Pasadena, Calif.-based technology firm expands radio tracking availability

PASADENA -- Avery Dennison Corp. is expanding the scope of radio tracking systems by making its technology available to label makers and acquiring a start-up company.

The Pasadena-based company announced it will license its "high-speed, strap attach" technology for radio frequency identification to other companies.

Radio frequency identification is used in everything from access cards to transit passes to World Cup tickets. RFID uses a microprocessor and antenna to communicate information to a reader.

Avery Dennison uses RFID technology to build electronic identification into labels. The traditional way of making RFID labels is to attach a chip directly to an antenna and build it into a label, said Stan Drobac, Avery Dennison vice president of RFID strategy.

But the chip is a millimeter square or less, and much less than a millimeter thick, so it's hard to handle and the electrical connection to the antenna requires precision, he said.

Avery Dennison developed a method of attaching the chip to a "strap," or carrier for the chip, and attaching the strap to the antenna. The strap is much bigger and easier to handle than a chip.

This strap-attaching process will be licensed to other companies, although the impact will take some time to develop, Drobac said. "We don't expect things to happen overnight," he said. "Ultimately this will make RFID available to a much wider range of people for a much wider range of applications."

About 10,000 companies make labels for different products, and this technology is relevant and appropriate for them to adopt and use, Drobac said.

Label makers will be able to handle customer requests directly instead of waiting for Avery Dennison or its competitors to build these devices in their factories.

Retailers use RFID labels to track goods, but the technology also appeals to other industries, such as pharmaceuticals, apparel and entertainment, that create high-value products that are susceptible to counterfeiting.

The popular alternative to RFID labels is bar codes, which work fine if a store has enough people to scan everything in stock, Drobac said.

"With RFID, you will get to the point where stores are equipped to do a physical inventory with the push of a button. It becomes an automated system," he said.

RFID labels could tell a retailer if a DVD is in the wrong display slot or when the last copy is sold.

"All this can be automated with RFID that can't with bar codes," Drobac said. In 10 or 20 years, RFID could become as common as bar codes are today, he said.

Another aspect of broadening RFID applications is Avery's acquisition of RF IDentics, a Grand Rapids, Mich. start-up.

"RF IDentics brings another valuable set of technologies, manufacturing assets and talent to the Avery Dennison team," said Dean Scarborough, Avery Dennison's president and chief executive. "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."