E-Weekly News Briefs July 2-6
By Modern Plastics Editorial Staff
RFID packaging demand to grow
The global remote frequency identification (RFID) tag market (including non-packaging applications) is anticipated to increase from $4.96 billion in 2007 to $11.4 billion by 2010, and then nearly triple to $27.9 billion by 2017, according to IDTechEx. RFID labels are forecast to represent $1.1 billion and $6.2 billion of these totals in 2007 and 2010 respectively, with packaging representing 20% of that total market, according to the latest report from Piper Jaffray & Co. (Minneapolis, MN). RFID in packaging applications allows for tracking of fixed corporate assets and/or inventory at various points in manufacturing and the supply chain.
“There continues to be bullish sentiment for RFID technology, however the high transitional cost and concern over reaching ROI hurdles has been a deterrent in industry-wide adoption,” said the report. “Prices for RFID labels have dropped over the last two years (declining from $0.50 cents to about $0.20 cents). Prices are expected to continue to drop as demand and production volume increase and the technology evolves.”
The pharmaceutical packaging sector is “one bright spot” where RFID is seeing more “robust activity.” With counterfeiting a huge issue (an estimated 10% of the world’s drugs are counterfeit, according to the U.S. FDA), lawmakers are looking to RFID for its tracking and error-proofing capabilities. “Although the FDA has recommended that all drugs be RFID-tagged within two years, adoption continues to lag as the FDA has put little effort to enforce implementation.”
Cardinal Health announced in May that it will integrate RFID into the operations of its Sacramento, CA pharmaceutical distribution center. Packaging giant Rexam teamed up with RFID specialist Traxxec to develop RFID-tagged pill bottles.
Traxxec/Rexam mentioned in the same article as Cardinal Health and CRVV is aquiring Traxxec? Wowsa...
