David Savastano, Editor04.03.13
Major printing corporations becoming involved in printed electronics (PE) are one of the clearest indicators that printed electronics is gaining traction in the marketplace. A key example of this is the agreement between Bemis Company, a leading supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials with sales of $5.3 billion in 2011, and Thin Film Electronics to develop sensors for packaging, with an eye on reaching the consumer market by 2014.
Smart packaging is a logical market for printed electronics. However, while the publication side is not as obvious a place for PE, there are still opportunities there as well, as witnessed by the continued interest from R.R. Donnelley & Sons in the field of printed electronics.
RR Donnelley is the largest printer in North America, with 2011 sales of more than $10.6 billion. It is a full service provider of printing, with leading positions in heatset web and gravure, but its reach in printing stretches the full gamut of printing, including packaging, labels and point-of-purchase displays.
These are areas of interest for PE, and RR Donnelley sees possibilities as well. In August 2010, RR Donnelley expanded its R&D facility in Grand Island, NY, including labs for printed electronics.
In May 2011, RR Donnelley announced that it had taken an equity position in Solicore, a Lakeland, FL-based leader in embedded power solutions for smart cards, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, medical products and electronic sensors. The goal was to deliver products using a combination of gravure, offset, flexo and digital printing processes.
Now, RR Donnelley announced that it is launching a new series of printed products in the RFID and near field communication (NFC) segments. RR Donnelley will be showcasing its new PE products at RFID Journal LIVE! from April 30-May 2, 2013 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.
The ability to understand the printing process may be a key to RR Donnelley’s potential success in the PE field. Ronnie Sarkar, RR Donnelley's senior vice president of technology innovations, said in the announcement that the company can quickly change its production line, “dramatically reducing the cycle time associated with bringing RFID and NFC tags to market."
According to the company, these unique printed NFC and RFID tags can be embedded in the range of products that RR Donnelley produces. These opportunities include, among others, catalogs, magazines and direct mail on the traditional publication side, and smart packaging, point-of-purchase displays and labels on the packaging printing side. RR Donnelley’s leaders envision producing and integrating these RFID and NFC tags in one process.
"Now we offer customers single-source convenience and control as we produce their RFID and NFC tags and integrate them with other materials that we create," said Thomas J. Quinlan III, RR Donnelley's president and CEO, said in announcing its new products.
The fact that RR Donnelley, the largest North American printing company, sees the potential for printed electronics and is moving forward with production indicates that the PE industry is indeed gaining traction in the market place.
Smart packaging is a logical market for printed electronics. However, while the publication side is not as obvious a place for PE, there are still opportunities there as well, as witnessed by the continued interest from R.R. Donnelley & Sons in the field of printed electronics.
RR Donnelley is the largest printer in North America, with 2011 sales of more than $10.6 billion. It is a full service provider of printing, with leading positions in heatset web and gravure, but its reach in printing stretches the full gamut of printing, including packaging, labels and point-of-purchase displays.
These are areas of interest for PE, and RR Donnelley sees possibilities as well. In August 2010, RR Donnelley expanded its R&D facility in Grand Island, NY, including labs for printed electronics.
In May 2011, RR Donnelley announced that it had taken an equity position in Solicore, a Lakeland, FL-based leader in embedded power solutions for smart cards, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, medical products and electronic sensors. The goal was to deliver products using a combination of gravure, offset, flexo and digital printing processes.
Now, RR Donnelley announced that it is launching a new series of printed products in the RFID and near field communication (NFC) segments. RR Donnelley will be showcasing its new PE products at RFID Journal LIVE! from April 30-May 2, 2013 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.
The ability to understand the printing process may be a key to RR Donnelley’s potential success in the PE field. Ronnie Sarkar, RR Donnelley's senior vice president of technology innovations, said in the announcement that the company can quickly change its production line, “dramatically reducing the cycle time associated with bringing RFID and NFC tags to market."
According to the company, these unique printed NFC and RFID tags can be embedded in the range of products that RR Donnelley produces. These opportunities include, among others, catalogs, magazines and direct mail on the traditional publication side, and smart packaging, point-of-purchase displays and labels on the packaging printing side. RR Donnelley’s leaders envision producing and integrating these RFID and NFC tags in one process.
"Now we offer customers single-source convenience and control as we produce their RFID and NFC tags and integrate them with other materials that we create," said Thomas J. Quinlan III, RR Donnelley's president and CEO, said in announcing its new products.
The fact that RR Donnelley, the largest North American printing company, sees the potential for printed electronics and is moving forward with production indicates that the PE industry is indeed gaining traction in the market place.