Radio frequency transmission has been with us since Guglielmo Marconi
first demonstrated wireless communications a century ago. Within 30 to 40
years of Marconi’s discovery, radios had become a fixture in nearly every
U.S. household. However, it has been only within the last half-dozen years
that wireless data transmission has come into its own in a business
environment.
RFDC first appeared in warehouses and distribution centers as an
enabling technology for automatic identification and data capture (AIDC)
implementations, where hardwiring was unfeasible and/or real-time updating
of the host database was critical. Early applications typically ran on PCs
or controllers, scattered throughout a facility, which were interfaced to
what was essentially a batch-oriented host. Those early systems were
costly, quirky, and limited in transaction processing. However, they often
made automated data capture a reality in environments where hard-wired
systems were impossible. Further, RFDC offered certain advantages over
hard-wired AIDC systems — interactivity and real-time updates of
inventory, shipments, or manufacturing applications — that companies could
turn to their own competitive advantage.
Technology improvements kept pace with RFDC’s steady growth, so that
present-day RFDC-based systems provide powerful, sophisticated, and
reliable wireless solutions for a wide variety of both local-area and
wide-area networked applications.
Five frequently cited benefits to using Radio Frequency Data
Communication are increased database accuracy at all times, reduced
paperwork, real-time operations, higher productivity, and shorter order
response times.