Think 20/20 Research

One of my key investing themes is to locate disruptive technologies that are on the cusp of breaking out in terms of adoption in business-to-business, business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer applications. One such technology is radio frequency identification (RFID). At its simplest, RFID technology works in some ways like a bar code or a magnetic strip found on the back of a debit or credit card, but for all the similarities, they could not be further apart in terms of applications and human involvement required for benefit.

I recently had the chance to speak with Patrick J. Sweeney II, chief executive officer of ODIN, a leader in packaged RFID solutions for health care, aerospace, financial services and government agencies, about market opportunities for RFID.

Q: Patrick, in a nutshell what is RFID and why is it a better technology than bar coding and magnetic strips?

A: RFID can give an item or asset its own voice. A bar code requires a human to physically touch and manipulate an item to get information from it, and you can only scan one at a time (think of the lines at a grocery store). RFID allows an item to give information like its whereabouts, condition or cost without any human intervention. Thousands of RFID tags can “talk” at once. An RFID tag is about the size of a stamp and costs just pennies but gives much more benefit than the 35-year-old bar code. Think of 10,000 runners crossing a starting line with RFID tags on their shoes to begin race timing, every bag on an airplane tagged and located within seconds, or doing inventory of a data center or armory with the push of a button all in real time.

Q: What’s the business case to be had for RFID adoption? Why should companies consider adopting the technology?

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