RFID label printing requires dedicated hardware, up-to-date firmware, and reliable serialization management—three operational challenges that many manufacturing, logistics, and retail companies still handle in-house, often without a clear understanding of the true total cost of ownership.
According to several industry analyses, around 50% of companies incur significant infrastructure costs to manage RFID label printing internally, including printers, technical maintenance, and dedicated personnel.
Beyond the initial hardware investment, businesses must also account for system updates, serialization management, and the time required to keep the entire infrastructure running efficiently. As a result, an increasing number of organizations are adopting cloud-based models and outsourcing RFID label printing to reduce costs, simplify operations, and improve scalability.
The Challenges of In-House RFID Label Printing
Managing RFID label printing in-house may seem like the most straightforward solution, but it often leads to operational costs that accumulate over time and become increasingly difficult to measure accurately.
The main challenges include:
- RFID printers and infrastructure: Industrial RFID printers require a significant upfront investment, along with initial configuration for serialization and system integration.
- Maintenance and technical management: Printheads wear out, firmware requires regular updates, and unexpected failures can disrupt production and shipping operations.
- Consumables and inventory management: Ribbons, label stock, and blank RFID tags must be purchased, stored, and managed with appropriate safety stock levels.
- Software updates and configuration changes: Any modification to label formats, EPC structures, or RFID protocols often requires technical intervention on the internal infrastructure.
- Internal resource allocation: Time spent managing RFID printing is time diverted from the company’s core business activities.
As production or shipping volumes grow, these costs tend to increase rapidly, making the entire process more complex and harder to optimize.
Print Service: Cloud-Based RFID Printing
To simplify this process, InfinityID developed Print Service, a cloud-based solution that enables businesses to serialize and print RFID labels without managing any in-house hardware.
With this model, companies no longer need to invest in dedicated printers or complex infrastructure. An Internet connection is all that is required to send print data to InfinityID, which manages the entire process, ensuring business continuity and keeping the system continuously up to date.
Main functions of the service
Print Service is designed to integrate seamlessly into the operational workflows of manufacturing, logistics, and retail companies.
Key features include:
- Cloud-based RFID serialization: RFID tags are generated and serialized through a cloud platform that can be accessed from any connected system.
- InfinityID-managed remote printing: Labels are printed using infrastructure managed directly by InfinityID, eliminating the need for in-house printing hardware.
- Cost and consumption monitoring: Real-time dashboards and reports provide full visibility into print volumes and associated costs.
- Pay-per-use pricing model: Companies pay only for the labels they actually produce, avoiding upfront investments and ongoing fixed management costs.
Print Service: A Solution for Every Industry
As digital traceability becomes increasingly important across modern supply chains, RFID label management is emerging as a strategic business capability.
Cloud-based services such as Print Service enable companies to focus on their core operations while outsourcing RFID printing to a specialized, continuously updated infrastructure.
In manufacturing, for example, InfinityID’s Print Service is used to track components throughout the production line using RFID labels serialized in real time.
In logistics, it supports shipment tracking and automated warehouse inventory management.
In retail, it integrates seamlessly with RFID-based inventory management and electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems.
Across all these industries, RFID printing remains fully managed by InfinityID, providing a scalable solution that adapts to production volumes without requiring investment in dedicated hardware or fixed infrastructure.
Want to learn more? Book a demo and discover how InfinityID’s Print Service can simplify your RFID printing operations.