Consortium formed

Consortium formed
to promote smart labels
Smart labels based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology have been miles ahead of any meaningful market acceptance. Now several technology suppliers, standards bodies and associations, as well as potential users from various industries, would like to change that. They have formed the Smart Active Label (SAL) consortium, intended to put some muscle behind the technology and promote its benefits more widely.
SAL intends to create and monitor standards to assist supply chain management and asset tracking operators, as well as serve other consumers. The group will organize seminars in North America and Europe during 2003 and also develop several active and semi-active modular tag demonstrations to encourage adoption of the technology.
“Smart Active Labels will lead the way for the RFID industry to become bigger than the plastic card and smart card industry,” says Baruch Levanon, the obviously enthusiastic interim chairman of the group. (He founded Power Paper, an Israeli provider of thin microprocessor technology). “For me, SAL isn’t just about RFID labels. It includes printed microelectronics and roll-to-roll mass production of environment-friendly, disposable devices.”
The opening event of the consortium was held recently in Slough, near west London, and attracted representatives from several international suppliers and end users. Companies attending included 3M, Avery Dennison, British Airways, De la Rue, DuPont, Kodak, Philips Semiconductors and Toppan Forms.
“The goals of the consortium — to bring SAL technology to the market more quickly and under an environment of standardization — will help all of the individual companies that are trying to make it happen,” said William Roberts, a research associate in the Cryovac Division of Sealed Air Corp. “It is often more than any one company can achieve on its own because of the convergence of so many technologies into single applications.” Natalie Polack of DuPont Teijin Films said, “We are interested in being part of this consortium because it is a forum to hear about end user needs and will help us work more closely with them.”
For more information on the Smart Active Labels consortium, call (in Israel) 972-3-900-7565, or send an e-mail to [email protected].