Accessibility of Radio Frequency Identification Technology in Facilities Maintenance

• Main Author: Chien-Ho Ko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter Poland 2017-01-01
• Series: Journal of Engineering, Project, and Production Management
• Subjects: Facilities maintenance; facilities management; RFID technology; accessibility range
• Online Access: http://www.ppml.url.tw/EPPM_Journal/volumns/07_01_January_2017/ID_159_7_1_45_53.pdf

Replacing old buildings with new structures is an expensive proposition, but the service life of existing buildings can be extended by improving facilities maintenance. In particular, effective use of information technology can improve facilities maintenance and reduce maintenance costs. In recent years, some scholars have begun to apply Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to facilities maintenance. The present study examines the effective reading range for RFID applications within the context of facilities maintenance, where such applications can provide advantages including automatic reading and encoding of equipment, rapid reading and encoding of tag information, and tag-based data storage. However, the reading range of RFID tags can be limited by the presence of water vapor, electrical appliances, and metal surfaces. Through practical onsite testing, the study examines how effective reading range is impacted by dust, water, metal surfaces and electrical equipment, along with various reading and writing angles. Experimental results show that the presence of dust and water both have insignificant impacts on RFID signal reading. However, metal surfaces were found to have a significant negative effect on signal reading and RFID tags should be kept an appropriate distance from such materials. The results of this study can be taken as reference for the use of RFID in facilities maintenance and management.