The idea behind smart packaging technology is that the more information that consumers receive on a product, the better. The consumer can determine if the product is fresh and has not been tampered with, can learn more about the product, receive loyalty discounts, communicate with brand owners and be master of production and logistics.  Meanwhile, IoT for packages is enabled from raw material to recycling.
 
In turn, brand owners and retailers alike get valuable information on consumer preferences, allowing them to make more informed decisions on what sells.
 
Smart packaging is a field that is ideal for innovation, and the recent collaboration between UpCode and VTT to create a digital beer label as part of the EU’s TagItSmart program is one promising example.
 
The goal of TagItSmart is to take static printed tags, such as barcodes and QR codes, and add functionality. By adding functionality, each item becomes unique, and the consumer can check the product’s freshness and also communicate with the brand. As part of TagItSmart, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and UpCode partnered on digital beer labels that have sensors and smart codes.
 
UpCode CEO Stude Udd noted that VTT and UpCode have co-created and collaborated before with success. “This time, there is a new good possibility for long term collaboration with indicators and sensors,” Udd added.
 
Liisa Hakola, senior scientist and project manager at VTT Technical; Research Centre of Finland, specializes in printed sensors and electronic devices. Hakola said that UpCode’s technology creates direct personal contact between the brand owner and the consumer.
 
“Consumers get context-aware services that are personalized based on the environmental reading conditions, user information, GPS location etc.,” Hakola noted. “This also creates a possibility for direct personal contact between the consumer and the brand owner/product manufacturer, thus improving consumer engagement.”
 
The founder of UPC Consulting, Udd saw the potential for mobile communication, and in 2004, he started what is today UpCode, which is part of the UPC Center. Since its beginnings, UpCode has received numerous patents, trademark and awards. Udd sees opportunities for UpCode’s technology throughout the supply chain and beyond.
 
“In the short perspective, we see these kinds of sensors as an industrial solution to be utilized everywhere in control of raw materials, production, packaging, logistics, retail and consumption,” Udd said. “In the long term, it is part of a transition to a digitalized relation between consumers and products and part of data collection for AI functions in the supply chain.”
 
Hakola added that there are other significant benefits.
 
“Product differentiation, better inventory control and management are also important for brand owners,” she said. “Consumers can also benefit from improved product quality and safety, product authenticity, and product integrity.”
 
There are 15 partners in TagItSmart, which is a Horizon2020 funded project coordinated by SME DunavNet from Serbia. VTT has developed functional inks for smart codes. There are five use cases in the project, focusing on Digital products, Life-cycle management, Brand Protection and Dynamic Pricing. This cooperation between VTT and Upcode is part of the Digital product use case, with a focus on a Digital Beer test case.
 
Hakola pointed out that the TagItSmart project is about defining a framework and the necessary enabling technologies to create and exploit condition-dependent Smart Tags that connect real-life objects with the digital world.
 
“This is achieved by utilizing visible or electronic markers (2D codes, NFC) with environmental sensing functions (functional ink, sensors, indicators) combined with software intelligence (user information, location, etc.) in order to provide context-aware services to end users,” Hakola continued. “Since the target products are fast-moving consumer goods and product packages, the IoT solution used has to be inexpensive and this can be achieved with the kind of Smart Tags described here.”
 
 Seeing how the TagItSmart project will actually work is key, as it then provides ideas for improving technology. UpCode develops individualized 2D codes, which are then attached to bottles of beer produced by labels of Bock, a small brewery in Vaasa, Finland. The bottles will allow consumers to offer their opinions on an online forum, while Bock can learn about consumers’ habits. Other possible uses would include freshness indicators.
 
“For example, a smart sensor attached to a beer bottle label knows if the beer is fit for consumption, its brewer, and the circumstances under which it was brewed,” said Hakola.
 
“In Bock's, we have installed a living lab where the functionality can be demonstrated in real industrial scale from tag management, content management, logistics, warehousing, retails and consumers,” Udd said. “We can prove the costs and return on investment.
 
“The challenge is to improve, develop and increase durability and range of properties for the sensors, both regarding ink technology, printing knowledge and machine/mobile readability (we call this package design knowledge) – work for the next 100 years probably,” Udd added.
 
Udd said that he sees a bright future for TagItSmart technology.
 
“TagItSmart has been of huge importance for pure ideas to be developed, checked and verified for real business,” Udd concluded. “This project is in this sense outstanding in performance. We are convinced that the technology is in five years adopted in industrial scale.”