Making assembly line in supply chain robust and secure using UHF RFID

Abstract

This paper presents a block-chain enabled inkjet-printed ultrahigh frequency radiofrequency identification (UHF RFID) system for the supply chain management, traceability and authentication of hard to tag bottled consumer products containing fluids such as water, oil, juice, and wine. In this context, we propose a novel low-cost, compact inkjet-printed UHF RFID tag antenna design for liquid bottles, with 2.5 m read range improvement over existing designs along with robust performance on different liquid bottle products. The tag antenna is based on a nested slot-based configuration that achieves good impedance matching around high permittivity surfaces. The tag was designed and optimized using the characteristic mode analysis. Moreover, the proposed RFID tag was commercially tested for tagging and billing of liquid bottle products in a conveyer belt and smart refrigerator for automatic billing applications. With the help of block-chain based product tracking and a mobile application, we demonstrate a real-time, secure and smart supply chain process in which items can be monitored using the proposed RFID technology. We believe the standalone system presented in this paper can be deployed to create smart contracts that benefit both the suppliers and consumers through the development of trust. Furthermore, the proposed system will paves the way towards authentic and contact-less delivery of food, drinks and medicine in recent Corona virus pandemic.