Products identify themselves
Packaging: RFID technology is still too expensive. For now, shopping without waiting in line will remain a pipe dream.
Packaging RFID technology is still too expensive. Shopping without queuing will remain a vision for the time being. The packaging sector is about to be replaced: the printed barcode could be supplemented or even replaced by a new technology in the near future. It all started in the automotive industry: in the 1990s, RFID technology was used as part of the immobilizer system. The aim was to put a stop to the theft of motor vehicles.
In Japan, school backpacks of elementary school pupils were fitted with RFID tags in a pilot project last year. The system, which is due to be rolled out in April 2005, will enable parents to receive a message by e-mail or directly on their cell phone when their child has arrived at school thanks to RFID readers installed at school entrances.
The latest example: US government ID cards are soon to be the most secure passports in the world. To this end, they have been fitted with special RFID inlays that can contain the much-discussed biometric data, among other things.
Initial applications What do these three examples have to do with the packaging sector? Not very much in practice yet. But there are already application models here too. For example, RFID transponders or RFID tags applied to packaging or products could make the payment process much easier - queues at the checkout could soon be a thing of the past. The goods would no longer have to be placed on the conveyor belt, but could be recorded in one go thanks to the applied tags.
No wonder the retail sector is interested in this technology. The world's leading companies - led by the Metro Group in Europe and Walmart in the USA - are currently pushing transponder technology. But there is another reason for this: RFID can also be used to improve processes within the entire logistics chain. The focus is on the chip coding of logistical units such as pallets or other containers. Even before the goods are unloaded from the truck, the recipient already "knows" what is on them. However, the coding of individual products with RFID chips (item tagging) is also already in use in some cases and is to be expanded.
Rewritable RFID tags even offer the option of changing or deleting information during the process. This saves printing costs and expensive and time-consuming relabeling. Data on storage duration and storage location can be stored on the carrier materials. This means that the products can not only be identified, but also tracked and monitored in terms of time and location.
Not for primary packaging
The microchip integrated into the RFID tag turns it into a mini computer. However, the label equipped with RFID technology has its price: although the development of unit prices naturally depends heavily on the costs of the components, realistic estimates assume transponder prices of 30 cents or around 50 centimes.
Although counterfeit protection is a recurring theme among suppliers of branded goods and in the pharmaceutical industry and copying costs huge amounts of money, it is not yet possible to speak of a breakthrough. The packaging industry is also still a long way from using RFID. According to industry experts, there is a lack of a uniform industrial standard. In addition, RFID chips are currently still too expensive.
It is therefore not currently worth equipping individual primary packaging with RFID transponders. What makes perfect sense for a pallet is therefore not (yet) worthwhile for many everyday products.
Retailers are very interested in RFID labels.
For more security during ID checks: The holder's biometric data can be stored on a chip in the travel document.
RFIDRFID or transponder technology involves contactless data transmission based on alternating electromagnetic fields. An RFID chip stores information that can be transmitted via antennas. This information can be recorded by readers and can then be evaluated. Similar to the already established barcode, RFID chips are used to attach information to goods, vehicles or soon also ID documents (see right) and can be read without a line of sight.
The attached transponders are also known as tags. If there are several products in a shopping cart, for example, they can even be identified simultaneously thanks to so-called bulk detection. Transponder technology was first used as an immobilizer in the 1990s and helped it achieve a breakthrough. Today, transponders and RFID tags are used in many places, e.g. for the transportation of dangerous goods.
US passports with RFID inlay German supplier Giesecke & Devrient will start producing the "world's most secure passports" this year. The new passports for the US government have an integrated chip that stores the passport holder's personal data. The envelopes of the electronic travel documents have an integrated RFID inlay. The chip can communicate with a reader via the antenna, which then displays the stored data.
In addition, various unique characteristics of the holder can be stored on the chip. This biometric data, for example the facial image or fingerprint, can be checked quickly and easily using the technology supplied. The first electronic passports are to be issued to US government employees at the end of the first quarter of 2005 and tested in practical use. (jf)
Jürgen Franck
In Japan, school backpacks of elementary school pupils were fitted with RFID tags in a pilot project last year. The system, which is due to be rolled out in April 2005, will enable parents to receive a message by e-mail or directly on their cell phone when their child has arrived at school thanks to RFID readers installed at school entrances.
The latest example: US government ID cards are soon to be the most secure passports in the world. To this end, they have been fitted with special RFID inlays that can contain the much-discussed biometric data, among other things.
Initial applications What do these three examples have to do with the packaging sector? Not very much in practice yet. But there are already application models here too. For example, RFID transponders or RFID tags applied to packaging or products could make the payment process much easier - queues at the checkout could soon be a thing of the past. The goods would no longer have to be placed on the conveyor belt, but could be recorded in one go thanks to the applied tags.
No wonder the retail sector is interested in this technology. The world's leading companies - led by the Metro Group in Europe and Walmart in the USA - are currently pushing transponder technology. But there is another reason for this: RFID can also be used to improve processes within the entire logistics chain. The focus is on the chip coding of logistical units such as pallets or other containers. Even before the goods are unloaded from the truck, the recipient already "knows" what is on them. However, the coding of individual products with RFID chips (item tagging) is also already in use in some cases and is to be expanded.
Rewritable RFID tags even offer the option of changing or deleting information during the process. This saves printing costs and expensive and time-consuming relabeling. Data on storage duration and storage location can be stored on the carrier materials. This means that the products can not only be identified, but also tracked and monitored in terms of time and location.
Not for primary packaging
The microchip integrated into the RFID tag turns it into a mini computer. However, the label equipped with RFID technology has its price: although the development of unit prices naturally depends heavily on the costs of the components, realistic estimates assume transponder prices of 30 cents or around 50 centimes.
Although counterfeit protection is a recurring theme among suppliers of branded goods and in the pharmaceutical industry and copying costs huge amounts of money, it is not yet possible to speak of a breakthrough. The packaging industry is also still a long way from using RFID. According to industry experts, there is a lack of a uniform industrial standard. In addition, RFID chips are currently still too expensive.
It is therefore not currently worth equipping individual primary packaging with RFID transponders. What makes perfect sense for a pallet is therefore not (yet) worthwhile for many everyday products.
Retailers are very interested in RFID labels.
For more security during ID checks: The holder's biometric data can be stored on a chip in the travel document.
RFIDRFID or transponder technology involves contactless data transmission based on alternating electromagnetic fields. An RFID chip stores information that can be transmitted via antennas. This information can be recorded by readers and can then be evaluated. Similar to the already established barcode, RFID chips are used to attach information to goods, vehicles or soon also ID documents (see right) and can be read without a line of sight.
The attached transponders are also known as tags. If there are several products in a shopping cart, for example, they can even be identified simultaneously thanks to so-called bulk detection. Transponder technology was first used as an immobilizer in the 1990s and helped it achieve a breakthrough. Today, transponders and RFID tags are used in many places, e.g. for the transportation of dangerous goods.
US passports with RFID inlay German supplier Giesecke & Devrient will start producing the "world's most secure passports" this year. The new passports for the US government have an integrated chip that stores the passport holder's personal data. The envelopes of the electronic travel documents have an integrated RFID inlay. The chip can communicate with a reader via the antenna, which then displays the stored data.
In addition, various unique characteristics of the holder can be stored on the chip. This biometric data, for example the facial image or fingerprint, can be checked quickly and easily using the technology supplied. The first electronic passports are to be issued to US government employees at the end of the first quarter of 2005 and tested in practical use. (jf)
Jürgen Franck
