RFID technology is not new, but its versatility is responsible for the increased number of brand owners in a variety of segments that make use of it, from fashion, technology, and grocery stores to warehouses, casinos, farms, and even governments all over the globe. As the technology becomes more popular, label manufacturers with the proper equipment have an additional revenue stream easily available.

That’s why Mark Andy and Avery Dennison joined forces on December 9th to explore the world of RFID labels from a converter’s perspective, meaning RFID usage in label production and the equipment necessary to incorporate the technology into pressrooms.

Webinar speakers Robert Brania, Avery Dennison Technical Sales Manager, and Patrick Eichstaedt, Avery Dennison Director Sales addressed growth predictions of RFID smart labels. According to them, “digital ID technologies such as RFID are significantly changing many industries and opening new opportunities (…) The whole market is also moving in this direction, and new challenges are forcing its digitization.”

Pharmaceutical and healthcare industries currently use RFID inventory management, patients safety, brand, and product protection as well as work efficiency and operational effectiveness. The automotive industry uses RFID to enable identification and tracking of spare parts, process automation, authentication, and anti-counterfeiting. Its usage in the food industry allows for better safety of stored and sold food, as well as reduced waste. Another example of RFID implementation is logistics. Even the current pandemic led to an increased usage of RFID solutions, as a special NFC tag, added to COVID-19 tests, allows for reliable, safe, and secret data in real time.

Lukasz Chruslinski, Mark Andy Poland Sales Manager presented RFID modules offered by Mark Andy and showed examples of applications enabled by them. “For two years we have observed a growing acceleration of RFID implementation in Poland. It is more and more noticeable in daily life. It’s worth mentioning Decathlon stores, offering sports assortment, who implemented RFID very widely. Another good example is Take&Go – a self-service market network. The same refers to Amazon stores. Walmart, the American network of supermarkets saved approximately U$ 200,000 daily due to RFID implementation (…) RFID is no more a futuristic vision for labels, but a real market need,” said Chruslinski.

Webinar speakers (left to right): Patrick Eichstaedt, Avery Dennison Director Sales; Lena Chmielewska-Bontron, Mark Andy Marketing Manager in Poland; Lukasz Chruslinski, Mark Andy Poland Sales Manager, and Robert Brania, Avery Dennison Technical Sales Manager.

Mark Andy press operators Grzegorz Rostkowski and Lukasz Kaczynski performed a live demonstration of an Avery Dennison module installed on an Evolution Series E5 printing labels with RFID tags. Step by step, Lukasz Chruslisnki walked through the whole process of printing labels containing RFID tags as well as explained all the parts of the press.

Both webinars were concluded by Q&A sessions. “We received numerous questions which confirms a huge interest in RFID among the meetings’ participants”, said Lena Chmielewska-Bontron, Mark Andy Marketing Manager in Poland. “We were able to refer to only some of them during the events, but I want to assure that every single question will have its answer. We also wish to thank all our guests from different parts of the world for their participation in the webinar, and we will soon share an agenda of events for the upcoming year,” she adds.