4 Crucial Ways RFID Tracks And Safeguards Weapons

From the healthcare sector to the airline industry, RFID tags have been utilised in numerous areas in the business world. RFID retail itself has helped significantly in improving customer experience, reducing the workload of retail staff and keeping better inventory whenever a particular stock is running low.

Similarly, it also presents itself as an innovative, automated and reliable way for weapon tracking and management. Having an effective method to ensure the safety of weapon assets is crucial, as any weapon missing inside a military facility or a police post may lead to costly consequences and pose a huge threat to security.

Hence, the importance of knowing the number of weapons present, accounted for and where they are at any given time is critical. One such application is RFID in military as the technology is able to help in a number of aspects from enhanced labour productivity to removing the need for manual problematic procedures.

However, benefits of RFID for weapon tracking and management aren’t just limited to the mentioned-above pointers – read on to find out more.

Ensures safety of equipment

When it comes to weapon control, RFID is able to assist both the military and private security sectors. This is due to its capability in being able to be built into the weapons themselves and the weapon cabinets that stores the equipment – which allows one to monitor the individuals who are using the specific equipment, and if they’ve already attained the requisite upfront approvals.

Tracking of equipment entails a detailed and advanced system that is able to automate the complete weapon tracking processes from issuing, returns, to storage. Data obtained from RFID technology provides a detail and complete history or log of a weapon.

For example, when issuing weapons to authorised personnel, RFID has the ability to automate the process and match weapon qualifications and personnel clearances to every equipment within the facility. Automation also applies to the return process which helps ensure the authorised personnel receives the weapon.

All of this is possible through a simple scanning of an I.D. badge and RFID tag, and the two databases will provide the information needed after pairing the equipment to the operator.

Upkeep process is smoother

Regardless of the weapon type, regular maintenance is important to keep the equipment in operational condition. And in this sense, upkeep applies to the tracking of performance tests and repairs on weapons.

However, such processes often take a bit of time when done manually – hence, leading to money and time wastage which may end up delaying the issue process especially when the equipment is needed urgently.

With the appropriate RFID tools on hand, it is not only possible to locate weapons easily, but a business will also be informed of which specific pieces of equipment are the ones which require maintenance. This removes the need for tedious checking of equipment and ensures the equipment is in good working condition.

Audits become easier

Running manual audits can eat up a lot of time – this is especially true when dealing with a facility as huge as a military installation or an engineering plant.

One such factor is possibility of errors, as most likely, manual checking involves the use of a clipboard and recording of serial numbers, and this applies to a great quantity of equipment. Likewise, the use of barcodes is bound to encounter opportunity error.

Moreover, checking has to be done frequently and often times, daily even. This ends up creating a huge demand for manpower and takes up hours or days to complete.  Henceforth, with all the issues faced – an alternative solution, which in this case would be RFID, is a best viable option to tackle these problems.

Prevents liability

Both expensive and highly valuable assets, weapons cannot be easily replaced when lost and may even take a significant amount of time to be acquired.

However, with RFID – weapons are better tracked, secured, and recovered. This is possible through obtaining real-time location data of existing weapons in the event that it’s not within the facility and helps in locating and re-acquiring the equipment.

So, cost-effective and high-performance – RFID tags help to protect against liability which can amount to thousands of dollars.

RFID technology has been applied in many sectors, enhancing business operations considerably and allowed for better management over inventory, or in this case – weapons. With a better understanding of how RFID contributes towards a huge role in one’s facility, utilising this technology fully is possible in weapons tracking and management.