Packaging demand for RFID

-- Packaging Digest, 8/1/2007

The June edition of Piper Jaffray's enewsletter, "The Wrap," examined demand for radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology in the packaging industry. It notes that packaging applications in RFID currently represent more than 20 percent of the total RFID market and allow for effective tracking of fixed corporate assets and/or inventory at various points in the manufacturing process and throughout the supply chain. The global RFID market (including nonpackaging applications), it states, is anticipated to increase from $4.96 billion in 2007 to $11.4 billion in 2010, before reaching $27.9 billion in 2017 (this is based on figures from IDTechEx. RFID labels are expected to represent $1.1 billion and $6.2 billion of these totals in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Firms interested in adopting RFID may first want to go with a hybrid solution pairing RFID with another compatible, real-time tracking alternative. While RFID has tremendous promise, the report notes, it's important to remember the 1970s transition to the Universal Product Code, which experienced similar market hesitation following its debut.

The report adds that while RFID's popularity has suffered from pricing setbacks and technology hurdles, the procured benefits are manifold. "Piper Jaffray expects that RFID will play a major role in improving inventory management, logistics and supply-chain management on a global scale in the coming years," the enewsletter report concludes.

For more details, visit www.piperjaffray.com/packaging