It’s Elementary
Intelligent packaging is a key element for brand protection applications.
November 2008 by Chris Mc Loone
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Smart packaging takes on many forms and purposes. Some smart packaging communicates to end users via thermochromic inks that change color with temperatures. Other types will remind patients to take their medicine or combine communication with functionality in cases like self-cooling beer kegs or self-heating soups and coffees.
One area where smart or intelligent packaging has practically become a necessity is in the area of brand security/authentication. One way to make packaging for brand protection smart is employing RFID. According to a -NanoMarkets study, “Smart Packaging Markets: 2006-2013,” printable and chip-based RFID tags will be consumed by smart packaging to the tune of $1.1 billion by 2011. In fact, the study further states that “NanoMarkets believes this is a tremendous opportunity for smart packaging, noting that a combination of RFID authentication at point of sale, security inks, and other smart packaging approaches will make a major contribution to combating counterfeiting, especially in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical sectors.”
In explaining how an intelligent package is an elementary part of an all-in-one brand authentication solution, John Greaves, vice president, Global Strategy, IPICO, says, “In the same way, if you will forgive the brutal analogy, as a brain is essential to the human body to function, an intelligent package is the head of the process. Without this, you are simply a clone.” Michael Gorgi, managing director of IPICO EMEA, adds, “A branded product is only authentic if the product plus packaging plus logistics are all authentic. Otherwise, there is a potential issue with cloning and gray-market goods, [for example].”
RFID makes the package intelligent?
The smart packaging sector comprises active and intelligent packaging; the latter monitors the condition of its contents, and also stores, transmits, and communicates data on packaged products, according to “The Future of Smart Packaging,” a study by IntertechPira (www.piranet.com). This is where RFID comes into the picture.
The study continues, “The introduction of tracking and tracing rules in the pharmaceutical sector will also stimulate demand for intelligent technologies like RFID.” It also states that a recent rise in the amount of counterfeiting of medicines, cosmetics, and clothing has prompted both the regulatory authorities and manufacturers to stipulate intelligent packaging solutions for detecting fake products. RFID provides a start.
According to Greaves, RFID makes a package intelligent “by virtue of the ability to be interactively addressed at any point in the supply chain, to carry supplemental identifiers, and to be either a ‘plain’ tag or include such evidential material as tamper evident, sensor technology for environmental monitoring, or the ability to encrypt changing ID parameters as the product changes ownership.” He adds that, in the context of the brand protection model, it is the application of an RFID carrier that allows the integration of multiple layers of IT-supportive tools that provide for the intelligence which is fundamental to protecting the package. “That ensures it develops an intelligence in terms of its identity and validity,” he says.
One area where smart or intelligent packaging has practically become a necessity is in the area of brand security/authentication. One way to make packaging for brand protection smart is employing RFID. According to a -NanoMarkets study, “Smart Packaging Markets: 2006-2013,” printable and chip-based RFID tags will be consumed by smart packaging to the tune of $1.1 billion by 2011. In fact, the study further states that “NanoMarkets believes this is a tremendous opportunity for smart packaging, noting that a combination of RFID authentication at point of sale, security inks, and other smart packaging approaches will make a major contribution to combating counterfeiting, especially in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical sectors.”
In explaining how an intelligent package is an elementary part of an all-in-one brand authentication solution, John Greaves, vice president, Global Strategy, IPICO, says, “In the same way, if you will forgive the brutal analogy, as a brain is essential to the human body to function, an intelligent package is the head of the process. Without this, you are simply a clone.” Michael Gorgi, managing director of IPICO EMEA, adds, “A branded product is only authentic if the product plus packaging plus logistics are all authentic. Otherwise, there is a potential issue with cloning and gray-market goods, [for example].”
RFID makes the package intelligent?
The smart packaging sector comprises active and intelligent packaging; the latter monitors the condition of its contents, and also stores, transmits, and communicates data on packaged products, according to “The Future of Smart Packaging,” a study by IntertechPira (www.piranet.com). This is where RFID comes into the picture.
The study continues, “The introduction of tracking and tracing rules in the pharmaceutical sector will also stimulate demand for intelligent technologies like RFID.” It also states that a recent rise in the amount of counterfeiting of medicines, cosmetics, and clothing has prompted both the regulatory authorities and manufacturers to stipulate intelligent packaging solutions for detecting fake products. RFID provides a start.
According to Greaves, RFID makes a package intelligent “by virtue of the ability to be interactively addressed at any point in the supply chain, to carry supplemental identifiers, and to be either a ‘plain’ tag or include such evidential material as tamper evident, sensor technology for environmental monitoring, or the ability to encrypt changing ID parameters as the product changes ownership.” He adds that, in the context of the brand protection model, it is the application of an RFID carrier that allows the integration of multiple layers of IT-supportive tools that provide for the intelligence which is fundamental to protecting the package. “That ensures it develops an intelligence in terms of its identity and validity,” he says.
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