Article management system

An article management system comprising:

• a plurality of reader devices disposed in an article management area and configured to read information recorded on RFID tags;
• and
• a central terminal configured to control operations of the plurality of reader devices and to virtually partition the article management area into a plurality of middle areas that are each virtually partitioned into a plurality of small areas,
• wherein the central terminal is configured to cause two or more reader devices disposed in two or more small areas, respectively, in each of the plurality of middle areas to operate sequentially in a predetermined order for each small area to read information of a respective RFID tag,
• wherein a range of a radio wave interference distance for at least one reader device disposed in a first middle area of the plurality of middle areas partially overlaps with a second middle area adjacent to the first middle area,
• wherein, when causing the two or more reader devices disposed in the first middle area to operate sequentially, the central terminal is configured to operate a reader device in the second middle area that is outside the range of the radio wave interference distance from at least one of the two or more reader devices disposed and operating in the first middle area.