Thinfilm forms strategic partnerships

Nexgen Biotechnologies has chosen Thinfilm’s NFC technology to enhance supply chain integrity and build trust with end customers

Based in Seoul, South Korea, the company develops and produces new, protein-based biological materials for the medical and cosmetics industries. Through the partnership with Thinfilm, Nexgen Biotechnologies will integrate Thinfilm’s NFC OpenSense technology into containers and other packaging in order to monitor shipments throughout the supply chain and address product authentication needs.

As Nexgen Biotechnologies continues to expand distribution into foreign markets, including China, the company is taking a proactive approach in maintaining the integrity of its products and the vast supply chain through which they are delivered. Thinfilm’s OpenSense technology will play a critical role, helping to combat counterfeiting, gray market diversion, unauthorized refills and other fraudulent practices.

Trusted partners and end customers will be able to tap on packaging with a smartphone or NFC reader to determine – via Thinfilm’s Authenticator App and the CNECT cloud platform – whether the product is factory sealed or has been tampered with. Taps along the distribution route will also create a supply chain audit trail that provides critical information such as date, time and location of the spot inspections.

Sunlee, CEO of Nexgen Biotechnologies, said: ‘As an exporter of advanced materials, we were looking for ways to build trust in our products with domestic and overseas partners, and decided to use Thinfilm’s NFC OpenSense tags. We feel the technology will help establish confidence among our potential partners in the Nexgen Biotechnologies brand and its advanced materials. Additional use-case applications are also being considered.’

OpenSense tags are thin, flexible labels that can detect both a product’s ‘factory sealed’ and ‘opened’ states, and wirelessly communicate contextual content with the tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone or industrial reader. The tags contain unique identifiers that make it possible for Nexgen Biotechnologies to authenticate products and track them to the individual-item level. The tags remain active even after a package’s factory seal has been broken.

Thinfilm CEO Davor Sutija said: ‘The proteins and compounds developed by Nexgen Biotechnologies are innovative, so there’s an inherent need to maintain the integrity of the materials throughout its distribution network, particularly in regions known for high levels of counterfeiting activity. The combination of OpenSense technology and our CNECT platform provides Nexgen Biotechnologies with the ideal solution, and enable them to protect their products while instilling trust among end customers.’

Charming Trim & Packaging is also to utilize Thinfilm’s OpenSense technology, alongside its SpeedTap tags, to launch the garment industry’s ‘first complete solution for “smart” NFC hang tags’, enabling direct brand-to-customer mobile connections for apparel and more.

SpeedTap and OpenSense will be incorporated in Charming Trim & Packaging’s apparel hang tags, allowing such engagement through the simple tap of a smartphone. Full integration with Thinfilm’s CNECT brand analytics SaaS platform is claimed to enable streamlined tag configuration, campaign creation and management, and analytics reporting.

Thinfilm said that given its dynamic nature and need to combine personalized marketing with a more responsive supply chain, the apparel industry is uniquely suited to benefit from physical-digital technologies combining easy-to-use NFC technology with the flexibility of cloud-based digital marketing. In recent years, item-level retail technology has focused on back office functions like inventory management and loss prevention, although modern deployments of NFC allow digital native shoppers to launch mobile experiences with a tap of their smartphone, Thinfilm explained. Cloud-based marketing can update messaging in real time to bridge the gap between the speed of social networks and the sometimes long lead times inherent in fashion design, production, and freight.

Through this partnership, the physical hang tag becomes a digital portal, allowing brands to instantly communicate relevant content, including sustainability and traceability information, current fashion tips, cross-sell/up-sell offers, and ‘endless aisle’ functionality.

Rich Ringeisen, president of Charming Trim & Packaging, stated: ‘[We are] committed to delighting our customers with high quality, sustainable products that combine premium processes with cutting-edge technology. Incorporating SpeedTap technology into our offerings allows brands to deliver a very effective message while utilizing less physical material on the garment. We want to help the brands we serve to connect with shoppers, either at retail or through direct-to-consumer channels, in order to build lasting relationships.

‘Thinfilm’s SpeedTap tags and CNECT cloud platform combine to make NFC interactive deployments straightforward and effective.’

SpeedTap technology is integrated into a product’s hangtag, label or packaging, and can be read with the tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone. Once a consumer taps the NFC tag with a compatible smartphone, the phone connects to Thinfilm’s CNECT cloud platform to launch a relevant mobile consumer experience, including contextually relevant product and brand information, promotions, authentication messaging and other brand-directed content.

‘The apparel industry is incredibly dynamic and fast-paced, and we continue to see a growing interest in NFC as an enabling technology among brands and ecosystem partners,’ commented Sutija.

‘Brands are looking for effective new ways to engage directly with consumers, and Thinfilm is excited to partner with an innovative leader like Charming Trim to serve this important market.’