RFID has helped cut handling times by 87% in healthcare and pharma
In recent years, the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors have been hit by major supply chain disruptions—driven by the pandemic, political unrest, and economic instability. Now, both are adapting to a ‘new normal’, while aging Western populations drive up demand for elderly care—even as qualified staff become increasingly scarce.
This highlights the need for automation in quality control, sample management, instrument tracking, and supply chains to ensure efficiency and standards. RFID helps labs, hospitals, and suppliers transform sample handling, inventory management, and overall performance.
The power of RFID in Healthcare
For decades, manual scanning, particularly of barcode labels, has been the standard for instrument, sample and inventory identification in the healthcare sector.
Customers using Turck Vilant Systems applications that replace barcodes with RFID benefit from higher inventory accuracy, faster processes and effortless end-to-end tracking.
Modern track & trace solutions REDUCE WASTE in the form of
MATERIALS: Optimized inventory management ensures consumables, equipment and laboratory supplies.
MONEY: Upgrading inventory tracking in healthcare cuts costs by reducing over-ordering and freeing up staff from manual counts, allowing labor to shift to higher-value care tasks.
TIME: Automated systems cut hospital downtime by streamlining inventory, and freeing clinical lab staff from manually registering samples, speeding up diagnostics.
OUTDATED MEDICATIONS AND SUPPLIES: RFID helps eliminate outdated medications and supplies by tracking expiry dates in real time and triggering timely restocks.
Laboratory Sample Tracking
RFID enables end-to-end sample tracking by automating data capture, eliminating manual handling, and ensuring accurate temperatures and chain of custody. Each sample is tagged, monitored through every stage, and traced until disposal—creating a fully transparent and traceable workflow.
Instrument and Asset Tracking
With RFID, hospitals gain real-time visibility into instruments, shared equipment, assistive devices, beds and other furniture. Staff spend less time locating equipment, and surgical tools are automatically tracked post-operation—helping prevent errors, improve safety, and ensure readiness across departments.
Inventory Management
In healthcare, an estimated 8% of pharmaceuticals are wasted yearly due to poor inventory visibility. RFID enables real-time tracking to reduce expired stock, boost order accuracy, and cut manual errors—while saving staff time otherwise spent searching for inventory. The result: a more efficient and sustainable system.
Serialized Production Control
RFID enables unit-level identification during the production of medication dosed into syringes, preventing mix-ups and cross-contamination. Serialization ensures compliance, while precise tracking allows rapid response to quality issues—avoiding costly recalls and supply shortages.
Shipment Verification
RFID enables fast, accurate shipment tracking of delivery units like devices, pallets, or kits. Manual scans are replaced with real-time verification, improving delivery precision, reducing returns, and freeing warehouse staff for more productive work.
Read more about our experience with health and pharma companies
Example Case
Case
Case
How to get started?
Our Experts are available to help you with RTLS & RFID implementation, planning, KPI setting, installation, tests, training and any other tasks you may have.