptable solution for legal
documentation. They continue to produce a
written and signed document as a form of
evidence. Other users reported that their legal
departments had decided that an RFID solution’s
records sufficed as proof of statutory inspections.
Jürgen Alexander Lehmann, organisations developer and coach,
Xploy
Another difficult issue is employee monitoring.
Theoretically, RFID solutions offer an exact insight
to what staff members did at what times.
However, from a data protection point of view this
is very dubious. In such cases unions can claim
that the accurate performance monitoring of
employees is not possible. The discussions
amongst the conference participants showed that
the approaches differ toward internal and external
employees. More data is collected on external
employees to enable more accurate invoicing. In
this context the question arose about where to
draw the line between internal and external
employees.

The lively discussion in the plenum made it clear
that all questions concerning the legal aspects of Reiner Pape, mechanics planning, Roche Diagnostics GmbH
all usage of RFID solutions are far from being
answered.

10

CONFERENCE REPORT

AUTHOR Jörn Grote

SAP MAM: UNCERTAIN FUTURE
The announcement made by SAP that SAP MAM will not be developed further
has caused considerable uncertainty among users. Are there viable
alternatives for use in RFID solutions or should we continue to rely on SAP?

As the graphic from the “RFID Best Practice” study During the panel discussion, conference
shows that the cost of interface programming and participants also reviewed whether the use of
the development of middleware are the highest alternatives to SAP MAM is advisable. It became
costs of introducing RFID. Taking this background clear that many companies which already use SAP
into account the announcement made by SAP not software in other areas would prefer an SAP
to develop SAP MAM further is a matter of concern solution.
to companies.
Since the choice of software to be used is vital to
At the conference it was made clear that this does the long term success of an RFID project the
not mean the software will be abandoned. On the participants regarded the current situation as being
contrary, SAP considers MAM to be mature. This unfavourable. Prof. Karsten Huffstadt of the
clarification could not however, satisfactorily University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-
resolve the uncertainty on the part of those Schweinfurt advised the delegates to defer the
present. There were complaints that SAP has not choice of software until the end of the year
communicated transparently on how their because by then further announcements from SAP
commitment to the maintenance arena and mobile will have been made.
solutions will continue. In particular this causes a
problem for companies that have to decide on
their software for an upcoming RFID project.

Introducing RFID: cost factors / source: T.A. Cook “RFID Best Practice” 2010

11

INSIGHT REPORT RFID

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