Avery Dennison Smartrac, a provider of radio frequency identification and digital ID solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Internet of Things (IoT) company Wiliot. The companies say the partnership is dedicated to scaling the Internet of Things.
Embedded Intelligence and Connectivity
Avery Dennison will leverage its R&D capabilities and scale to design and manufacture second-generation Wiliot tags, which are stamp-sized computers powered by Bluetooth (see Wiliot Expands BLE Sensor Solution with Platform, V2 Chips) that can be attached to any product or packaging. This, according to the company, allows for embedded intelligence and connectivity to create agile, profitable and sustainable supply chains.
In addition, Avery Dennison will integrate Wiliot’s sensing services with its atma.io connected product cloud, enabling tag-sensing information to be added to the end-to-end item-level data of a connected item. According to the firm, the two partners are working toward a future in which nearly everything is connected to the Internet—not just smartphones, computers and homes, but also food, medicine, clothing and more.
The partners’ goal is to eliminate waste while providing transparency and consumer connection. The agreement, intended to scale the manufacturing capacity of Wiliot’s tags, will leverage Avery Dennison’s market-development and innovation experience. This, the companies predict, will enable Avery Dennison to carry out large projects involving the retail, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical sectors.
Avery Dennison Smartrac will leverage its R&D capabilities to design and produce second-generation Wiliot tags.
Scaling the Internet of Things
“Wiliot’s passive Bluetooth technology offers the ability to work with existing infrastructure and provides another accelerator to the growth of the IoT,” said Francisco Melo, Avery Dennison Smartrac’s VP and general manager, in a prepared statement. “Combined with sensing capabilities and security features as standard, this expands our portfolio and opens up many new use cases for our customers and partners.”
“Avery Dennison is the only partner in the world with the manufacturing expertise and efficiency to produce our tags at the scale that is needed to significantly increase the scale of the Internet of Things,” said Tal Tamir, Wiliot’s CEO, in the prepared statement. “Their ability to scale as we scale is unquestionable.”
Tamir added, “Their partnership and market-development leadership is a significant vote of confidence in both our company and technology. Now, with the backing of the world’s largest and most efficient manufacturer of RFID tags, we’re positioned to drive mass adoption of our technology and to scale our vision for the next generation of the IoT.”