RFID Meets Happy Hour
Friday, June 11th, 2010It’s Friday, so there may be a few of you headed out to Happy Hour for a cold one with the gang after work. Those of you in the Atlanta area can do so without straying too far from the material handling field, one of the few places I know of where it’s OK to have a beer on the job.
All right, that’s probably a bit of a stretch, but there is a restaurant in suburban Atlanta that has incorporated RFID technology into its offerings. According to an article I found in Wireless Week, “a restauranteur in suburban Atlanta has introduced connectivity to a Wall of Beer, incorporating connected flow meters on the beer taps and a pair of NFC card readers next to the taps.”
Unfortunately, the article does not name the bar, but here’s how the system works. Bar patrons who are members of the establishment’s “beer club” can go to the Wall of Beer, log into the system with a card and serve themselves. The system records which beer was tapped and how much, and charges the member’s account accordingly. Sensors in the taps detect the flow, pressure and temperature to monitor the product.
For the consumer, the benefit is convenience and a feel of exclusivity. For the restaurant, the benefit is much more accurate tracking of beer dispensing. (According to the article, a restaurant typically only gets paid for 75% percent of the beer it dispenses, due to spillage, bartenders who give away free drinks and other factors.) You may notice that each of those outcomes positively benefits the restaurant’s bottom line. Satisfied customers buy more beer, and the bar is not turning its inventory quite so quickly. Win-win.
The article notes that this isn’t legal in all states; there are 16 that do not have an alcohol self-service provision. But the sensors can still be used for tracking purposes. At the very least, it’s another innovative use of RFID capabilities. Who knows, the next time you’re tipping back a pint at the local pub, you may be in the middle of your next sales opportunity.





An op-ed piece in Thursday’s The New York Times
Most people don’t know it, but 
