- Multi-Color Corporation (MCC) acquired Starport Technologies in October and now offers a growing capacity for UHF RFID label production for consumer products.
- With the acquisition, MCC has opened a its Smart Packaging Solutions division that is being headed by the former Starport CEO.
Global labeling company Multi-Color Corporation (MCC), has expanded its capacity for RFID tag production with the acquisition of Starport Technologies, a provider of smart label solutions based in Kansas City, MO.
More than a century old, MCC today operates over 100 plants in 28 countries. It has about $3 billion in annual revenue providing prime labels for food and beverages, home and personal care, healthcare, wine and spirits, and other consumer products. Based in Chicago, MCC’s labels are made for consumer interaction—decorative informational Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) labeling—for pressure sensitive, cut and stack, roll-fed, in-mold, shrink sleeve and heat transfer applications.
MCC’s new acquisition is intended to help meet the growing demand for RFID enabled labels by consumer product companies, as well as pharmaceuticals and makers of products that require inventory visibility, according to company officials.
MCC Smart Packaging Solutions Unit
Founded in 2006, Kansas City’s Starport manufactures a range of RFID products and other types of smart labels for a variety of consumer and supply chain applications. It offers manufacturing processes for various face materials, adhesives, RFID transponders, printing, and other specialty coated web materials to be converted into a single label through its converting platform. It has converted more than 5 billion RFID tags thus far.
With the acquisition of Starport Technologies, MCC has started a new smart packaging solutions business unit for RFID enabled products which will be led by Jeff Nedblake, Starport Technologies’ founder and CEO. The unit will report to MCC’s corporate headquarters, based in Rosemont, IL.
The acquisition complements and strengthens MCC’s greater than 20 years of experience in RFID labeling solutions, said Brent Howell, MCC’s VP of the smart packaging solutions unit.
Greater Demand for RFID Labels
MCC noted the growing demand for RFID-enabled labels around 2022. Howell came on board that year as part of its growth in the technology. At that time, RFID demand growth was being fueled by Walmart’s mandate for RFID-tagged consumer products it sells at its stores. At that time, many CPG companies were new to RFID and needed support incorporating the technology into their printed labels.
“MCC is one of the world’s largest CPG labeling companies so if Walmart was going to expand towards general merchandise, we knew that was going to impact the MCC customer base,” Howell said.
The label company began to build its internal RFID subject matter expertise team and “one of the outcomes is that we were prepared as Walmart started to expand [the product lines in which it required RFID],” said Howell.
Additionally, he added that the company was interested in an acquisition that would help it meet the need for more of the technology. “We wanted to make sure that we have the right capability, and the right growth plan, to continue accommodating our CPG customers who were starting to be mandated by Walmart to add RFID to their labels,” he stated.
A Small But Growing Sector
In fact, about 70 percent of projects in RFID-enabled labels at MCC are Walmart related.
RFID thus far has a small part of the company’s large portfolio, but it’s growing fast and not just in the U.S. RFID as an industry is growing at about 25 percent WORLDWIDE, according to a RAIN Alliance and VDC Research study.
Because Starport is a well-known and respected player in the RFID labeling community, MCC wanted to bring Starport under its umbrella.
RFID label manufacturing will continue at both MCC and Starport sites. MCC customer base includes consumer package goods prime labeling, while much of the Starport RFID business centers around logistics, such as white labels often applied to cartons or pallets. That makes the combined company well poised to serve both markets, officials at both companies argued.
For each customer order, MCC will be able to make the decision of where the best manufacturing facility is. “It gives us some different options—it definitely enhances the capabilities and the process that we were already working on, [the acquisition] gives us the ability to continue providing excellent service with quick turn-around times, industry-leading turn-around times,” Howell said.
In fact, he said with the larger manufacturing footprint, the company could potentially offer quicker production and order fulfillment than competitors while also keeping prices competitive.
More Demand Ahead
Following the Walmart mandate, other retailers have begun seeking RFID tagged goods in their stores for inventory visibility. That means companies from makers of sporting goods and household cleaners to appliances will be seeking more RFID enabled prime labels.
Howell sees growth in the coming months and years for RFID tag use to identify medical devices, healthcare equipment or over the counter pharmaceuticals so. “RFID has [served] in a lot of logistics applications so MCC has had some of those applications as well,” he said.
As the two companies reorganize, Howell said, “both parties are excited. Labeling offers an emotional connection between brands and consumers. So to integrate technology into that emotional connection is exciting.”