Lexmark’s Laser Solution Makes Creating RFID
Documents Affordable
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.
