David Savastano, Editor11.07.14
The traditional use for packaging is to catch the eye of the consumer. Brand owners went through many approaches along the way, from bright colors and metallics to unique shapes, all to draw attention to the product.
However, packaging can draw attention in other ways. Perhaps lighting can be set off, or sounds can be emitted if a person picks the package up.
Packaging can be used for so much more than just appearance. For example, what if the packaging can let the consumer know if the product inside has expired? What if the consumer can use the package to connect to more information? What if the pharmaceutical label can indicate that the medicine is counterfeit?
This is the essence of smart packaging . It is also a potentially lucrative market. In its study, “Global Active & Smart Packaging Market for Food and Beverage Industry to be US$ 23,474 Million By 2015,” MarketsandMarkets reports that freshness indicators and time temperature indicators are the leading products in this field.
Printed electronics , NFC and RFID all have opportunities in this field. The need to communicate with consumers is growing stronger every day, and with the discussions about the Internet of Things (IoT), potentially billions of labels will be impacted. To accomplish this, the cost of the packaging cannot be too high, or the consumer will not pay for it.
PakSense
PakSense is a leader in the field of temperature sensing for food and pharmaceutical packaging, and has developed state-of-the-art technologies for these fields.
“PakSense serves any market that distributes or stores perishable items,” said Amy Childress, vice president of marketing for PakSense. “This includes food (produce, meat, poultry, seafood, floral, wine), life sciences (vaccines, pharmaceuticals, biologics,) and industrial (chemicals, adhesives, sealants, epoxies). We work with both retailers and suppliers/processors. The consumer benefits by having access to fresher, safer and higher quality products.”
One key for smart packaging is ease of use for consumers.
“From a design standpoint, all of our temperature monitoring labels are easy to use,” Childress said. “For example, optimal temperature ranges are preprogrammed into labels; our customers simply start them and apply them to product or product packaging. Flashing lights will indicate if temperature goes out of range and all historical data collected by the label can be downloaded and graphed via various methods, including wireless and USB connectivity. They are small and flat and can be placed on the side of a carton or pallet easily. We think this simplicity in design is one of the reasons we continue to capture market share.
“As with any new, disruptive technology, there will be an initial learning curve while our customers internalize the benefits of printed electronics and the applications that can be developed,” Childress added.
Sun Chemical and T+ink
Sun Chemical Electronic Materials has developed a leading position in numerous areas of smart packaging, including conductive inks, and as part of Sun Chemical, has extensive contacts with consumer brand goods companies as well as manufacturing expertise.
In March 2014, Sun Chemical announced it partnered with T+ink to form T+sun, which provides conductive ink solutions to make packages and objects communicate, engage customers and manage inventory systems. T+ink’s products appear in markets ranging from toys and automotive parts to packaging and apparel and more. Its designers have partnered with major companies – including Ford, General Motors, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart, among others – to commercialize products.
T+Ink’s TouchCode technology is one area in particular where the ability to communicate with consumers is enhancing the product experience.
Roy Bjorlin, commercial director, Electronic Materials for Sun Chemical, said that the partnership is paying dividends.
“The partnership with T+Ink is going very well,” Bjorlin said. “The collaborative link between device design and innovation and materials development is working well.”
“The partnership with Sun Chemical allows T+Sun to offer our clients an ease of entry into providing a robust social media experience for their products,” said Anthony Gentile, chief marketing officer, T+Ink. “TouchCode’s disruptive technology allows for a collaborative link between device design and innovation and materials development, and the combination of each company’s core patent contributions and skill sets puts T+Sun in the forefront to meet the growing global demand for smart packaging and labeling.”
Bjorlin said that Sun Chemical is leveraging its strong connections to brand owners and converters as well as its strengths in manufacturing to bring the T+Sun products to the marketplace.
“Sun Chemical has been very focused on TouchCode,” Bjorlin added. “TouchCode can do many things. It can enhance the consumer’s experience with information, links to promotional programs, as well as security. TouchCode represents a very significant bridge between print and digital in the packaging and label space, enabling a multitude of smart print solutions by connecting physical products to mobile devices. Our converter and brand owner partners are very enthusiastic. Beyond TouchCode we are working closely to develop a full stack of inks from conductive inks to graphic inks for in-mold applications where a membrane switch could become part of a 3-D design.”
“The marvel of TouchCode is how it can instantly and seamlessly transition a brand’s physical product into a digital media platform,” Gentile added. “A consumer is no longer just purchasing a product, but a tailored experience. TouchCode enhances and encourages the consumer’s incentive to purchase with a menu of interactive programs, supplying the consumer with everything from detailed product information, links to promotional programs, as well as the security of knowing the product they are purchasing is direct from the brand manufacturer. What it provides for the brand are never-before collectable data analytics on consumer purchasing habits that supplies the brand with invaluable and unprecedented sales assets.”
Initially, TouchCode was a sheetfed printed product, but Bjorlin and Gentile said that it is now ideal for roll-to-roll production.
“Sun Chemical’s extensive R&D commitment to TouchCode materials development and the expansive exposure to the range of converters and brand owners that Sun Chemical is partnered with, has advanced the development of a fully printable Code , which in turn has dramatically expanded the range of applications for TouchCode,” Bjorlin noted. “Touch Code is very suitable for label manufacturing. In fact, we believe TouchCode will significantly advance the applications range for ‘ Smart Labels .’”
“The versatility of TouchCode makes it very suitable for label manufacturing and so much more,” Gentile added. “In fact, we believe TouchCode will be the leader in next gen ‘Smart Labels’ technology, significantly advancing label manufacturing in both the industry and retail marketplace with TouchCode’s ability to activate any touchscreen with web apps or dedicated applications that can be accessed by most multi-touch devices.”
Ultimately, Childress noted that printed electronics can play an important role in the area of food labeling and temperature monitoring in the coming years.
“We see expanding capabilities based on printed electronics in the coming years,” Childress said. “We envision these next generation labels will collect more data and enable ubiquitous temperature monitoring in the cold chain with connectivity to cloud services at a price point that is palatable to the market. We also see the development of other environmental monitoring products based on printed electronics such as shock and tilt monitoring or humidity monitoring at a lower price point than traditional electronics.”
However, packaging can draw attention in other ways. Perhaps lighting can be set off, or sounds can be emitted if a person picks the package up.
Packaging can be used for so much more than just appearance. For example, what if the packaging can let the consumer know if the product inside has expired? What if the consumer can use the package to connect to more information? What if the pharmaceutical label can indicate that the medicine is counterfeit?
This is the essence of smart packaging . It is also a potentially lucrative market. In its study, “Global Active & Smart Packaging Market for Food and Beverage Industry to be US$ 23,474 Million By 2015,” MarketsandMarkets reports that freshness indicators and time temperature indicators are the leading products in this field.
Printed electronics , NFC and RFID all have opportunities in this field. The need to communicate with consumers is growing stronger every day, and with the discussions about the Internet of Things (IoT), potentially billions of labels will be impacted. To accomplish this, the cost of the packaging cannot be too high, or the consumer will not pay for it.
PakSense
PakSense is a leader in the field of temperature sensing for food and pharmaceutical packaging, and has developed state-of-the-art technologies for these fields.
“PakSense serves any market that distributes or stores perishable items,” said Amy Childress, vice president of marketing for PakSense. “This includes food (produce, meat, poultry, seafood, floral, wine), life sciences (vaccines, pharmaceuticals, biologics,) and industrial (chemicals, adhesives, sealants, epoxies). We work with both retailers and suppliers/processors. The consumer benefits by having access to fresher, safer and higher quality products.”
One key for smart packaging is ease of use for consumers.
“From a design standpoint, all of our temperature monitoring labels are easy to use,” Childress said. “For example, optimal temperature ranges are preprogrammed into labels; our customers simply start them and apply them to product or product packaging. Flashing lights will indicate if temperature goes out of range and all historical data collected by the label can be downloaded and graphed via various methods, including wireless and USB connectivity. They are small and flat and can be placed on the side of a carton or pallet easily. We think this simplicity in design is one of the reasons we continue to capture market share.
“As with any new, disruptive technology, there will be an initial learning curve while our customers internalize the benefits of printed electronics and the applications that can be developed,” Childress added.
Sun Chemical and T+ink
Sun Chemical Electronic Materials has developed a leading position in numerous areas of smart packaging, including conductive inks, and as part of Sun Chemical, has extensive contacts with consumer brand goods companies as well as manufacturing expertise.
In March 2014, Sun Chemical announced it partnered with T+ink to form T+sun, which provides conductive ink solutions to make packages and objects communicate, engage customers and manage inventory systems. T+ink’s products appear in markets ranging from toys and automotive parts to packaging and apparel and more. Its designers have partnered with major companies – including Ford, General Motors, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Wal-Mart, among others – to commercialize products.
T+Ink’s TouchCode technology is one area in particular where the ability to communicate with consumers is enhancing the product experience.
Roy Bjorlin, commercial director, Electronic Materials for Sun Chemical, said that the partnership is paying dividends.
“The partnership with T+Ink is going very well,” Bjorlin said. “The collaborative link between device design and innovation and materials development is working well.”
“The partnership with Sun Chemical allows T+Sun to offer our clients an ease of entry into providing a robust social media experience for their products,” said Anthony Gentile, chief marketing officer, T+Ink. “TouchCode’s disruptive technology allows for a collaborative link between device design and innovation and materials development, and the combination of each company’s core patent contributions and skill sets puts T+Sun in the forefront to meet the growing global demand for smart packaging and labeling.”
Bjorlin said that Sun Chemical is leveraging its strong connections to brand owners and converters as well as its strengths in manufacturing to bring the T+Sun products to the marketplace.
“Sun Chemical has been very focused on TouchCode,” Bjorlin added. “TouchCode can do many things. It can enhance the consumer’s experience with information, links to promotional programs, as well as security. TouchCode represents a very significant bridge between print and digital in the packaging and label space, enabling a multitude of smart print solutions by connecting physical products to mobile devices. Our converter and brand owner partners are very enthusiastic. Beyond TouchCode we are working closely to develop a full stack of inks from conductive inks to graphic inks for in-mold applications where a membrane switch could become part of a 3-D design.”
“The marvel of TouchCode is how it can instantly and seamlessly transition a brand’s physical product into a digital media platform,” Gentile added. “A consumer is no longer just purchasing a product, but a tailored experience. TouchCode enhances and encourages the consumer’s incentive to purchase with a menu of interactive programs, supplying the consumer with everything from detailed product information, links to promotional programs, as well as the security of knowing the product they are purchasing is direct from the brand manufacturer. What it provides for the brand are never-before collectable data analytics on consumer purchasing habits that supplies the brand with invaluable and unprecedented sales assets.”
Initially, TouchCode was a sheetfed printed product, but Bjorlin and Gentile said that it is now ideal for roll-to-roll production.
“Sun Chemical’s extensive R&D commitment to TouchCode materials development and the expansive exposure to the range of converters and brand owners that Sun Chemical is partnered with, has advanced the development of a fully printable Code , which in turn has dramatically expanded the range of applications for TouchCode,” Bjorlin noted. “Touch Code is very suitable for label manufacturing. In fact, we believe TouchCode will significantly advance the applications range for ‘ Smart Labels .’”
“The versatility of TouchCode makes it very suitable for label manufacturing and so much more,” Gentile added. “In fact, we believe TouchCode will be the leader in next gen ‘Smart Labels’ technology, significantly advancing label manufacturing in both the industry and retail marketplace with TouchCode’s ability to activate any touchscreen with web apps or dedicated applications that can be accessed by most multi-touch devices.”
Ultimately, Childress noted that printed electronics can play an important role in the area of food labeling and temperature monitoring in the coming years.
“We see expanding capabilities based on printed electronics in the coming years,” Childress said. “We envision these next generation labels will collect more data and enable ubiquitous temperature monitoring in the cold chain with connectivity to cloud services at a price point that is palatable to the market. We also see the development of other environmental monitoring products based on printed electronics such as shock and tilt monitoring or humidity monitoring at a lower price point than traditional electronics.”
