The emerging technology may affect packaging’s future. What are its benefits, and what are the obstacles to its development?

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology appears to be making inroads as a solution for encoding data, tracking packages, and providing security via labels on packaging. RFID labels – which contain embedded microchips – are interactive data carriers that, unlike barcodes, can be written on as well as read and do not require direct exposure to be scanned. More flexible than barcodes, RFID tags can be used for tracking materials through the supply chain to recording changes in the packaged product to indicating usage or freshness. RFID, which has been characterized as a “brilliant technology looking for an application,” appears to be finding those applications.

A consortium led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Auto-ID Center, and sponsored by such industry leaders as Proctor & Gamble, Coca-Cola and International Paper, has recently stated that RFID technology is ready to be used on everyday products such as paper towels and cans of shaving cream. According to International Paper’s director of smart packaging, Steven Van Fleet, “The vision is still for every package to have a chip on it.” Philips Semiconductors, in Europe, has several projects in the works that will use RFID labels to track luggage, locate library books, and date the freshness of packaged foods. In the current climate of rapid development, the news that some RFID initiatives – like that of Motorola – have been trimmed due to economic reasons is hardly enough to dampen the enthusiasm that is growing around this technology.

To illustrate the usefulness of RFID, the folks at Philips Semiconductors have tested the chip-embedded tags with the assistance of British Airways. Seventy-five thousand suitcases at the airline were given “smart-bag tags,” labels which can be programmed to carry an ID number as well as important details such as check-in time and destination. Since these labels use radio signals to communicate, they didn’t even have to be prominently displayed on the luggage to perform their tasks. The trial successfully demonstrated that RFID technology allows for several labels to be scanned at once and to have their information modified without having to replace the labels themselves. One of the surprising benefits of the RFID label is that it can make a recording of the package’s weight during weigh-in and then compare this figure to any weight measured later in the bag’s journey, thus identifying if anything has been added or removed from the parcel. Benefits like these “outweigh” the obstacles, proponents say.

Concerning the obstacles to RFID technology, the first would be its relative cost compared to its predecessor, the barcode. According to Mike Liard, an analyst following the automated ID market for Venture Development Corp., Natick, MA, RFID “is not going to replace bar codes in the foreseeable future, because you can’t get any cheaper than a bar code right now.” Adding the issue of compatibility to the debate is Viv Bradshaw, a project consultant for Microlise Systems Integration in Nottingham, England. He says that although RFID is a powerful technology, it’s not for everyone, at least for the time being. “Existing methods of auto identification, such as barcodes, are still valid. They are well established, have standards and most people are equipped to read them. This, currently, cannot be said for RFID, although progress is being made.” In addition, it’s important to note that RFID’s users will need to install a controlling system to manage the solution and existing IT infrastructures may need to be modified to do so.

That said, the ability to obtain, alter and pass on product data opens up new approaches to supply chain management. Furthermore, because a single RFID tag can be used many times throughout the process, and do the job of multiple barcodes, some of the additional cost of RFID technology can be balanced out across the supply chain. RFID technology also provides a greater degree of transparency to the supply chain, making it easier to view improved accuracy and streamlined processing. Finally, it is important to remember that although RFID technology may not replace barcodes outright, it can work alongside barcodes to provide a more comprehensive supply chain solution.

Sources: Identifying Opportunities
Leanie Kaleido
Dot Packaging, Nov. 2001
http://www.dotpackaging.com/features/coding/fcoding022.shtml

Motorola’s Exit Fails to Cool RFID Fervor
Charles J. Murray & Junko Yoshida
EE Times, Nov. 22, 2001
http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011122S0002