A Little QC Goes a Long Way
Improved quality control creates less waste which, in turn, ends up saving converters money in the long run.
June 2007 by Chris Mc Loone
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For all its hype during the past few years, RFID is still a technology trying to get its feet firmly planted in the packaging sector. That is not to say that package printers should sit back and wait to see where RFID is going. There’s no doubt it will entrench itself in the packaging market. The question is when will it happen?
According to an IDTechEx study, “RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2017,” label and packaging converters continue to enter the RFID business to meet their customers’ demands. During 2007, IDTechEx expects that 1.71 billion tags will be sold, and that the total RFID market value across all countries will be $4.96 billion. Many converters with whom IDTechEx has spoken state they are supplying relatively small numbers of labels, but are able to quickly change designs as required by their customers.
Standardization has helped. “In the past four years, much needed standardization has been occurring,” says Max Golter, vice president of sales, bielomatik. “Additional standardization is needed globally in order for the technology to work efficiently.” Other factors helping the RFID market include increased quality of UHF transponders and reduced costs which helps open RFID to other areas where smart labels, tickets, or cards can be applied, according to Golter.
Improvements in quality control have also paid huge dividends at the converter level. Equipment suppliers continue to make advances in their own products to reduce waste involved with RFID tag placement by tightening placement tolerances. According to David Grove, technical sales specialist, Schober USA, “We are now seeing a less than 1 percent failure rate on new tags. That is much improved over a year ago.” Improved quality control creates less waste, which in turn, ends up saving converters money in the long run.
QC across the board
Ben Robesin, account manager, Stork Prints BV, comments, “The starting point of each antenna is the printing, [whether it’s] etching, plating, or direct printing. The right configuration of your printing equipment is very important.”
Michael Harris, CEO, Innovative Equipment, adds that while improvements in Gen 2 materials have been significant, there must be a quality control step to qualify what is ultimately produced and shipped to ensure 100 percent functionality, he explains. “While lower defect rates make placing inlays on every label, then doctoring out the defects, more palatable, the extra inspection step is still 100 percent necessary.” The cost savings here, he says, is the value of the base label substrate that ends up in the trash. “It is lower due to the reduced number of defective inlays doctored out,” he says.
According to an IDTechEx study, “RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2017,” label and packaging converters continue to enter the RFID business to meet their customers’ demands. During 2007, IDTechEx expects that 1.71 billion tags will be sold, and that the total RFID market value across all countries will be $4.96 billion. Many converters with whom IDTechEx has spoken state they are supplying relatively small numbers of labels, but are able to quickly change designs as required by their customers.
Standardization has helped. “In the past four years, much needed standardization has been occurring,” says Max Golter, vice president of sales, bielomatik. “Additional standardization is needed globally in order for the technology to work efficiently.” Other factors helping the RFID market include increased quality of UHF transponders and reduced costs which helps open RFID to other areas where smart labels, tickets, or cards can be applied, according to Golter.
Improvements in quality control have also paid huge dividends at the converter level. Equipment suppliers continue to make advances in their own products to reduce waste involved with RFID tag placement by tightening placement tolerances. According to David Grove, technical sales specialist, Schober USA, “We are now seeing a less than 1 percent failure rate on new tags. That is much improved over a year ago.” Improved quality control creates less waste, which in turn, ends up saving converters money in the long run.
QC across the board
Ben Robesin, account manager, Stork Prints BV, comments, “The starting point of each antenna is the printing, [whether it’s] etching, plating, or direct printing. The right configuration of your printing equipment is very important.”
Michael Harris, CEO, Innovative Equipment, adds that while improvements in Gen 2 materials have been significant, there must be a quality control step to qualify what is ultimately produced and shipped to ensure 100 percent functionality, he explains. “While lower defect rates make placing inlays on every label, then doctoring out the defects, more palatable, the extra inspection step is still 100 percent necessary.” The cost savings here, he says, is the value of the base label substrate that ends up in the trash. “It is lower due to the reduced number of defective inlays doctored out,” he says.
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