|
Editor’s note: RFID is running hot and cold in the North American packaging market. It’s a technology solution still in its early development, with many issues, risks, and potential rewards. In this column, Peter Harrop, CEO of IDTechEx, provides a glimpse of some of the behind-the-scenes factors that will impact future implementation of RFID. IDTechEx is a knowledge-based consultancy company that provides research and analysis on RFID, printed and organic electronics, and smart packaging. It will host the RFID Smart Labels USA 2008 conference in Boston February 20-21 (www.idtechex.com/USA).
It’s like Yogi Berra once said, “It’s Déjà Vu all over again.” Today, 85 percent of bar codes are now printed directly onto products—mainly packages—with no label needed, though there was once a large market in bar code labels. Ironically, the high-tech industries are the last to change, but even the electronics companies are finally looking at getting rid of the bar code labels on the back of their laptops and packaging and printing them directly on the products.
All that is being repeated with RFID a few decades later. RFID has started to replace some bar codes, but it can also be used in place of more sophisticated devices such as anti-theft tags and other items—all in one label. However, while anti-theft tags don’t use silicon chips, 98 percent of RFID labels currently do, and the chips are the most expensive part of the label. This puts the use of RFID at a significant cost disadvantage in these applications.
However, Kovio, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has figured out how to print the thousands of transistors required by the world’s favorite RFID specification, ISO 14443, which is used in tickets, cards, e-passports, e-driving licenses, national ID cards, and some packages in supply chains. ISO 14443 is even used by the new RFID-enabled phones for purchasing items without going to the checkout. The Kovio printed transistors will go into production in late 2008 and they promise a cost reduction of 80 percent versus the silicon chip, a very important factor for packaging applications.
If Kovio stumbles, there are about 340 organizations around the world working on printed transistors. Some of that work will even lead to self-adjusting “use-by dates,” with labels (and later direct printing on packages) that monitor time-temperature profiles so they display a printed date that changes depending on how long/how hot you left the package. These will often double as RFID tags as well.
It’s like Yogi Berra once said, “It’s Déjà Vu all over again.” Today, 85 percent of bar codes are now printed directly onto products—mainly packages—with no label needed, though there was once a large market in bar code labels. Ironically, the high-tech industries are the last to change, but even the electronics companies are finally looking at getting rid of the bar code labels on the back of their laptops and packaging and printing them directly on the products.
All that is being repeated with RFID a few decades later. RFID has started to replace some bar codes, but it can also be used in place of more sophisticated devices such as anti-theft tags and other items—all in one label. However, while anti-theft tags don’t use silicon chips, 98 percent of RFID labels currently do, and the chips are the most expensive part of the label. This puts the use of RFID at a significant cost disadvantage in these applications.
However, Kovio, Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) has figured out how to print the thousands of transistors required by the world’s favorite RFID specification, ISO 14443, which is used in tickets, cards, e-passports, e-driving licenses, national ID cards, and some packages in supply chains. ISO 14443 is even used by the new RFID-enabled phones for purchasing items without going to the checkout. The Kovio printed transistors will go into production in late 2008 and they promise a cost reduction of 80 percent versus the silicon chip, a very important factor for packaging applications.
If Kovio stumbles, there are about 340 organizations around the world working on printed transistors. Some of that work will even lead to self-adjusting “use-by dates,” with labels (and later direct printing on packages) that monitor time-temperature profiles so they display a printed date that changes depending on how long/how hot you left the package. These will often double as RFID tags as well.
Companies Mentioned:
 |
|
Best Practices for Print Automation
Competing for Print’s Thriving Future