Safety equipment company Bairstow implements RFID labeling on all rigging products
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It is predicted that the market will increasingly require the use of RFID technology to track testing and safety data related to custom rigging equipment and fall protection equipment. The manufacturer Bairstow Lifting Products Co. has begun to paste every product that the company produces that requires regular testing. Mark. The introduction of RFID tags in each piece of equipment can help customers track purchased equipment, manage inventory, and maintain electronic inspection records for all equipment, said Bairstow sales manager Carey Hanson. Bairstow also provides labeling services for sold equipment and equipment produced by other manufacturers sold by the company.
Bairstow sells a variety of construction safety products, including wire rope slings, safety belts and lanyards. Overhead lifting equipment requires safety testing, and Bairstow also provides printed labels for each equipment. The RFID tag is provided by the tag manufacturer Marnlen RFID and contains UPM Raflatac’s MiniTrack RFID inlay. There are two versions. One type of label is designed for use on metal surfaces, and the other is used on non-metallic synthetic materials. The high frequency 13.56 MHz RFID tag complies with the ISO 15693 standard and contains a unique ID number.
For non-metal products, Bairstow sews passive RFID tags directly on the surface of the product
Hanson said that the company has seen some successful cases where RFID has ensured regular testing of equipment, which has contributed to the company’s determination to adopt RFID technology. Although no customer has requested such a solution yet, when he talked about the RFID labeling plan with several of his largest customers, they all expressed interest in adopting this technology. Hanson hopes that the application of RFID will give the company a competitive advantage.
Safety inspectors and safety equipment management companies have begun to adopt RFID technology. For example, Elko Wire & Mining Supply and Hercules SLR have adopted a set of systems from N4 Systems. Jergens also began to use N4 Systems’ RFID tags on products (connecting slings and chains). The safety equipment manufacturer MSA has provided its customers with a complete RFID solution-N4 Systems’ Field ID online detection and safety compliance management system, integrated with a full-body safety belt EvoTech. MSA customers can purchase seat belts with embedded RFID tags and use Field ID WEB software and handheld readers to track them.
Bairstow hopes that as RFID applications gradually become popular, the introduction of RFID tags into products can improve the company’s competitiveness. “We are the only sling company that uses RFID on all labeling slings. We do not restrict which equipment is labeled and which is not. We only focus on cost-effective applications and apply this technology to all equipment.” Hanson said.
Hanson said that Bairstow does not plan to become a full-scale RFID technology provider (packaged sales tags, readers and software), but if customers require handhelds to read security device tags, the company will also provide read-write devices from multiple manufacturers , To help them build a software system to translate and store reader information.
Currently, more and more requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Department (OSHA) and other agencies mean that users must not only regularly inspect safety equipment, but also make inspection records easily accessible. “We are always looking for more effective ways to achieve this,” Hanson said.
Bairstow manufactures and labels products in Atlanta. The label is encapsulated in a thin layer of heavy plastic that can withstand heavy blows, sunlight, high and low temperatures, and moisture, said Rod Coward, Marnlen’s new product development manager. The Bairstow name and its batch number, serial number and unique ID code are printed on the front of each label.
Non-metallic labels-designed for synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon and rope-are attached to the back of the product with adhesive and then stitched. The metal tag used for the metal tag contains a layer of special RF absorbing material, Coward said, to isolate the RFID inlay from the metal object it is applied to. The label uses a piece of steel wire rope to be tied to the device, crimped to form a circular metal ring.
“We realize that most customers still have no idea about RFID technology, and may not have paid attention to it,” Hanson said, “but security device testing has become popular.” The demand for more frequent inspections of equipment and the provision of more detailed records has prompted many equipment users to seek solutions that are more effective than manual recording using paper and pen. Companies trying to adopt RFID, Hanson said, found that the cost of product labeling was US$10-15 per label.
For those users who wish to add labels to their products, Bairstow sells non-metallic application labels at $2.50 per sheet, and metal labels at $6.50 per sheet. If you order in large quantities, the price of the label will drop. “We don’t want to make money from this,” he said, “RFID applications can provide improved product quality and safety.”
The Bairstow RFID tag can be read by any high-frequency reader that supports the ISO 15693 standard and has a wide range of uses, Hanson said.
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