RFID Technology Helps Sonoco-Alcore Better Serve Its Paper Core Customers
(UPM Raflatac, Tampere) - Sonoco-Alcore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco with 30 tube and core plants and six paper mills in Europe, is using UPM Raflatac DogBone RFID tags in its fiber-based cores to help customers reduce costs through advanced inventory tracking.
RFID technology allows Sonoco-Alcore to provide customers the ability to reduce costs associated with lost inventory and manual labour many companies currently use for inventory tracking. By embedding RFID tags in roll cores, customers of Sonoco-Alcore can follow rolls through the supply chain process with real-time tracking and location information. Sonoco is using the technology to produce its Intellicore(TM) engineered carriers.
One market already using Sonoco's Intellicore(TM) carriers is décor paper. RFID tags are embedded in the cores during the winding process and tested to ensure 100 percent functionality.
"This technology is a value-add to our products that can provide cost savings to our customers. It allows for easy tracking and management throughout the product's life cycle," says Eddie Smith, Vice President, Sonoco Europe.
"Printing houses can benefit in many ways by using RFID technology. Paper roll traceability at core level enables continuous printing through several phases without loosing important paper type and quality information of the material. Material leftovers from the previous run can be re-used for new printing work. In savings this can result in over 10% savings in material costs," says Mikko Nikkanen, Business Development Director, UPM Raflatac, RFID.
About UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac, part of UPM's Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world's leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials and the world's number one producer of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has a global service network consisting of 13 factories on five continents and a broad network of sales offices and slitting and distribution terminals worldwide. UPM Raflatac employs 2,600 people and made sales of approximately EUR 0.95 billion (USD 1.3 billion) in 2009. Further information is available at www.upmrfid.com.
About Sonoco
Sonoco, founded in 1899, is a global manufacturer of industrial and consumer packaging and provider of packaging services, with more than 300 operations in 35 countries. The Company is also the world's largest manufacturer of fiber-based tubes and cores, many of which are used by companies around the world to package various grades and types of paper.
For more information on Sonoco, visit the Company's Web site at sonoco.com.
For further information, please contact:
Mikko Nikkanen,
Business Development Director,
UPM Raflatac, RFID,
tel. +1 828 275 5162
