Aviation:

International Air Transport Association (IATA) has mandated that by 2018, airlines must track each pieces of baggage that comes in at check-in and goes out at arrival. It means that airlines will need to analyse their existing monitoring systems, and implement appropriate technology which can do this in a fool-proof manner while saving on cost and time. Delta Airlines, one of America’s top airlines, has invested over $50million in RFID for baggage tracking and management. Delta Airlines have realized that RFID signals can be picked by receivers 99.85% of times as compared to a 90% success rate of manual scanners. And, the difference of 8% could be the cause that leads to loss or delay of more than 20 million baggage pieces. RFID in baggage tracking will lead to a considerable reduction in lost baggage by 2024 and will enable the air transport industry to save over $3 billion within the next seven years. In addition, airline operators, maintenance and repair organizations (MROs) and manufacturers across the supply chain will rely on RFID to streamline the pace of operations, and ensure fastest possible turnaround for passenger as well as cargo flights.

The scope of RFID in aviation is immense. At Dolphin, we are privy to this global interest and are feeling the pulse in the form of requests from our foreign partners for helping airlines in the respective countries to implement RFID systems to gain a clear business advantage. In India, we are in talks with multiple airlines to help them to adhere to the IATA guidelines and be operationally superior by implementing RFID technologies.

Retail:

In 2016, 4.6 billion clothing items carried RFID tags. However, this does not represent even 10% of the total apparel market, thus the potential for growth in retail and apparel is immense.

In a survey of 60 retailers with revenues of $500 million and above undertaken by Kurt Salmon, 73 percent have said that they are either deploying or are doing a pilot on RFID technologies. That number is more than double the 34 percent for the same study done in 2014.

Retail majors such as Marks & Spencer and Decathlon have had major RFID implementation in 2016. Even RFID tag providers Avery Dennison, Impinj and NXP have all reported a strong growth in tag sales. Avery Dennison has had nearly 30 percent growth in 2016 despite a slow apparel market in the US.

The other micro-segments that fall in the broad retail ambit such as cosmetics, electronics, auto ancillary, sports goods, jewellery and small home appliances are all seeing RFID tagging and tracking. The retail space, it’s entire supply chain, right to the warehouses, are all potential areas for robust RFID implementations. The ever-burgeoning retail market and retailers are seeing the benefits of RFID hence we would see a huge fillip in this space for RFID technologies in 2017. RFID is a must in the emerging Omni Channel sales which is the way forward for Retail.

IT & ITeS:

The IT services opportunity is huge world over. There are many mid-tier to small-tier IT companies in India which employ thousands of people. The laptops, desktops, dongles and mobiles assigned to people are the assets that organizations would want to tag, track and protect.

IT companies are now broadening the perimeter of operations. Important business data can be accessed by employees from home and on their mobiles with policies such as “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) becoming increasingly prevalent. These companies often work with critical data from the clients; hence their server and data centers need to be safeguarded from unauthorised access. RFID systems allow seamless entry and exit of company’s assets and restrict unauthorised access to key servers and data centers.

In a huge IT and ITeS organization, there could be over 100,000 assets. Research shows that if RFID is deployed to track these assets, the annual labour cost savings would exceed $150,000. This cost saving carries forward to subsequent years and goes on forever. Hence, RFID investments lead to significant returns and value over time.

RFID systems also enable to arrest any corrupt practices at entry and exit points and safeguard from tampering of technology assets. There is utmost transparency and accountability at all times as RFID systems can track and monitor all assets within seconds. This particularly helps IT companies that have set up huge development centers in SEZs, hence they are prone to sudden inspections and compliance checks. Companies such as Verizon already track their IT assets worldwide using RFID technology.

Healthcare:

Healthcare is among the fastest RFID adopters globally. The benefit of implementing RFID in hospitals is immense as it enables hospitals to focus on a greater cause – treating patients well and saving lives in a cost-effective manner.

Asset tracking and management in hospitals benefit immensely by use of RFID. About 20% of a hospital’s mobile assets (on average) are lost or stolen during their useful lifetime. The average cost works out to more than USD 3000 per item. Also, 75% of the time for maintenance is spent searching equipment. Hospitals typically over-stack up to 40% of spare inventory to mitigate the risk of running short of equipment during emergency. RFID can solve all these problems and ensure significant savings for hospitals without adversely impacting patient care. The savings can eventually be passed on to the patients to enable more people to afford better treatment.

Another area where RFID significantly benefits hospitals is in patient tracking and management, wherein a smart RFID device accessible by a mobile interface helps doctors and nurses to ensure perfect administration of medicines to patients at the right time. The hospitals are also able to track and manage documents and files of patients better and thus, ensuring seamless and effective treatment. Several hospitals all over the world have embraced RFID. Progressive hospitals in India such as the Apollo group of hospitals, and the Tata medical centre have been pioneers in leveraging RFID. The power of RFID in improving healthcare is such that even progressive Muncipal Corporations like the BMC are looking at introducing RFID based Asset Management in their hospitals.

Hospitality:

There is a latent demand for safe and secure hotel accommodation all over the world. The fact that start-ups like Airbnb are gaining serious momentum is testimony to this. With pilgrimage, medical tourism and leisure travel on the rise, safe, secure and reputed players in hospitality would be in great demand.

For the budget hotels to survive and compete with international counterparts and tackle disruptors in the space like Airbnb, leveraging RFID has become the need of the hour. With smart RFID based locks and energy systems, the customers are assured that their belongings are safe in hotel rooms hence enhancing the perception of safety. This leads to more people opting to stay at budget hotels that offer great service and helps the sector to flourish. The linked energy management systems also enable hotels to bring down their electricity costs. The “audit trail capture” feature of these locks helps to keep a check on any illegal use of rooms for nefarious activities and subsequent loss of both brand image and revenue. With the use of RFID readers, tracking and management of hotel’s assets can be done seamlessly and any unwarranted loss of assets can be kept in check. Hotels, after implementing RFID technologies, have seen a reduction in the inventory shrinkage from a 10% to 66% of the common shrinkage which leads to considerable savings in cost, enhances service efficiency and improves the bottom line.

Dolphin has introduced smart, RFID powered and energy efficient locks namely Aster, Sleek and Vidala that enables the budget hotels to offer the same sense of safety and security as luxury hotels at half the cost. The demand for these locks among the luxury properties is also catching up with hotel chains opting for Dolphin’s RFID powered locks and security systems. By assembling and marketing these locks and energy systems in India, Dolphin is giving a serious boost to our honourable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative.

Why Dolphin?

Dolphin RFID is one of the leading RFID service providers in the world with over 14 copyrights, 3 patents, and its own proprietary JAVA based middleware that can integrate with any core system irrespective of the sector or industry. With a network spanning 6 continents and a clientele comprising Forbes top 20 companies, Dolphin has been creating disruptive innovations, which has helped large organization and SMEs alike.

While Dolphin is on track to be a world leader in end to end RFID solutions, our larger mission is to empower all industries, especially across these five sectors, to leverage RFID and create disruptive business models for the larger good.

I hope all companies, be it large corporations or SMEs, embrace RFID in 2017 and give their businesses a better chance to succeed and prosper.

The post 5 sectors which will see impactful RFID disruption in 2017 appeared first on Dolphin RFID.

While we sympathize with such cases, it is a matter of lives and adoption of technology is the only way to ensure that such cases become virtually non-existent.

RFID – the bedrock of smart hospitals

A smart, digitized hospital is one wherein data is collated at all important points, stored meticulously and retrieved whenever essential. This practice shifts the attention for medical equipment and devices management to patient care. This leads to better care services and enhances the brand of the hospital.

One of the key areas where RFID plays a critical role in hospitals is during surgical procedures. It is of paramount importance that surgeons and the staff in operation theatres have everything required for the procedure ready with them. By tagging medical devices, it enables hospitals to track all important devices used during surgical procedures in a matter of seconds and thus improve patient safety. Today, different classes of medical devices are required to include a permanent mark containing a unique identifier and manufacturing information. Healthcare is among the largest spenders in RFID technology with over USD 2bn being spent per year.

The obvious advantages of RFID in saving lives and enhancing efficiencies have led to adoption of regulatory practices such as unique device Identification in the US to identify medical devices through their distribution and use. The label on most devices will include a unique device identifier (UDI) in human and machine readable form. Device labellers must also submit certain information about each device to FDA’s Global Unique Device Identification Database (GUDID). People can thus, search and download information from the GUDID and check the status of devices used during surgical procedures.

The global hospital asset management market segment commanded 89.7% of the global healthcare asset management market in 2015, growing at a CAGR of more than 35.8% from 2015 to 2020. Equipment management commands the largest share of the healthcare asset management market and it is set to grow further with regulations such as UDI and the enhanced use of RFID in tracking medical devices and surgical equipment.

Dolphin RFID has entered into a tie-up with Esbee Dynamed to ensure that all surgical equipment and medical devices are appropriately tagged and efficiently transported from the auto-claving unit at hospitals to operation theatres in time for surgery. By using RFID, it will also ensure that all such surgical equipment is managed efficiently and is not lost/ misplaced. By doing so, hospitals needn’t order an excess number of such devices and equipment. The savings in cost can obviously be used to administer better care and eventually make healthcare much more cost-effective.

The Benefits of an End-to-end RFID Infrastructure in hospitals

A comprehensive RFID infrastructure set-up in hospitals can enable management of patients, doctors and staff as well as all assets and inventory. The records of each patient can be maintained better and hence patient care can be taken to a whole new level. The areas that RFID can positively impact are as below:

Equipment Management:

As per AMR research, about 20% of a hospital’s mobile assets (on average) are lost or stolen during their useful lifetime. The average cost works out to more than USD 3000 per item. Though regular maintenance is scheduled for equipment to ensure that they perform effectively, more than 75% of the maintenance time is also spent searching for equipment. By implementing RFID, it will enable easy tracking of equipment and enhance their utilization to the very end of their lives. The maintenance schedules can also be focused towards checking and repairing the equipment as against finding it. This would lead to saving of millions of dollars and also help hospitals to deliver better healthcare services.

Inventory Management:

To safeguard against the risk of running short in an emergency, hospitals stock up spares in their inventory for each equipment. By over-stacking to the tune of approximately 40%, hospitals spend their capital in absolutely insignificant places. Implementation of RFID can free up this crucial capital and enable hospitals to put them to better use.

Patient Tracking and Management

The incidents of patients going missing, babies being swapped, incorrect medicine and dosage being administered are all not uncommon. Despite being as meticulous as possible, human errors do creep in and lead to consequences which are, at times, catastrophic.

By employing RFID technologies, patients who are admitted to hospitals are given RFID enabled wrist bands. The patient’s history, details of the ailment, course of administering medicines and time can all be accessed with an RFID reader by reading the information stored in the tags/ linked software. This can virtually eliminate human error and ensure the best healthcare services to the patients.

Document and Data File Tracking

The medical records of patients are critical and the information is essential for better treatment. Many documents and data files, including charts, physician and pharmacy orders, and laboratory reports must circulate to key people and departments to ensure that best collaborative care is administered. By leveraging RFID, the documents and data files will have limited and need-based access. This ensures that patient data is not compromised. This is extremely critical for efficiency as well as to build a great brand for the hospitals.

Savings due to RFID implementations

Hospitals, especially in the US, have leveraged the power of RFID to save millions of dollars per year and effectively use it to impart better healthcare. For instance, the Texas Health Hospital Alliance in Fort Worth has tagged everything that moves including high-value assets, wristbands on patients and the badges of all staff members. By tagging all rental equipment, the hospital saves nearly USD65000 a month on rental fee. This is the case of a small hospital, imagine the savings that a huge hospital or a chain of hospitals can enjoy if they deploy RFID efficiently.

The Future

Our smartphones are set to replace everything from POS machines to credit cards to even RFID tag readers. The mobile phones, with the necessary application interface and middleware would be able to read the information on the tag. All it needs is to be Near Field Communication (NFC) enabled.

We will see regulatory mandates coming in to ensure that RFID tagging is done on all assets and equipment as well as patients, staff and doctors. By using NFC enabled phones, the hospital staff and nurses can read the RFID enabled wrist bands and appropriately administer medicines to patients. They can also check vital stats and alert in case of emergencies through the phone.

The amount of data that RFID implementation will enable to be collected and collated would be immense. This would lead to huge advancements in customized and special healthcare to each patient by appropriate Data Mining. RFID will help to keep a check on the unwanted costs and procurements and thus pass on the benefits of such savings to the ultimate beneficiaries – the patients.

Dolphin RFID readers with proprietary middleware can integrate into any hospital management system and enable seamless implementation of end-to-end RFID.

The India Outlook

India is at the cusp of a Healthcare revolution. India is one of the most preferred destinations for medical tourism due to the quality of healthcare services and its affordability. The implementation of RFID across hospitals will enable them to further improve efficiency and sharpen their focus on healthcare and medical services. This would lead to better and preventive healthcare initiatives and will also put India on the global map as one of the best global destinations for top quality affordable healthcare services.

Through the tie-up with Esbee Dynamed, Dolphin RFID will leave no stone unturned in enabling most of India’s hospitals to become RFID enabled. Our experience of having completed projects such as asset management for Tata medical centre at Kolkata and Apollo hospital in Delhi and vehicle management at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai stands us in good stead to significantly contribute to enhance healthcare in India.

The post RFID in Healthcare – Creating smarter hospitals. Enhancing quality of healthcare. Saving Lives. appeared first on Dolphin RFID.