TagsForLife proposes RFID bag tags, without a barcode backup

15 June 2023 By Seth Miller Leave a Comment

How many miles of paper bag tags are printed every year, only to become trash hours later? And is there a technology solution that can address the problem? Digital bag tags are not a new concept, but the hardware is expensive, mostly to support backwards compatibility with the legacy baggage sorting systems. Shabstec wants to solve the problem a different way, bringing its TagsForLife RFID-based bag tracking to the market with a unit cost under $10.

The idea of using RFID for bag tracking and routing is not new. Delta Air Lines made a major push for the technology in 2016, investing $50 million. Air France followed in 2019. But that RFID transition is not without cost.

Bag tags printed with the RFID circuit inside are a only few cents more expensive than those without. With millions of tags involved that adds up to real money in a hurry. The scanners cost a couple thousand dollars each, with thousands needed across a global footprint. And, even as more airports support RFID tags, universal support still requires a barcode.

Shabstec aims to address those challenges from two sides.

One is the inexpensive permanent bag tag. Its TagsForLife product attaches an RFID chip to a bag with a rubberized housing. It is secure, but not permanent; the tag can be moved between bags relatively easily. It also contains no electronics to speak of, other than the RFID chip. That makes it simple to manufacture and (relatively) cheap to distribute.

Solving the airport side is slightly more complicated, but possible. Rather than retrofitting every barcode scanner at an airport with an RFID tunnel, the company proposes an interim solution. It offers an RFID reader that can quickly translate the tag ID into an IATA-compliant barcode on a display mounted near the scanners. That code is read and the bag routed as if it has a paper tag attached. These converters are priced at just a few thousand dollars, much less than the full RFID solutions.

For scenarios where a bag is mislaid and needs to be manually processed, Shabstec also offers a wrist-mount RFID reader that can similarly deliver details to a handler.

Perhaps most significant is that the system does not require massive numbers of the scanners, even at a larger airport. Shabstec owner Shabbir Girach said London Gatwick could be covered with just 13 RFID to barcode conversion scanners. A program to fit that airport is in the works.

The technology does depend on every airport in a itinerary having the RFID hardware; without it and without a visible barcode or easy way to convert from RFID to barcode the bags cannot be routed. But for airlines only flying in non-stop markets even just converting the systems at one end of the operation might be enough to start generating real efficiencies in improving baggage delivery performance.

Even with the lower price point, the tags will still cost consumers more than the free typical for getting tagged at the airport. Access to a priority drop area, a discount on bag fees, or some other benefit (increased allowance? priority boarding?) might move the needle on that pretty quickly.

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This story is about: bag tags, baggage tracking, BagTag, checked baggage, FTE, FTEEMEA23, Future Travel Experience, RFID, Shabstec, TagsForLife Filed Under: Ground Services