David Savastano, Editor08.13.14
The field of near field communication (NFC) continues to be of significant interest for retailers and brand owners, as the potential for improving communication with customers while also enhancing inventory control are two key benefits.
Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) has been making strides in the NFC field since it acquired Kovio in early 2014. Kovio’s printed NFC Barcode technology has fit well with Thinfilm’s portfolio; the company announced its first high-volume order for electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags in May 2014, and successfully demonstrated the first product combing printed electronics, real time sensing and NFC functionality.
In July 2014, Thinfilm took its NFC Barcode and NFC Smart Label technologies one step further, partnering with EVRYTHNG, an award-winning Internet of Things (IoT) software company, to apply digital interactivity to the billions of everyday objects.
EVRYTHNG develops software that connects intelligence to the Web to create and manage digital identities for a wide range of physical objects. It offers applications to help make products smart, which increases consumer engagement with brands. The company works closely with leading global manufacturers and retail brands.
EVRYTHNG will integrate its cloud-based, software-as-a-service platform with Thinfilm’s printed electronics products. This will create intelligent product solutions that connect and manage online Active Digital Identities for everyday items, including consumables.
Thinfilm CEO Dr. Davor Sutija noted that Thinfilm and EVRYTHNG began working together this year, and is currently actively integrating Thinfilm’s printed NFC Barcode and Smart Label technology hardware with EVRYTHNG’s cloud platform and app engine software.
“Think of it as a union of hardware and software,” Dr. Sutija said. “Thinfilm’s NFC Barcode and Smart Labels – manufactured using printed electronics – are the hardware, gathering real-time data about things and communicating that data to NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets.
“EVRYTHNG’s platform and app engine comprise the software that gives a unique, cloud-based identity and dynamic digital presence to every physical item labeled with Thinfilm’s hardware,” Dr. Sutija added. “Together, our products can make a wide range of objects – including disposable goods like food packaging and identification wristbands – come to life.
“Once we attach a Thinfilm NFC Barcode or Smart Label to an object and link the tag to EVRYTHNG’s cloud system, we can detect and track critical information about it every time it’s touched by a smartphone,” Dr. Sutija noted. “Furthermore, each smartphone interaction is also an opportunity to push personalized, relevant and contextual content back to the smartphone user.”
As an example, in a B2B application, Dr. Sutija said that live reporting data on the authenticity of a product or the temperature stability of a sensitive shipment could be achieved. In a B2C application, that same label could trigger personalized marketing offers, product details and even real-time product safety alerts and recall notices.
“The potential market opportunities for combined identification plus sensor products are significant,” he said. “Using Smart Labels, supermarket managers could use their mobile devices to instantly check the freshness of temperature-sensitive salads, meat, eggs and other perishable foods. This has the potential to improve food safety, improve cold chain logistics monitoring and improve profits for food producers and retailers.
“In the medical and pharmaceutical supply chains, item-level temperature sensing technology can help a nurse avoid waste by separating which vaccine vials exceeded temperature specifications during shipment and which are OK and can be retained,” he added. “In addition, Thinfilm can integrate a wide variety of printed and conventional sensors to detect humidity, light, blood oxygen level and other critical details that are important inputs to smart, data-driven decision making.”
As to the timetable for commercialization, Dr. Sutija said he expects NFC Barcodes and Smart Labels to be commercially available and integrated with EVRYTHNG’s cloud platform in 2015.
“The potential application areas are wide ranging and very exciting, so Thinfilm, EVRYTHNG and a robust network of partners will need to work closely together to successfully deploy these solutions across industries such as supply chain, retail and pharmaceuticals,” he added.
Dr. Sutija said that this latest development adds to the potential opportunities for Thinfilm’s NFC families to enhance the quality of life, whether it is monitoring pharmaceuticals and food or connecting with consumers.
“The potential use cases are endless, and opportunities to add electronic intelligence to certain disposable products could quickly grow from the millions to the billions of units,” he noted. “Because NFC Barcode and Smart Label systems can embed intelligence into almost any object, we see it and other printed electronics as a prime foundation for connecting a vast web of ‘things’ that extend beyond the domain of relatively expensive, microcontroller-powered connected devices. By expanding the boundaries of the Internet of Things to create the Internet of Everything, printed electronics and scalable cloud-based identity management services combine to help us to make better everyday decisions and live more informed lives.”
Thin Film Electronics (Thinfilm) has been making strides in the NFC field since it acquired Kovio in early 2014. Kovio’s printed NFC Barcode technology has fit well with Thinfilm’s portfolio; the company announced its first high-volume order for electronic article surveillance (EAS) tags in May 2014, and successfully demonstrated the first product combing printed electronics, real time sensing and NFC functionality.
EVRYTHNG develops software that connects intelligence to the Web to create and manage digital identities for a wide range of physical objects. It offers applications to help make products smart, which increases consumer engagement with brands. The company works closely with leading global manufacturers and retail brands.
EVRYTHNG will integrate its cloud-based, software-as-a-service platform with Thinfilm’s printed electronics products. This will create intelligent product solutions that connect and manage online Active Digital Identities for everyday items, including consumables.
Thinfilm CEO Dr. Davor Sutija noted that Thinfilm and EVRYTHNG began working together this year, and is currently actively integrating Thinfilm’s printed NFC Barcode and Smart Label technology hardware with EVRYTHNG’s cloud platform and app engine software.
“Think of it as a union of hardware and software,” Dr. Sutija said. “Thinfilm’s NFC Barcode and Smart Labels – manufactured using printed electronics – are the hardware, gathering real-time data about things and communicating that data to NFC-enabled smartphones and tablets.
“EVRYTHNG’s platform and app engine comprise the software that gives a unique, cloud-based identity and dynamic digital presence to every physical item labeled with Thinfilm’s hardware,” Dr. Sutija added. “Together, our products can make a wide range of objects – including disposable goods like food packaging and identification wristbands – come to life.
“Once we attach a Thinfilm NFC Barcode or Smart Label to an object and link the tag to EVRYTHNG’s cloud system, we can detect and track critical information about it every time it’s touched by a smartphone,” Dr. Sutija noted. “Furthermore, each smartphone interaction is also an opportunity to push personalized, relevant and contextual content back to the smartphone user.”
As an example, in a B2B application, Dr. Sutija said that live reporting data on the authenticity of a product or the temperature stability of a sensitive shipment could be achieved. In a B2C application, that same label could trigger personalized marketing offers, product details and even real-time product safety alerts and recall notices.
“The potential market opportunities for combined identification plus sensor products are significant,” he said. “Using Smart Labels, supermarket managers could use their mobile devices to instantly check the freshness of temperature-sensitive salads, meat, eggs and other perishable foods. This has the potential to improve food safety, improve cold chain logistics monitoring and improve profits for food producers and retailers.
“In the medical and pharmaceutical supply chains, item-level temperature sensing technology can help a nurse avoid waste by separating which vaccine vials exceeded temperature specifications during shipment and which are OK and can be retained,” he added. “In addition, Thinfilm can integrate a wide variety of printed and conventional sensors to detect humidity, light, blood oxygen level and other critical details that are important inputs to smart, data-driven decision making.”
As to the timetable for commercialization, Dr. Sutija said he expects NFC Barcodes and Smart Labels to be commercially available and integrated with EVRYTHNG’s cloud platform in 2015.
“The potential application areas are wide ranging and very exciting, so Thinfilm, EVRYTHNG and a robust network of partners will need to work closely together to successfully deploy these solutions across industries such as supply chain, retail and pharmaceuticals,” he added.
Dr. Sutija said that this latest development adds to the potential opportunities for Thinfilm’s NFC families to enhance the quality of life, whether it is monitoring pharmaceuticals and food or connecting with consumers.
“The potential use cases are endless, and opportunities to add electronic intelligence to certain disposable products could quickly grow from the millions to the billions of units,” he noted. “Because NFC Barcode and Smart Label systems can embed intelligence into almost any object, we see it and other printed electronics as a prime foundation for connecting a vast web of ‘things’ that extend beyond the domain of relatively expensive, microcontroller-powered connected devices. By expanding the boundaries of the Internet of Things to create the Internet of Everything, printed electronics and scalable cloud-based identity management services combine to help us to make better everyday decisions and live more informed lives.”