Printed Electronics Now staff06.19.20
When it comes to apparel retailing, wrinkles can have a huge impact on sales.
With manufacturers based across the globe, it is no surprise that once a box of merchandise is opened the garments inside can look a little different from the original concept.
These creases and folds, no matter how small, have the potential to put off customers. After all, who would want to part with their hard-earned money to purchase a garment that looks far from pristine?
That’s why for many years, stores have ensured their items are steamed before they being put on display. However, this has the potential to create more problems for retailers, particularly those who have invested in RFID, as tags can be destroyed or deactivated by high temperatures and pressure during this process.
As RFID becomes more widely adopted by retailers around the world, there is now an increasing number of suppliers selling inferior products.
These labels are easily deactivated when subjected to retail manufacturing processes such as steaming, rendering the technology useless and negating the investment stores have put into improving their inventory accuracy.
Checkpoint's RFID tags and inlays are put through a series of robust tests to ensure they function in the retailer manufacturing environment.
Checkpoint's steam tunnel test was developed to imitate the conditions inside an industrial clothing “wrinkle remover," so that the company can prove to its customers that both the appearance and performance of Checkpoint's RFID apparel tags are not affected by steam.
Importantly, Checkpoint uses a test apparatus that exposes its labels to the same temperature and moisture conditions produced by a commercial steam tunnel system.
As a result, Checkpoint's RFID labels have been tested to ensure they are capable of withstanding "real scenario" temperatures of 100˚C at a pressure of 0.69 BAR for a duration of three minutes.
Following the “wrinkle removal” process, the sensitivity of Checkpoint's RFID inlays remained consistent, with no impact on their technical performance.
Checkpoint is aware that its customers also need reassurance that their branding isn’t going to be affected by the steaming process, so in addition to inlay performance, Checkpoint tests its tags with finished designs and logos, to ensure the integrity of the brand is not negatively impacted.
Thanks to in-house manufacturing, the print quality and branded base stock remain fully readable after the steam test.