RFID

Monitoring the Mail with IPC’s RFID TechnologyRFID Tag

Quality is the key to success for postal operators. More and more, customers demand increasing levels of performance in their service and IPC delivers the technology and operating systems that help posts meet that demand.

The IPC RFID Technology has been in use since 1997 to monitor mail as it passes through the international distribution system. Today, IPC’s RFID technology is being used by 54 postal operators.

Data collection

In the IPC UNEX System, for example, test letters carrying an IPC RFID Postal Tag (illustrated on the right) are moving with the mail. The tag is activated as it passes a designated RFID equipped measurement point at a postal facility. Once activated, the postal tag transmits its unique ID. This information is picked up by the RFID Reader with the identification of the Exciter responsible for its activation. A timestamp is added to the tag ID information, marking the tags presence at a specific point in the mail pipeline. 

The collected data, which is forwarded to the IPC Central Monitoring System in Brussels, provides the posts with in-depth information regarding letter service performance.

Continual enhancement efforts

IPC continuously enhances and develops the technology so that we can apply it for other uses, such as process monitoring, asset tracking, transport monitoring and other applications. These new technical challenges lead to enhanced RFID equipment with improved functionalities at lower purchase and running costs.