RFID alliance offers system integration

Domino Printing Sciences and Omron Electronics have combined their global reach and expertise in bar coding and RFID solutions to create a strategic alliance to provide customers with a ‘flexible and cost-effective method’ of linking product identification and Radio Frequency Identification.
Explains Simon King, Outer Case Coding director at Domino, ’ We will provide custom-made options in deploying RFID that can be linked to quality, productivity, automation, and track and tracing systems throughout the factory.’
The non-contact RF tag application and in-line digital print system are claimed to ensure total integrity of the bar code and the RFID tag by offering in-line human readable, bar coding and RFID in combination. ‘Whilst this is a major advantage of the Product Traceability System (PTS) over competing offerings, it is the separation of the RF tag from the bar coded data and the human readable information, combined with non-contact application which is the key differentiator,’ says King.
The RFID tag is not embedded in the bar coded label, which means that both can be read independently and the tag placed in the position of choice. ’Contact systems may cause degradation of the RFID tag or thermal print face used to apply the bar code and human readable data,’ argues King. ‘The PTS avoids such issues and, because the system is a modular design, customers can start quickly with the cost benefits of in-line digital printing of bar codes and add RFID capability retrospectively when required.’
Problems associated with reading RF tags in close proximity to materials such as metal and liquids mean that manufacturers need to build in flexibility for the placement of the tag on the product, says King.
The system can be integrated into existing lines to provide bar coding and RFID encoding and validation in just over one metre of conveyor length.
Another important advantage of the PTS is that although the RFID tags and each bar code are validated as part of the coding process, it is possible to provide different levels of information in each. This means that the different requirements of the bar coding standard governed by Coding Standard EAN UCC and the information required by the RFID Mandate being introduced by major retailers are met.