Metal reflects radio waves and interferes with a tag's antenna, so a standard RFID label stuck directly on a steel cabinet, server or tool often cannot be read. On-metal tags solve this with a spacer layer, a ferrite backing (for HF/NFC) or an antenna designed to use the metal surface as part of the antenna (for UHF).
Why it matters
A large share of valuable assets — machinery, IT hardware, tools, vehicles, racks — are metal. Choosing the wrong tag is one of the most common reasons RFID pilots disappoint.
Trade-offs
- Thicker and more expensive than paper-thin inlays.
- Mounting matters: flush on a flat surface, tag face outward.
- Some on-metal tags read poorly when not on metal; use them where they are designed to go.
Example
A tool crib tags steel toolboxes with rugged on-metal UHF tags and plastic cases with standard UHF labels — then checks each type in a read test before full rollout.
In Asetavo
Asetavo treats on-metal tags like any other tag: commission the EPC/TID to an asset and it behaves the same in audits, zones and alerts.