Electronics and electrics on/in paper are being used for security, safety, crime prevention, brand enhancement and merchandising applications. The global demand for electronic smart packaging devices will grow rapidly from $30 million in 2012 to $1.7 billion in 2022.
Dr. Peter Harrop
Editor’s note: RFID is running hot and cold in the North American packaging market. It’s a technology solution still in its early development, with many issues, risks, and potential rewards. In this column, Peter Harrop, CEO of IDTechEx, provides a glimpse of some of the behind-the-scenes factors that will impact future implementation of RFID. IDTechEx is a knowledge-based consultancy company that provides research and analysis on RFID, printed and organic electronics, and smart packaging. It will host the RFID Smart Labels USA 2008 conference in Boston February 20-21 (www.idtechex.com/USA). It’s like Yogi Berra once said, “It’s Déjà Vu all over again.” Today,
Part One: Low Cost Entry — Wrapping Electronics RFID is an important enabling technology that appears in an ever-widening variety of applications. In the past, the emergence of barcodes helped create a large label market that lasted for one or two decades before people figured out how to print the barcodes directly on to packaging and products. So, today only 5-15 percent of barcodes appear as labels. However, there are now so many barcodes required—up to 10 trillion yearly—that even the minor percentage still taking the form of labels constitutes a substantial business. This label business will endure because the labels perform special functions,
