May 07, 2013Leveraging its own research and development, as well as the improved functionality found in three different RFID chips, Avery Dennison's Retail Branding and Information Services (RBIS) division has released a new group of passive EPC Gen 2 ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags and labels. The new offerings are intended to address use cases traditionally inhospitable to radio frequency identification, including the tagging of fragrances, jewelry, cosmetics, accessories and housewares. The company's new products include a label for tagging items containing metal and liquids, faster encoding tags with greater read sensitivity, and ruggedized tags for use in sewn-in garment applications, as well as within harsh environments.
The AD-451m5 RFID label is intended for tagging items composed of metal and liquid. Mark Hill, Avery Dennison RBIS' VP and general manager of global innovation and solutions development, says his firm's apparel customers had indicated that, based on their success in tracking women's intimate apparel and other products, they would like to track high-value items, such as cosmetics and perfumes, that can be challenging for RFID. When it comes to certain goods, such as cosmetics, lotions, fragrances, housewares and any product packaged in foil, he explains, EPC Gen 2 passive tags often have limited read range and reliability.
The AD-451m5, however, operates well in the presence of metals and liquids, Hill reports. The label is produced through a unique manufacturing process developed by Avery Dennison, consisting of using an RFID inlay (made with an Impinj Monza 5 IC) attached to a thin layer of foam twice the width of the inlay, and capable of being printed on a standard thermal-transfer printer. Once the label is printed, a liner can be removed, thereby exposing an adhesive coating. The label is then folded in half (like a hot dog bun) and the two halves adhere together, resulting in the inlay being on top of the label, with two layers of foam beneath it. Another liner, attached to the bottom-most foam layer, can then be removed, exposing an adhesive coating that is then used to affix the label to an item, such as a packaged cosmetics product.
In addition, Avery Dennison has announced the AD-318m5 tag, which is also made with a Monza 5 IC and is designed for tagging products containing metal or liquid. The AD-318m5 is small—the antenna measures 1.63 inches by 0.63 inch (41.4 millimeters by 16 millimeters)—and is intended for items on which the space available to attach a tag is limited. These include jewelry, pharmaceutical containers and intimate apparel.
The AD-234eM, AD-382eM and AD-319eM inlays are of three different sizes—the antennas' dimensions are 2.756 inches by 0.571 inch (70 millimeters by 14.5 millimeters), 1.181 inches by 1.969 inches (30 millimeters by 50 millimeters) and 1.063 inches by 0.63 inch (41.4 millimeters by 16 millimeters), respectively—and are designed for RFID applications requiring greater durability for sewing into a garment, or for high-impact situations, including automotive and industrial applications. The inlays are made with EM Microelectronic's EM 4124 IC, which can sustain greater manhandling than most chips.
"Increasingly," Hill says, "we're seeing an interest in having RFID tags sewn into garments." In many cases, he notes, this is intended to enable the tags to be used for electronic article surveillance (EAS), by deploying RFID readers at a store's exit to identify if an unpurchased item is being removed from that location. Such tags can also make the return process simpler, since they are built into the apparel rather than on a paper hangtag that could be removed from a garment after purchase. Avery Dennison's new durable inlays are designed to be sewn into a garment at the beginning of the manufacturing process, so that the clothing can be tracked at the distribution center, on the sales floor and at the point of sale, as well as during a return. Sewn-in tags are already being used by Avery Dennison's customer Gerry Weber (see Gerry Weber Sews In RFID's Benefits), using predecessor Avery Dennison tags. According to Hill, Avery Dennison has a large customer that will utilize the new AD-234eM, AD-382eM and AD-319eM tags in high volume, beginning in the third quarter of this year.
The ruggedized inlays can also be used by the automotive and industrial sectors, Hill reports. For example, an auto-parts supplier plans to attach the tags made with the new inlays to its finished products, in order to track the loading of goods onto trucks for delivery to automotive manufacturers. Such tags could also be used in other environments in which tags are typically exposed to heavy impacts, such as on luggage in airports.
Additionally, Avery Dennison RBIS has unveiled two inlays, models AD-235u7 and the AD-370u7, designed with Ucode 7 ICs for faster encoding, at a rate of 100 items per millisecond (see NXP Releases Ucode 7, a Faster and More Sensitive Chip). The greater sensitivity of the new tags with Ucode 7 chips, Hill explains, will make it easier for a retailer's staff to capture reads from goods on shelves, by moving a handheld reader quickly within the vicinity of tagged items. "Sensitivity is important," he states. "It gives the store associates more latitude in reading." The antenna's dimensions are 2.756 inches by 0.571 inch (70 millimeters by 14.5 millimeters) for the AD-235u7 and 0.75 inch by 2.09 inches (19 millimeters by 53 millimeters) for the AD-370u7.
"The story behind this," Hill says, "is we have seven new tag designs, with three chip suppliers." That, he indicates, demonstrates Avery Dennison's flexibility in finding a variety of solutions to meet retailers' many needs.
Furthermore, for the past three years, Avery Dennison RBIS has been offering a service whereby it prints high-quality graphic images and high-density variable information on UHF RFID integrated labels. The company recently announced that it has shipped more than 700 million RFID labels using this digital-printing method, known as SmartFace. The process is intended to provide an RFID label without the multiple layers found in competitors' tags. For example, while many labels are made with RFID inlays composed of adhesive layers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, the antennas are created directly on the label with the SmartFace process, eliminating the PET layer entirely. That inlay is then moved directly though the digital printing process, using Avery Dennison's large fleets of digital printing presses. Printed labels are taking on more complexity, Hill says, and retailers not only want their own printed artwork on the front of a label, but also other details. This includes employing the color-by-size system, whereby specific garment or shoe sizes are indicated by the tag's color.
