The cost of connected textiles

The tag

The prerequisite for any RFID-enabled linen tracking system is that assets are equipped with an UHF RFID tag. There are many tag suppliers, who different combinations of components. However, the basic construction and composition are roughly the same.

The core

At the core of a tag is a lentil. This is an enclosure made of epoxy resin, containing the UHF RFID chip and a primary antenna. This combination of elements is used for Near Field Communication. NFC is a way for objects to communicate over a short distance. You may use this technology when you pay for groceries using the chip on your credit card. Technology suppliers encapsulate the chip to protect it against the harsh laundry environments.

Communication

The next component is a secondary antenna, often a wire or metallic thread. This send-and-receive component is sewn into the carrier in a specific shape. The combination of primary and secondary antennas enables communication over greater distances. The tag sits on either a polyester or polyester/cotton carrier. The durability of this carrier determines the lifetime of the tag.

Cost

In addition to the quality of a UHF RFID tag, one needs to consider cost. Today, prices are around 30 cents, considerably less that the one Euro a tag would set you back 10 years ago. This drop in cost makes it more attractive to virtualize textile assets on a larger scale. However, there’s an additional cost to attach the tag to the textile item in order to make it ‘connected’. This connectivity allows communication between connected objects through the Internet of Things.

Insertion

Ideally, manufacturers integrate the tag during the production of the linen. For obvious reasons, this approach is preferable over retrofitting of linen that is already in circulation. The cost of manual attachment can be up to 30 cents. Operators seek to eliminate that added expense, or at least reduce it to a minimum. Fortunately, whilst insertion used to be a manual process, increasingly, this manufacturing step is now fully automatic and cost-effective.