By Jamie Bsales, Associate Editor, July 28, 2009
Lexmark International, Inc. has introduced an add-on for its BLI award-winning T654 workgroup printer that turns the 55-ppm monochrome laser into a device that can also create RFID (radio frequency identification) labels and documents at up to 20 ppm. The T654 RFID UHF is the latest product from the only laser-based RFID printer manufacturer in the market, and will compete against more expensive and less flexible thermal printing solutions.
Much like barcode technology, RFID’s primary purpose is for assigning a unique identifying code to objects; but unlike barcodes, no direct line-of-site is required for an electronic reader to gather information. Instead, low-level electro-magnetic signals are emitted by an RFID chip/antenna transponder (also called a tag), and those signals can be picked up by an RFID reader. RFID technology is currently used in a wide variety of tracking and identification solutions, such as supply-chain systems, access cards, automated toll-taking systems and more.
“We began developing the idea of a laser-based RFID printer about 8 years ago,” said Rick Kallopp, RFID Business Development Manager at Lexmark. In 2007, the company released the T640rn in the U.S. and Canada, a relatively slow 12-ppm device that could handle RFID tag creation. Last year Lexmark introduced the more robust T64x RFID UHF Option, capable of producing RFID-embedded media at up to 14 ppm. The new T654 RFID UHF Option ups the speed to 20 ppm, and gives more flexibility in the placement of the tag in the media and its orientation.
The integrated circuits required in the latest RFID tags now measure about the size of a pencil point, making it possible to embed a tag in almost any kind of printable media. The chip can hold up to 96 bits of data—enough for about 12 characters worth of information. Since that’s not enough memory to store a meaningful amount of information, the chips are programmed with unique numeric codes; those codes are in turn matched to records in a back-end relational database that stores the full breadth of information associated with a given tag. To program a tag with the unique code, the back-end system creates the string of characters, associates it with the database record and passes the code to an RF encoding system—an RFID radio and an antenna—that programs the chip.
The Lexmark T654 RFID UHF Option resembles a standard paper drawer and attaches to the bottom of the printer. The module contains a ThingMagic M5e RFID radio and an RF antenna. Used in conjunction with RFID-equipped media available from system integrators and other third-parties, the solution programs the media’s RFID chip and then passes the media along to the print engine for creation of the document.
Unlike dedicated thermal-based RFID printing devices, the T654 RFID UHF Option enables companies to have a cost-effective multi-purpose device, since the T654 laser printer can be equipped with additional paper drawers for non-RFID media. In a shipping department, for example, this enables a single device to create both the RFID-equipped shipping label and the accompanying plain-paper packing list. It also features more media flexibility than thermal RFID solutions, with support for 5" x 7" up to 8.5" x 14". The T654 RFID UHF Option is also a good fit for vertical markets such as pharmacies, healthcare, legal offices, law enforcement and other applications where RFID can be used to track documents, file folders and items affixed with an RFID tag or label.
For example, for document tracking, the T654 RFID UHF Option lets organizations cost-effectively track client, patient, employee and other records electronically, whether they reside on a person’s desk, in a file cabinet or in the document warehouse. With such a solution, users can locate RFID-tagged folders (based on its RFID serial number) from up to 12 feet away using a handheld RFID reader. This lets employees quickly perform document audits, locate archived items quickly and improve workflow by knowing where documents are at all times. An RFID document tracking solution can also improve document security by alerting personnel if a sensitive file incorrectly passes though an RFID-equipped checkpoint.
Kallopp points to other solutions Lexmark and its software and media partners have developed, including inventory tracking, Web-based work-in-progress tracking and evidence tracking for law enforcement. “We see this technology as a fit not just for shipping labels, which is the industry focus now, but also for document tracking,” said Kallopp. “The potential is huge.”
Lexmark reports that while the T654 RFID UHF Option is easy enough for a typical IT manager to set up, Lexmark-certified integrators would typically handle the installation as part of a larger ecosystem that includes the printer, back-end and middleware software, and RFID readers. The T654 RFID UHF Option carries a suggested retail price of $2,499, which includes the RFID module for programming/verifying tags and firmware and forms add-in cards for the printer. That price does not include the required legal-capable T654n monochrome laser printer, which carries a suggested retail price of $1,199. Still, the total price for the Lexmark solution is $1,000 less than a dedicated thermal-based RFID-equipped printer that only produces 4" x 2" labels, and half the price of a thermal solution that produces 4" x 6" labels. In addition, users who already own a T654 printer can add the RFID option to their existing printer. RFID-equipped media, available from Lexmark partners, sells for 25 cents per page and up depending on the size and material, which is competitive with a 4" x 6" label for a thermal RFID printer.
This article was originally posted on Buyer’s Laboratory.
