If your pet is prone to venture far from home then you should consider putting an identity tag on it. The ID tag can be as basic as you like, but the most advanced technique is to use ‘radio frequency identification’ or an RFID tag.

If you have a very young cat or dog, there is perhaps no need to tag it yet, but as the animal gets older, ID tags can become critical. If your pet gets lost, anyone finding it can then return it. If you have a cat or a dog, then a straightforward collar might be sufficient.

Some collars have a metal tag attached to them so that you can have your address or phone number etched on it, others have a ring, so that you can attach a small canister with your particulars inside it. Some just write their address on the inside of the collar with a felt tipped pen or a marker pen. This is more risky though because you may not notice if it wears off.

It is essential to think about water damage if you are ID tagging a dog. Cats try to keep out of water, rain and snow, but most dogs like playing in it. If your dog’s tag is not waterproof, it will soon become illegible. On the other hand, cats frequently lose their collars.

If your pet is a horse, then it is easier to have it branded and the brand registered, so that anyone locating your lost horse can reference the brand and discover your contact details. If your pet is a tortoise, then you can write your phone number around the edge of its shell in a non-toxic fluid like nail varnish, but keep it small or you could poison the creature. Birds can have leg rings fitted. These leg bands have a unique number which can be referenced like a brand.

These are the conventional ways of ID tagging your pets, but the most modern way is to RFID tags them. These RFID tags can be affixed in several different ways. The simplest way is to have a plastic passive RFID tag made up and hang it from your pet’s collar. This works well, until your pet loses its collar or unless someone removes it in order to take your pet.

Another way of affixing an RFID tag, is to have your details imprinted on a chip and have the chip inserted under your pet’s skin by a vet. Some people are disgusted by this idea others do not mind. However, it does not hurt, is not unpleasant and cannot be mislaid.

When the police or the pound officials are passed a stray, they scan it for a chip as part of their routine these days. Even people have them inserted so that they can move across international borders more swiftly.

The RFID tag is read by a scanner and can be read from distances of several feet to several hundred yards, which makes locating a lost pet a much simpler task if it has an RFID tag fitted.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article writes on quite a few topics, but is currently involved with the RFID blocking wallet. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.

Radio frequency identification or RFID is an old idea that has quietly become a big part of everyone’s life. RFID has been around for at least 90 years and was initially put into practice about 70 years, but not many people realized it. These days, you yourself are most likely scanned every day by an RFID reader and the items you buy are certainly scanned at least once a week.

So what is RFID? Well, you could think of it as the update of the bar code although in fact, it predates the bar code by 50 or 60 years. Bar codes were invented in order to combine stock control with point of sales processing.

Everyone has seen this and is used to it: the sales clerk at the till takes the goods from your basket one at a time, looks for the bar code, flashes a light or a bar code reader over it and the cost of the article is added to your receipt.

What you do not see is that the computerized stock records for that item are reduced by one and the sales price is noted along side it. That system worked well for 40 years, but now there is a need for more data to be recorded than a bar code can accommodate and there is requirement for more stock control and even more speed at the check out. Nobody has any time anymore.

Enter RFID, an old technology revamped. RFID is the technology that they used to put in Second World War aircraft in order to identify friendly aircraft to the RADAR-controlled anti-aircraft guns. The same technology, fundamentally, that they still use in airplanes today to identify it to air traffic control. The difference is that until fairly recently, these radio signal emitters or transponders were the size of a suitcase and cost a great deal of money.

These days they are as big as the smallest coin in your pocket and cost about five cents. They triumph over the bar code because they can hold masses of data, like where and when and by whom an article was manufactured; how much it cost and how much it should be sold for; its colour, weight and description; which shelf and in which shop it should be kept on …. ad infinitum. The shop owner can write anything on that chip using an RFID printer.

And when it comes to the check out… No more reading each separate item by hand, because each RFID chip or tag, as they are called in the industry, sends out its own data on its own exclusive radio frequency, so as long as the RFID scanner is within three or four feet of the trolley, it knows what is in there instantaneously. No more unloading, scanning and refilling the trolley.

In fact, no more check out clerk. Most shoppers pay with a credit or debit card these days anyway, so as you walk past the scanner with your trolley, you are scanned; you swipe your credit card through another scanner; if you are satisfied with it, you authorize the payment and the barrier lifts for you to carry on to your car. You only need a check out clerk for the people who want to pay with cash. Cheques are being abolished soon anyway.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on several topics, but is now involved with the RFID asset tracking. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.

The usage of RFID tags has been gathering speed for several years, but 2010 has increased proliferation for three key reasons: 1] cheaper equipment and tags, 2] increased dependability and performance (up to 99.9% accurate now); 3] the agreement of an international standard for UHF passive tags.

Cost has always been a prohibiting factor, but a Korean company has declared that it will have passive RFID tags for sale for about three US cents each by the closing stages of 2011

Historically, the biggest user of RFID tags was and still is the US Department of Defense. The armed forces use smart tags to trace the containers of their hardware and sometimes individual articles of hardware too. The aviation industry has also been using them worldwide for a long time.

The latest industries to find a use for the passive tags are financial services for IT asset tracking and health care, where more than 60% of the top medical device companies are using passive UHF RFID in 2010.

Companies that have not come up with a dependable system to track their stock and know exactly what they have of everything that they sell are apt to carry surplus levels of stock to ensure they can fulfill their customers’ requirements.

If you can reduce excess stock by using improved information, you can: trim down investment, storage space, labour costs; and increase asset utilization, increase stock turnover, facilitate faster billing cycles, all of which will significantly contribute to cash flow.

In short, the adoption of RFID:

1] Facilitates stock control and item location in real time, which reduces product search time, reduces inventory levels and improves control of the manufacturing process. 2] Improves compliance, improves work-in-progress (WIP) productivity and reduces the cost of the finished goods. 3] Enables the real-time monitoring of production, order completion, and distribution procedures and their degree of effectiveness. 4] Enhances profitably and ability to meet demand quickly and lowers inventory costs. 5] Reduces labour costs by eliminating manual procedures. 6] order and shipping accuracy by helping to make sure that orders are dispatched complete, error-free, and on time, which thereby increases customer satisfaction and the probability of return orders. 7] Provides extremely accurate real-time data capture by means of warehouse management systems (WMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

The way forward is to begin with the goods-in bay. Goods arrive with shipping labels, but they are often inadequate in quality and information. It would be best to create a new ‘identity badge’ for all goods received at this point. All the pertinent information that you have on the items delivered can be put of an RFID tag and attached to the pallet, the crate or even the goods themselves.

Now these articles can be added to stock and the computer will always be able to divulge what the goods are in the box, how many of them there are and where they are located in the storehouse.

The simple procedure of creating an RFID tag at the unloading bay and attaching it to the items received can save hours of time wasted checking up on stock levels and thousands of dollars wasted in overstocking.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several topics, but is now concerned with the best RFID printer. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Active RFID Management.

GPS or Global Positioning System was created by the US Department of Defense. Since its creation this system has expanded to something that is being used by various industries for professional and consumer use. This system has allowed for major advances in many different tracking systems. In security tracking, GPS has become a major tool that can help to elevate the performance and function of security systems being used at all levels.

This tracking system works using satellite signals and receivers. The US Air Force is responsible for maintaining, operating and controlling the main parts of the overall system. These parts include the various satellites, the master control station, antennas and monitoring stations. The segment of the system not controlled by the US Air Force is the user segment. This consists of the actual devices used to transmit and receive signals.

The GPS system works by the transmission of signals between the receiver and the satellite. By using these signals you can figure out the exact location of the receiver. You can receive the latitude, longitude, and local time, that the receiver is in. It is this ability that has made the GPS a great tool for security tracking.

One of the most common uses of the GPS security tracking system is to find lost pets or children that are missing. A child or pet that has one of these tracking devices placed on them can be found quickly and returned to safety. All you need to do is attach the receiver to your child or pet in some way.

The GPS system is also a great way to track a vehicles location. Their are many occasions where the GPS receiver is built into the vehicle itself as a form of security tracking. The receiver can even be attached on the outside of the vehicle without the driver even knowing. Whenever the officers of the law wish to track a suspect, it is this type of security tracking that they will use.

You can even use this system to keep track of certain objects. For example, you can used the GPS security tracking system to keep priceless works out art safe and sound. A very small receiver can be placed upon an object and if it is stolen you can know right where it is. There are many items that can be tracked in the fashion.

You can use the GPS security tracking system pretty, much anywhere. It is used today by governments, businesses, and consumers alike. Many times it will be used in conjunction with other types of computer security systems. The GPS can give a more in depth way to secure people, objects, and buildings as well.

It is plain and clear why the GPS tracking device has been used so much in the field of security. It offers many ways to enhance a current security system that make it so very stunning. Increases security is always a good and welcome thing and that is why the GPS security tracking system is so highly prized by many. It doubles your security efforts and optimize the system you already have in place. The GPS is a great option for anyone looking to beef up their security measures.

Bloodhound Technologies is a GPS Security Systems Company located in Cape Town, South Africa. For more information on GPS / GSM Tracking Systems, go to GPS Security Tracking Systems This article, GPS Is Helping To Increase The Performance Of Security Tracking has free reprint rights.