RFID’s Road Ahead
Although there is no standard route to take, there are several paths that converters can travel on the RFID road.
September 2006 by Susan Busch
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Attention RFID converters: clear your schedules now, because it looks like you’re going to be a bit busy for the next 10 years. Independent consultant IDTechEx predicts RFID technology will eventually become as ubiquitous as the barcode, and converters have the potential to play a more pivotal role in production. A report by the organization projects as early as 2016 that RFID “will mostly be printed directly onto packaging and products, possibly in the hundreds of billions, and [will use] special electronic inks.”
Back here in the present, with the technology still in its early stages, there is no standard route to involvement for the converter. The most common starting point, inlay-level integration, entails inserting functioning RFID inlays between a label’s facestock and liner. Dr. Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx, sees many converters making these “inserts” off-line, and then incorporating them into the press line. Going a step further, strap-level integration enables the converter to manufacture the inlay by printing its antenna onto the label’s face stock and attaching a strap (a chip on a carrier substrate) to the antenna.
According to IDTechEx’s report, there are several other RFID production avenues available to converters. Installing a chip placement machine, for instance, could enable converters to attach chips to printed or pre-purchased antennas. Additionally, integrating printed battery technologies could gain converters entry into specialized RFID applications, such as labels with increased range, or RFID coupled with sensing or position-finding capabilities. Looking longer-term, chipless technology that incorporates fully printed RFID labels is also said to offer opportunities. According to Dr. Harrop, the biggest learning curve for the industry lies in “how to get rid of the expensive, brittle chip by printing the whole circuit.”
Snapshots of RFID in the field
While converters can be tight-lipped about their specific RFID production methods, suppliers offer a window into the latest developments in off-line and in-line RFID converting equipment.
A B Graphic International offers the Omega RFID off-line converting platforms, designed for such functions as wet inlay integration; verification and removal of defective inlays with automated inlay replacement; and large-format, multiple-lane insertion with re-lamination, re-register, diecutting, flexo printing station, and other modules.
Al Spendlow, A B Graphic’s VP of operations, says typical converter customers are larger label printers “with ties to leading [RFID] advocates such as Wal-Mart.” He also sees a trend in smaller label printers using economical equipment to supply lower volumes to niche markets. In that vein, A B Graphics’ Omega Ti 150 is designed for what Spendlow calls “the entrance to this business”‑integration of wet inlays into rolls of finished labels.
Back here in the present, with the technology still in its early stages, there is no standard route to involvement for the converter. The most common starting point, inlay-level integration, entails inserting functioning RFID inlays between a label’s facestock and liner. Dr. Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx, sees many converters making these “inserts” off-line, and then incorporating them into the press line. Going a step further, strap-level integration enables the converter to manufacture the inlay by printing its antenna onto the label’s face stock and attaching a strap (a chip on a carrier substrate) to the antenna.
According to IDTechEx’s report, there are several other RFID production avenues available to converters. Installing a chip placement machine, for instance, could enable converters to attach chips to printed or pre-purchased antennas. Additionally, integrating printed battery technologies could gain converters entry into specialized RFID applications, such as labels with increased range, or RFID coupled with sensing or position-finding capabilities. Looking longer-term, chipless technology that incorporates fully printed RFID labels is also said to offer opportunities. According to Dr. Harrop, the biggest learning curve for the industry lies in “how to get rid of the expensive, brittle chip by printing the whole circuit.”
Snapshots of RFID in the field
While converters can be tight-lipped about their specific RFID production methods, suppliers offer a window into the latest developments in off-line and in-line RFID converting equipment.
A B Graphic International offers the Omega RFID off-line converting platforms, designed for such functions as wet inlay integration; verification and removal of defective inlays with automated inlay replacement; and large-format, multiple-lane insertion with re-lamination, re-register, diecutting, flexo printing station, and other modules.
Al Spendlow, A B Graphic’s VP of operations, says typical converter customers are larger label printers “with ties to leading [RFID] advocates such as Wal-Mart.” He also sees a trend in smaller label printers using economical equipment to supply lower volumes to niche markets. In that vein, A B Graphics’ Omega Ti 150 is designed for what Spendlow calls “the entrance to this business”‑integration of wet inlays into rolls of finished labels.
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