Business gets even smarter

With a view to enabling it to provide more RFID capabilities and better support to the converter market, Avery Dennison has announced a new technology transfer program. It will give converters access to a broad range of the corporation's products and know-how, beginning with licences for high speed strap attach technology. President and ceo Dean Scarborough also revealed the acquisition of RF Identics, of Grand Rapids. The two initiatives are part of Avery Dennison's strategy of working closely with converters to help them deliver a broad portfolio of products and services to their customers as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.

In April 2005, Avery Dennison RFID began production of the high speed inlay production process that uses small sub assemblies - straps - to create labels or inlays at rates that can exceed 10 times that of other processes, it claims. The high speed strap attach process is protected by patents, which Avery Dennison will now be making available to its converting and equipment partners. In addition to patent licences, converters will also be able to acquire a variety of materials, components and supporting technology from Avery Dennison.

The scope of the programme will expand over time, with new technologies and support capabilities made available to converters as they become proven.

“RF IDentics brings another valuable set of technologies, manufacturing assets and talent to the Avery Dennison team,” added Dean Scarborough. “It is a great complement to the technology transfer program for our converter partners and is consistent with our goal of empowering converters to add more value with greater flexibility and responsiveness for their customers. RF IDentics has developed significant technology that will be included in the package of tools that we offer converters.” The company develops innovative technologies for producing high performance, low cost tags with very high yields.

The joint technology partnership of Preco and Conductive Inkjet Technology has resulted in the Metaljet 6000, a roll to roll system designed to produce quick, low cost flexible circuits, thin film batteries and RFID antenna. The prototype launched at Productronica at the end of last year is now available as a commercial unit, said Michael Johnson, business development director of Conductive Inkjet Technology. It is expected that the first three machines will be going to California, Germany and Asia within months, said director of imaging technologies at Preco, Christopher Walker.

The digital print engine at the heart of the MetalJet accurately dispenses CIT's special UV curable inkjet ink for the direct write of metals onto non porous substrates. Inkjet heads (Xaar) match the special non conductive ink that contains a catalyst. Following UV curing the coating becomes conductive within the quick development processor. The patented web accumulator that has been integrated into the system enables high speed, electroless metal deposition, removing the need for large chemistry baths. Around 50 nanometers to one micron of copper is deposited where it is wanted, making for a cost effective alternative to etched copper, especially considering the recent large price hikes for the metal.

The bitmap format makes job changes easy, says Preco. There are no plates and no clean-up. Process speeds are claimed to be up to 18.28m/m.

Capable of driving down antenna unit costs to less than 1 Euro cent, the system is believed to provide the lowest cost technology for the manufacture of RFID antennas, said Michael Johnson.

UPM Raflatac is forging ahead with plans to build a new pressure sensitive labelstock factory in Dixon, Illinois, 105 miles west of Chicago. The $109M investment is a consistent step in its strategy to strengthen its global position. It features state of the art coating and automatic handling systems. The announcement follows the construction of a new state-of-the-art RFID facility for the production of HF and UHF inlays. President of UPM Raflatac Heikki Pikkarainen said: “We can scale up production of tags to one billion a year when we need to.”