Intelligent packaging—RFID and printed electronics

Since the 1990s, the requirements of major retail chains and the American defence ministry have been promoting the development of RFID. Up to now, the robust, wireless RFID tags have primarily been used for logistic follow-up. A number of retail chains such as Marks & Spencer, Metro and Rewe have chosen to use RFID to optimise the way that they work together with their suppliers. Contact-free and even without a direct line of sight, this technology allows a wide range of information to be written to a chip and queried. This brings a number of benefits: simplified monitoring of temperature and transport times when goods are being transported, automatic inventory and improved stock monitoring, counterfeit protection for brand manufacturers and automatic inspection of the sell-by date and tracking of the products for the retail trade.

PrintCity launched a project investigating the technical requirements and costs for RFID in packaging printing and testing new functions and industrial deployment. The project also evaluates markets and products for intelligent, printed electronics.

Packaging printing with RFID

The project participants wish to identify the potential fields in which RFID tags and printed circuits can be deployed in packaging printing as comprehensively as possible in order to be able to provide competent answers to questions their customers are asking. The results of this assessment are to undergo practical trials on the basis of concrete customer projects. Major supermarket chains have already indicated that they are interested in being involved.

At IPEX 2006 PrintCity and OE-A invite to the symposium "Intelligent Packaging: RFID and Printed Electronics".

PrintCity partners: OE-A, Zeiler

This PrintCity project was initiated by the Activity Group Packaging, Commercial & Sheetfed.