RFID implementations have also been motivated by
mandates from large organizations like the U.S. Department of Defense and Wal-Mart. In
typical logistics or supply chain applications, portals have been commonly chosen to
streamline the automatic RFID scanning processes so that tags which move through portals
are automatically tracked, read, and recorded into a suitable information system. The
primary motivation of course, is labor savings since RFID technology can be used to
simultaneously read multiple tagged items (typically, pallets or cases today) going through
the portal, as opposed to having a human being manually read and record bar-coded
information or process RFID tags manually. Portals are currently used by companies at
several points within the overall supply chain. These could include shipping (e.g., at a
plant or warehouse loading docks), receiving (e.g., at warehouse receiving docks), ?¬‚oor
replenishment (e.g., between the backroom=storage area and the retail ?¬‚oor), sales (e.g., at
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check-out lanes), or packaging materials disposition (e.g., at a box crusher area). In its
simplest form a portal is merely a wide doorway with one or more RFID reader antennas
mounted at locations along the portal perimeter. In supply chain applications, such
portals are designed primarily to read passive tags that receive their power from the reader.
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