Zebra ZT610R Optimize RFID label printing speed and throughput
One of the biggest factors in the overall print speed with RFID labels is the distance between the tags. You will notice in the video there is a fairly large gap between each (roughly 1”) tag. That gap eliminates the need for the printer to back feed between each label print. If the smaller 1” labels are placed together with a normal gap, the printer will need to back feed to the RFID encoder for each label. The additional back and forth adds the most time to the process. So, with smaller tags there is always a trade-off between throughput and wasted material to increase the gap. If you want pure throughput, add a large gap between tags. If you want lower cost, keep the gap traditional size, but throughput will not be optimized.
Roughly 1 label/second (60/min) is a good nominal estimate for printing and encoding 96 bits… Industrial printers can go faster (up to a max of ~200/minute), while mobile RFID printers are a bit slower (~30-40 labels /min). There are lot variables at play to optimize throughput – label length, inlay location, and the amount of data being encoded are the biggest factors.
