Anything that makes a difference
Anything that's a novelty in security printing
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Little helpers: how next generation brand protection is using nanotechnologySource: Brand The e-journal of brand technology, Sept. 2007
The international chamber of commerce estimates that around 5-7% of world trade is counterfeit goods. Counterfeiting costs industry e300 billion per annum. Nanotechnology appears to provide brand owners with the best hope of an uncrackable code. A host of nanoscale markers that can be applied on fast-moving production lines and verified in seconds are beginning to be adopted across a number of industries. A lot of anti-counterfeiting techniques based on nanotechnology have evolved out of the taggant-based technologies that have previously dominated the industry. The technology behind Singular ID's Enxure tags and scanners originates from research into magnetic composites for computer hard drives. Swift verification is key, and most companies offering nano-based protection systems also offer portable verification systems that will identify a product in seconds. Quantum dots - nanoscale semiconductors that can be 'tuned' to exhibit certain optical properties - hold particular promise for applications in currency and sensitive documentation. Nanomarkers that can be placed inside products to help prevent counterfeiting are already reaping huge rewards in the oil and gas business. One technique measures the unique nanoscale signature of each individual product rather than adding a marker or protection technology to the product. Laser Surface Authentication uses nanometrology to look in minute detail at the surface of an individual product and record its unique fingerprint.
At Nokian Tyres, RFID Keeps Treads on TrackSource: RFID Journal, 22 May 2008
Nokian Tyres is employing an RFID system to track the components of the tires it makes at its plant in Nokia, Finland. The system, provided by Trackway, utilizes both RFID tags and bar-coded labels to provide the tire manufacturer better management of its assembly area as treaded rubber is distributed to assembly lines.
Nokian Tyres began working with the Tampere University of Technology in 2005 to draw up initial plans for an RFID-based system that would better manage the movement of treaded strips of rubber sent to assembly lines for specific tire assembly. Armed with those plans, the company then started seeking vendors of RFID technology.
The problem the company was attempting to solve involved getting the correct materials to the right assembly lines on time, without developing a backlog at any particular location. Nokian Tyres has 27 assembly lines, so space on its factory floor is limited. If the system works properly, tire treads, wound onto wheeled reels (also known as wagons), are stored in primary and secondary buffer stock areas until they are used. There is often a shortage or backlog of material, however, waiting at manufacturing lines.
The Trackway system, installed in mid-January 2008, enables Nokian Tyres to manage its RFID interrogators, process its bar-code scanner data and instruct forklift drivers to pick up specific reels and inform manufacturing line employees to create specific treads and tire styles.
Strong Growth Expected For RFID Market Source: RFID Journal, 22 May 2008
A severely stressed economy doesn't appear to be hurting the RFID market, at least according to one technology research firm. ABI Research, headquartered in Oyster Bay, N.Y., has announced that it expects the worldwide RFID market-sales of RFID hardware, software and services-will have a compound annual growth rate of about 15 percent from now until 2013, with annual revenue reaching $9.7 billion by that year. ABI's research director, Michael Liard, believes the RFID market is growing robustly, across all product categories of RFID technology. Last year's market finished strong, a trend that continued into the first quarter of 2008, according to ABI, which attributed the positive growth to several long-term commitments to and investments in RFID, particularly in the passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) market. ABI cited aerospace manufacturer Airbus' plans to implement and leverage RFID in its global supply chain, manufacturing and in-service operations. For instance, the jet maker is already employing RFID to help ensure that the 800 containers of parts required to build each A380 cabin arrive at the proper location at the right time. Other companies, such as Wal-Mart's Sam's Club division and European retailer Metro, have recently stepped up or expanded their own RFID initiatives. While closed-loop applications currently dominate RFID deployments, Liard predicts future RFID market growth will come from a variety of sources and applications.
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