Source Tagging
Source tagging is the application of EAS security tags at the source, the supplier or manufacturer, instead of at the retail side of the chain. For the retailer, source tagging eliminates the labor expense needed to apply the EAS tags themselves, and reduces the time between receipt of merchandise and when the merchandise is ready for sale. For the supplier, the main benefit is the preservation of the retail packaging aesthetics by easing the application of security tags within product packaging. Source tagging allows the EAS tags to be concealed and more difficult to remove.
The high speed application of EAS labels, suited for commercial packaging processes, was perfected via modifications to standard pressure sensitive label applicators and was developed and introduced by Craig Patterson (Knoxville, TN) - initially for Hewlett Packard print cartridges. Today, consumer goods are source tagged at high speeds with the EAS label incorporated into the packaging or the product itself. This was the precursor of integrated RFID, which Mr. Patterson also introduced to retail applications.
The most common source tags are AM strips and 8.2 MHz Radio Frequency Labels. Most manufacturers use both when source tagging. One significant problem from source tagging is something called "tag pollution" whereupon non-deactivated tags are carried around by customers causing unwanted alarms and decreasing the effectiveness and integrity of the EAS system. The problem is that no store has both systems. Therefore if a store actually has an anti-shoplifting system to deactivate a label they will only deactivate one of the two. This is often the reason why people trigger an alarm entering a store, which can cause great frustration for both customers and staff. The problem is most evident in shopping malls where customers float between stores. Retailers who use other types of loss-prevention systems than AM or 8.2 MHz Radio Frequency systems will not be as affected by "tag pollution".
Read more about this topic: Electronic Article Surveillance
Famous quotes containing the words source and/or tagging:
“Nothing could be more inappropriate to American literature than its English source since the Americans are not British in sensibility.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The 5307th has collapsed. From a medical viewpoint, they’re finished as a fighting unit.... I have never seen human beings in such condition. They’re drained, physically and psychologically drained. I’m not tagging them for specific ailments. I’m simply marking every man in the outfit A.O.E.—accumulation of everything.”
—Samuel Fuller, U.S. screenwriter, and Milton Sperling. Samuel Fuller. Doc (Andrew Duggan)