Greg Hrinya, Associate Editor03.09.15
By tapping an NFC-enabled smart device to a product containing an RFID inlay, Avery Dennison has brand owners engaging with consumers.
In her haste, she misses the expiration date on the carton. Luckily, smart technology has her covered. No longer is smart data limited to GPS accessibility and web browsing on cell phones. In this case, a smart label indicates that the milk has past expiration.
Printable electronics allow disposable smart sensor labels to visually alert consumers as to a product’s safety.
Mary Greenwood, director, new technology and business development of global segment innovation, Materials Group, at Avery Dennison, defines smart packaging “as anything that extends the functionality and content of the labels beyond traditional print methods.”
Jennifer Ernst, chief strategy officer at Thinfilm, adds that smart label technology is “an integrated system of components that could include memory, sensors, logic, displays and batteries.” Thinfilm uses ferroelectric memory to indicate the temperature of perishable goods.
In 2013, Thinfilm, which has partnered with companies like PARC and Polyera, announced that its temperature-tracking label “demonstrates a complete closed system built from printed and organic electronics.” The thin ferroelectric film is placed between two electrodes in order to convert binary data into memory.
The company points to frequent food recalls due to poor handling during production and packaging. According to Thinfilm, a meat packaging company in Miami had to recall more than 70,000 pounds of cooked pork products in January due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen. Around the same time, in Sydney, Australia, a hospital discovered that a faulty refrigerator might have ruined vaccines given to new mothers, compromising the vaccines’ effectiveness.
Ernst says Thinfilm estimates 30% of vaccines shipped to Africa are thrown away largely due to temperature fluctuation in transit.
“By adding temperature sensing technology to disposable items at the smallest unit level, a food manufacturer or distributor can track the temperature of perishable goods such as meat, fish or produce to monitor freshness and ensure quality – down to the individual package level – upon arrival at its final destination,” says Ernst. “Manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and consumers can be alerted if an individual food item has crossed a pre-set temperature threshold and reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses and costly recalls.”
Although this innovative technology seems like it might cost a fortune, it is relatively inexpensive and growing annually. According to a market research report by MarketsandMarkets, the temperature sensor market is expected to reach $6.05 billion by 2020, with an annual growth rate of 5.11%. The same report states that the entire smart label market will reach $10 billion by 2020 with a CAGR of 15%.
Thinfilm prints its smart labels in much the same way as graphics publishing. The process involves gravure printing and screen printing. “Instead of using lithography as in semiconductor processing, we use printing,” adds Ernst. “We print electronics on flexible plastic substrates using a series of conventional printing techniques and some relatively new ones. And we are able to create rewritable memory using roll-to-roll techniques.”
The attraction is clear, too. This technology enables cost-savings to wholesale food distributors and safety measures to consumers. PakSense, a developer of intelligent sensing technology, manufactures reusable USB temperature and humidity loggers also designed to monitor perishable goods in the supply chain.
The data is downloaded via a USB connection to a PC and the user can program the data with the provided software. The loggers can record up to 32,000 data points and are used in closed-loop situations and import/export container shipments. These loggers feature a temperature operating range of -40°F (-40°C) to 185°F (85°C) with an accuracy of ± 1°F (±0.5°C). Relative humidity range is 0% to 100% with an accuracy of ± 3% RH.
“Our customers have been requesting a reusable temperature and humidity product for some time,” says Amy Childress, vice president of marketing at PakSense. “We have received much interest in the South and Central American markets for use on export shipments. Any place with higher humidity levels and needs to track the effect of humidity on perishables has shown particular interest.”
The loggers have the ability to collect data for over a year, and Childress adds that they are “easy to use and accurate.”
Finally, Childress says, “users can download the interface software via the PakSense website. Then they can use this software to program the unit, including upper and lower temperature and humidity ranges, sampling intervals, start time and unique descriptors.”
Sun Chemical has teamed up with smart technology developer T+ink to create T+Sun. This partnership combines each company’s innovations in electronic materials and interactivity to reach a broader group of customers and manufacturers.
In addition to smart labels and smart ads, the duo has developed Touchcode, which is an embedded code that accesses multiple options when touched to a smart device. Smart shelf and smart peg are new technologies that aid in tracking inventories, while T+Mold features “thermo-flex” inks on molded plastic surfaces. T+Mold is intended to replace wires in a variety of products, such as cars, appliances and planes.
Theft Prevention
Smart labels are not just limited to sensors. Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technology is designed to combat theft. For Thinfilm, this loss prevention strategy utilizes anti-shoplifting tags that are compatible with a large global base of installed 8.2MHz RF EAS infrastructure.
These tags can be used for fashion and footwear and come equipped with permanent deactivation features. This decreases false alarms, which alerts retail employees to legitimate thefts. Additionally, traditional hard tags are clunky, expensive and can often cause damage to the products.
EAS systems are popular at retail stores like Best Buy and Target. Typically, the system will come with three components: an antenna, a deactivation device and the label or tag. Upon scanning the item at the point of sale, the sales clerk runs the label through a deactivation pad. The customer can then safely pass through the antenna system at the front of the store without setting off the alarm.
Thinfilm’s temperature tracking products are compatible with perishables like meat, fish or produce to reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses and recalls.
Schreiner LogiData has been working on RFID solutions for over ten years. Most recently, the Germany-based company released the DistaFerr Slim Label. This label can be applied directly to metal and is effectively readable within one meter. The DistaFerr Slim Label is designed to resist harsh, ambient conditions and withstand temperatures from -20 to 95 degrees Celsius. With dimensions of 60 mm x 23 mm x 0.5 mm, this technology combines the advantages of UHF RFID technology with RFID reading on metal.
Smartrac is another Europe-based company known for its RFID technology. Based in the Netherlands, Smartrac’s products include inlays and tags, hard tags, white cards and pre-laminates.
The tracking software, which has been especially popular with online shipments, goes beyond hard goods. Smartrac has found a way to use its RFID technology with animals. The company’s transponders meet government regulations and international ISO standards.
For animal tracking and identification, Smartrac uses glass transponders for pets, zoo animals and other assorted farm animals. RFID inlays for ear tags are designed for livestock identification and available in various diameters.
Memory
Another form of smart technology is present in the form of memory labels. According to Thinfilm, a memory label “stores digital data on a label as thin as a human hair, for just a few cents.”
These labels rely on a read/write memory solution and are often adhered to a plastic tag. These tags utilize ferroelectric capacitors and operate up to 36 bits. The company states that these rewritable labels can be written over 100,000 times.
In a recent interview, Davor Sutija, the chief executive officer at Thinfilm, further described a memory label as “a polymer that’s 130 nanometers thick and printed between two metal electrodes. You’re storing information by essentially taking a polymer and turning it to the left or the right. It’s not much more than 1,000 atomic layers. We can detect with a precision of a few percent whether the thickness is correct,” he said.
Memory labels will function mainly in smart consumables and brand protection.
Thinfilm, based in Norway, has partnered with Connecticut-based Xerox, who will manufacture and license the Thinfilm technology. Using proprietary software and a 13.56 MHz frequency, Thinfilm is working on a wireless design for a read/write interface.
In the cloud
From January 11-13, Smartrac displayed its latest products at Retail’s Big Show 2015 in New York, NY, USA. Its latest RFID and NFC products were aimed at authentication, verification and counterfeit protection. The embedded NFC tags allow users to authenticate branded goods with a smartphone app. This technology is aimed at four branding areas: sports collectibles, sports merchandise, luxury goods and consumer goods.
“Our Smartrac demo areas covered the digital shopping experience, the global traceability of goods, and bridging the digital and physical worlds via mobile-marketing solutions,” explains Torsten Strauch, senior vice president, head of business segment retail at Smartrac. “Product authentication and verification proved to be one of the hot topics – also due to the guest of honor at our stand, Emmitt Smith, three-time Super Bowl Champion and founder and chairman of PROVA Group. PROVA is a company committed to protecting consumers from counterfeit goods, and a Smartrac partner.”
Smartrac also introduced Smart Cosmos, its cloud-based platform. This platform is designed to “connect the unconnected.” This involves extensive machine-to-machine and machine-to-object communication, as well as additional cloud-based services. The product’s offering features a secure link, tag identification credentials and supplementary data. Smartrac adds over 1.5 billion datasets annually to this platform.
“With Smart Cosmos, RFID tags mature from being simple tracking devices to become a key business tool for increasing efficiency and reducing operating expenses,” adds Strauch. “The platform’s focus is on building robust services that enable businesses to build tailored solutions. To put it more simply, Smart Cosmos offers tightly integrated cloud-based services that will, as we call it, ‘empower the ecosystem of connected things’.”
Smartrac has also invited other RFID companies and partners to join Smart Cosmos. Customers can link their own data to their personal IT and ERP systems, as well as to third-party applications.
“Smartrac is again taking the lead to boost the RFID and NFC ecosystem,” says Christian Uhl, CEO of Smartrac. “With Smart Cosmos, we are enabling the ability to connect all things to the digital world and make this digital signature available to business partners, customers and consumers, and reaching out far beyond the connectivity of IP addresses. This will be a significant driver for the true empowerment of the Internet of Things.”
The Internet of Things is a concept that connects the infrastructure of connected devices with the sensors and artificial intelligence of physical objects, such as smart phones, tablets and Bluetooth. Sutija told Forbes that roughly one trillion sensors are required to run the billion connected devices that make up the Internet of Things.
With over 570 million NFC-enabled phones currently in the marketplace, Avery Dennison offers DirectLink technology. By tapping an NFC-enabled smartphone to a product with DirectLink packaging, consumers gain access to digital content, such as surveys, recipes, coupons, reviews, tutorials, product reviews and user manuals.
According to a study conducted by Kraft foods, engagement with NFC products was 12 times higher than those with QR codes. The NFC coding can also be hidden inside existing packaging designs, so as not to diminish shelf appeal or restrict the original packaging.
“DirectLink directly connects the consumer to the brand through the brand’s packaging via the consumer’s mobile phone,” says Greenwood. “If you were the brand and you wanted to directly connect to the consumer you could incorporate NFC technology into your package, and the consumer could simply touch their phone to the package and you could deliver any kind of digital content. You could deliver a video, music, coupons right there at the shelf.”
Avery Dennison’s goal is to “build a bridge between consumers and brands.” It also provides RFID capabilities that monitor shipping, track inventory and engage with customers. Greenwood estimates that there will be as many as 1.2 billion smart phones with NFC capabilities in 2018.
“It seems to be very popular, and we’ve shown it at a number of trade shows,” says Greenwood. “We’ve been meeting with brand owners and we’ve received very positive feedback, but it’s a new technology. So, as with any new technology, it takes a little time for people to even realize they have the NFC capability in their phone.”
Going Forward
Even though Avery Dennison’s NFC technology is in the “beginning stages,” it has already drawn comparisons to current offerings like the QR reader. The QR reader requires a user to focus his or her smart phone on a data box that will subsequently send information to the user’s phone.
DirectLink represents the future of this technology and takes that process one step further. “You simply tap your phone to the package and instantly you get whatever kind of information the brand wants to deliver to you. There’s no focusing like on the QR code where you have to focus to make sure the resolution is just right,” says Greenwood. “There’s also no app to download. Your phone already has the NFC capability built into it. It’s pretty cool.”
The technology is already popular in the following industries: wine & spirits, luxury goods and wipes. The food industry is exploring how DirectLink could be of value to it.
Greenwood experienced the technology first hand with her washing machine: “I held my NFC-enabled phone up to it, and they asked me if I wanted to download the Samsung app. So, I downloaded the app, and now I’m able to start my washing machine with my phone. It can also run diagnostics on my washing machine. See, that’s something you can’t do with traditional printing.”
Companies can benefit financially from this technology, as well. Many businesses are looking into the conversion of their manuals, which could increase savings. This technology can benefit someone working in their field with troubleshooting and frequently asked questions.
“Some of those manuals are hundreds of pages thick because they have to have it in three languages, for example,” adds Greenwood.
PakSense believes that smart label trends will take on more of an environmental focus.
“We see environmental loggers being connected via M@M devices to the cloud in the future,” says Childress. “It is the environmental monitoring slant on the Internet of Things.”
Smartrac continues to work on thinner UHF tags for more difficult surfaces. Meanwhile, the company has developed Sensor Dogbone, a moisture-level sensing inlay that was introduced at LogiMAT 2015 in Stuttgart, Germany.
“Without a doubt, the deployment of smart labels has expanded tremendously in recent years and months,” says Strauch.
According to Ernst of Thinfilm, the industry has a long way to go before being completely connected. “Our planet grows more connected by the day, but the reality is that 99% of the world’s items are not yet connected, creating the opportunity to shape the future on a massive scale,” explains Ernst. “The Internet of Things is a megatrend driven by embedded intelligence. It’s about creating a world filled with smart, interactive objects, each capable of providing actionable information about itself, its users or its environment.”
