How to qualifying a potential customer for an RFID solution, to uncover use-case, environment, performance, and business constraints. Below is a structured, practical checklist you can use in discovery calls or site surveys for a well suited to Auto-ID /

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How to qualifying a potential customer for an RFID solution, to uncover use-case, environment, performance, and business constraints. Below is a structured, practical checklist one can use in discovery calls or site surveys for a well suited to Auto-ID / RFID projects ?

 

 

 

1. Business Objective (Why RFID?)

Start here—this determines everything else.

  • What problem are you trying to solve with RFID?
    • Inventory accuracy?
    • Asset tracking?
    • Loss prevention?
    • Process automation?
    • Compliance / traceability?
  • What is not working with your current process (barcode, manual, etc.)?
  • What KPIs would define success? (accuracy %, time saved, shrink reduction, ROI)
  • Is this a pilot, single site, or multi-site rollout?
  • What is the expected timeline?

2. Items Being Tagged (What?)

Critical for tag selection.

  • What objects will be tagged?
    • Products, pallets, cases, assets, tools, people?
  • Dimensions and shape?
  • Materials involved?
    • Metal?
    • Liquids?
    • Mixed materials?
  • Item value (low-value consumables vs high-value assets)?
  • Are items disposable or reusable?
  • Quantity:
    • How many items in circulation?
    • How many reads per day?

3. RFID Tag or Labels Requirements

  • Passive UHF RFID expected?
  • Read range required? (cm, meters, room-scale?)
  • Memory requirements?
    • EPC only?
    • User memory needed?
  • Durability requirements?
    • Heat, cold, moisture, chemicals?
  • Attachment method:
    • Label, hard tag, embedding, adhesive?
  • Compliance needs?
    • GS1 / EPCglobal?
    • Industry or government standards?

4. Read Points & Workflow (Where & How?)

This defines reader and antenna architecture.

  • Where should reads occur?
    • Dock doors?
    • Portals?
    • Conveyor?
    • Shelves?
    • Handheld scanning?
  • Are reads fixed, mobile, or both?
  • Directional reading required? (in/out)
  • Read speed required?
    • Static?
    • High-speed conveyor?
  • Required read accuracy?
    • 95%, 99%, near-100%?
  • Do you need bulk reads or individual item confirmation?

5. Environment & Site Conditions

Often the difference between success and failure.

  • Indoor or outdoor?
  • Presence of:
    • Metal racks?
    • Liquids?
    • EMI / RF noise?
  • Ceiling height?
  • Reader mounting constraints?
  • Temperature range?
  • Any health & safety or regulatory constraints?

A Site survey strongly recommended for most fixed RFID projects.

6. Systems Integration

Where RFID delivers real value.

  • What backend systems are in use?
    • ERP (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics)?
    • WMS?
    • MES?
  • Is real-time data required?
  • Do you need:
    • Middleware?
    • API integration?
    • Edge processing?
  • Who owns IT integration on their side?
  • Data format requirements?

7. Operational Constraints

  • Who will operate the system?
  • Training requirements?
  • Change management concerns?
  • What happens when a tag fails or is unreadable?
  • Maintenance expectations?

8. Budget & Commercial Considerations

Often left too late—ask early.

  • Is budget allocated?
  • Are they more cost-sensitive on:
    • Tags?
    • Infrastructure?
    • Software?
  • Expected ROI timeframe?
  • CapEx vs OpEx preference?

9. Compliance, Security & Privacy

Especially important for people or asset tracking.

  • Any data privacy concerns?
  • Encryption or authentication required?
  • Audit or traceability requirements?
  • Data retention policies?

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