RFID controller.

Looking for another option to control RFID reader head. Basically all the plc is doing is communicating with the reader and sending discrete outputs to another proprietary controller with no communication methods.
I thought I could use a Micro 1100 but the RFID manufacture says their ethernet/IP doesn't not work with this since using explicit messaging the micro series cannot act as the scanner?
So my option now is the compactlogix L16er.

Does any other cheaper brand offer implicit messaging like automation directs plcs? Does only the productivity series offer this?
I am not opposed to using other brands.

I hate to spend alot on the PLC since there is opportunity for 10 to 20 of these small integrations, so the extra $500 per PLC will add up..

Thanks,

Not sure of the price but I know Omron have PLC models that can act as Ethernet/IP scanners. Might be worth talking to your local Omron distributor.

What reader are you using and what information has to e sent via discrete IO? I have worked with a Motorola RFID reader that would let you write Java or Python scripts to control their digital IO directly based on RFID events.

I have used Turck BL20-2RFID-S remote Ethernet IO RFID scanners with a lot of success. I use them on a sulfuric acid pickle line and the readers hold up well. They are easy to set up with the BL20 communication head. Each RFID "slice" can control two readers, you can have multiple "slices" per commm head.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, hope it helps

I was going to use balluff BisV series.
Never used RFID before.
They mocked it up for me since I was concerned about the placement of the tags being to close to one another. Since the set of tags are 3 feet from the reader, and there will always be 2 tags within 2 feet of each other, but seperate by a wall.
The information on the tags will be very simple pretty much just a numbering system of the customers attachments (1-20)
So I then take any of the 1-20 numbers and send that to the machine which automatically pulls up certain programs per attachment.
It would be nice if I didn't have to buy a plc just to read the data..
Are there all in one units where you can manipulate IO according to the read? Is this the turck?