Why you are reading this
You got a plain email from me with one link. That is the whole idea. No layout in your inbox, no tracking pixel, no funnel. Once a quarter I write down what happened at IDCRAFT, pick one or two topics I think are worth twenty minutes of your time, and put it here.
This first issue covers the third quarter of 2026: the launch of IDSCOUT Encode, our first product with a local AI inside, the Chainway MC80 as the first chip-level UHF handheld in the range, and a new guide on choosing an NFC reader. The two longer pieces look at the question I get asked most, NFC or RAIN, and at the Digital Product Passport now that the EU register is live.
If something here raises a question, reply to the email. It lands with me, not in a ticket system.
Patrick Kochendörfer, Managing Director, IDCRAFT GmbH
The quarter in brief
Four things from July to September.
- Product launch
IDSCOUT Encode: an NFC encoding station with a local AI that never writes
IDSCOUT is the new AI layer of IDCRAFT. Its first product, Encode, prepares NFC encoding jobs with a local language model, while the actual write to the chip stays deterministic and verifiable. TODO: add the two or three hard numbers from the launch package (throughput, verified runs).
Product page on idcraft.com - New in the range
Chainway MC80: chip-level UHF RFID handheld
The MC80 is the first handheld in our range that exposes the chip level: read and write to the EPC, TID and user memory banks from a rugged Android device. TODO: confirm read-range and bulk-read figures from the test unit before quoting any.
Read the article - Know-how
New guide: how to choose an NFC reader
Interface, form factor, supported chip families, SDK: the guide walks through the decisions in the order they come up in a project.
Open the guide - Regulation
The EU Digital Product Passport register is live
Since 20 July 2026 economic operators can register in the Commission's DPP register. Registration is possible, not yet mandatory. What the register is, and is not, is the second topic of this issue.
Jump to the topic
NFC or RAIN? How we pick the frequency for a project
The question comes up in almost every first call. The honest answer is that the two are complementary, and the application decides.
HF | NFC works at 13.56 MHz with a read range up to roughly ten centimetres. UHF | RAIN works at 860–960 MHz (868 MHz in Europe) and reads tags up to about twelve metres away, many at once. Those two numbers already sort most projects: if a person deliberately presents an object to a reader, NFC is usually right; if objects have to be seen without anyone touching them, RAIN is.
Where each one wins
- NFC wins when the phone is the reader (consumer interaction, service technicians without extra hardware), when the tag must hold data and access rights on the chip (MIFARE DESFire, NTAG with password protection), and when the environment is dense with metal and liquids at short range.
- RAIN wins for inventory, gates and dock doors, tracking of returnable assets and anything counted in bulk. The tag is cheaper per piece, the reader infrastructure is the investment.
- Both appear in one system more often than people expect: a RAIN label for logistics, an NFC tag for the customer or the technician at the point of use.
Side by side
| HF | NFC | UHF | RAIN | |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 13.56 MHz | 860–960 MHz (868 MHz EU) |
| Typical read range | up to ~10 cm | up to ~12 m |
| Bulk reading | one tag at a time in practice | hundreds per second |
| Reader in every pocket | yes (smartphone) | no (dedicated readers) |
| Data on chip | kilobytes, with access control | typically a serial number and small user memory |
| HF | NFC | UHF | RAIN | |
|---|---|---|
| Air interface | ISO/IEC 14443, ISO/IEC 15693, NFC Forum | EPC Gen2 / ISO/IEC 18000-63 |
| Chip families we work with | NXP NTAG, ICODE, MIFARE / DESFire | NXP UCODE, Impinj M-series, Alien Higgs |
| Encoding | NDEF records, application data, keys | EPC (SGTIN, GIAI, GRAI …), TID, user memory |
| HF | NFC | UHF | RAIN | |
|---|---|---|
| Access and SSO | cards, key fobs, phone credentials | vehicle identification at barriers |
| Healthcare | medication and device authentication | asset tracking, laundry, consignment stock |
| Industry | machine authentication, tool identification | WIP tracking, returnable containers |
| Digital Product Passport | consumer tap, most DPP requirements | logistics and recycling streams |
Ranges are typical values for passive tags in air; metal, liquids and antenna design move them.
Tech box Why a RAIN tag reads at twelve metres and an NFC tag does not
NFC couples inductively: the reader and the tag antenna form a loose transformer, and the field strength falls with the cube of the distance. That is physics, not a product limitation. RAIN tags are backscatter radios: the reader sends a continuous wave, the tag modulates its reflection. Energy still has to reach the chip, but the field is radiated, not coupled, and modern chips wake up at a few microwatts.
The flip side: a RAIN reader has to be told what not to read. Antenna placement, power settings and read-zone design are where a RAIN project is won or lost. With NFC the read zone is the size of a coaster; nobody reads the wrong tag by accident.
The question to ask first
Not "which technology" but "who or what does the reading, and how far away". Answer that and the frequency follows. If the answer is "both, in different places", say so early; the tags can be designed to carry both, and it is much cheaper to plan a dual-frequency label than to retrofit one.
NFC and RAIN are not opposites. They are two ways of reaching the same object, from different distances.Patrick Kochendörfer
The DPP register is live. What that means for the data carrier
Facts, not countdown. The register resolves identifiers, the standards define the carrier, and the only hard date is the battery passport.
Since 20 July 2026 the European Commission's Digital Product Passport register is open to users, with a test environment and user guidelines. Registration is possible, not mandatory. The register does not host product data: it is a resolver that maps an identifier to the storage location at the manufacturer, using GS1 Digital Link. Next to it sits a DPP web portal as a search and comparison front end.
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1778, in force since 6 August 2026, sets the rules of the register: only eIDAS-verified economic operators can register (qualified seal or signature, status valid for at most three years, not delegable to platforms). The automatic check on submission tests structure and completeness; recital 16 says explicitly that it is not a conformity assessment. Current scope: batteries, construction products, toys and detergents, with further ESPR product groups to follow. Member states name their national administrators by 18 February 2027.
The date that is actually fixed
One: the battery passport on 18 February 2027, under Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, for EV, LMT and industrial batteries above 2 kWh. Everything else follows delegated acts that are still being adopted, with obligations typically 18 to 36 months after adoption. Anyone selling you a countdown for textiles or steel is selling a guess.
The standard that matters for us
On 14 July 2026 CEN/CENELEC published the DPP standards series: EN 18216 (exchange protocols), 18219 (identifiers), 18220 (data carriers), 18221 (storage), 18222 (APIs) and 18223 (interoperability). EN 18220 treats 2D codes, RFID and NFC as equal carriers and specifies encoding, read quality, error correction, durability and placement. The standards are voluntary until they are cited as harmonised standards in the Official Journal; only then do they create a presumption of conformity.
Tech box What EN 18220 asks of an NFC or RAIN carrier
- The identifier on the carrier must resolve: for RFID/NFC that means a GS1-conformant EPC or a URI in an NDEF record that a phone can open without an app.
- Read quality and durability are specified for the product's life, not for the day of shipping. Chip memory locking, tamper features and label materials become part of the passport design.
- Placement rules follow the product group. A tag under a metal housing or inside a liquid-filled container needs on-metal or special inlays, which is where most retrofit budgets go.
What we tell customers
Start with the data work; it takes twelve to eighteen months in most organisations, and no carrier decision will speed that up. Choose the carrier against EN 18220, not against a deadline. And test the carrier on the real product, in the real process, before the first delegated act for your group lands. That is also where we can help: feasibility on the actual part, sample encoding, and a written recommendation you can hand to your compliance team.
New in the range
Three additions to the range this quarter. TODO: confirm the final list and add product photos from the Webflow assets.
- HF | NFC · Encoding
IDSCOUT Encode
NFC encoding station with a local AI that prepares the job. The AI never writes.
Product page - UHF | RAIN · Handheld
Chainway MC80
Rugged Android handheld with chip-level access to EPC, TID and user memory.
Product page - TODO
TODO: third product
One sentence on what it does and who it is for.
Product page
3DTag: what we learned printing transponders this summer
Notes from the workshop in Neuhofen.
3DTag is our own line of 3D-printed transponders: the inlay is sealed into the part during FDM printing, so the finished tag has no seam and no cavity. One printer yields around 200 transponders a day; marking is by laser engraving or adhesive label. TODO: pick one concrete lesson from Q3 (material, chip choice, a customer geometry) and write three paragraphs on it.
Chips we currently print around: NXP UCODE 9 and Alien Higgs 10 for RAIN, NXP ICODE SLIX and NTAG213 for HF | NFC.
Where to meet us
TODO: fill in Q4 2026 dates (trade shows, customer days, webinars).
- 10Nov 2026
TODO: trade show or customer day
10–12 Nov 2026 · TODO: city · Event page
Say hello at the stand or book a slot by replying to the email.
Ask Patrick
A project on your desk where the frequency, the chip or the reader is not obvious yet? Write to me. I answer myself, usually within a day, and the good questions become topics in the next issue.