In 2015, I wrote about Flexstr8’s NFC encoder working with the C3500: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2015/07/nfc-in-color.html
Since this last post, FlexStr8 has launched a thermal transfer NFC encoder/label printer with the Zebra GC420T: http://www.flexstr8.us/bwencoder/
And a temperature logger: http://www.flexstr8.us/smarttemp/. This temperature logger is very “cool”!
According to Ralph Roessler, President of Flexstr8, says “Initially,
developing a system to encode and print color labels using the C7500 was not on
our development path. But a company
approached us to develop a solution for them using UHF RFID tags,
which could be printed in color and on-demand.
After some thought, we decided to move forward; and quickly. We’re very proud of our solution.”
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| C7500 Encoding RFID Tags |
Ralph continues, “As the printer runs at 11” per second, we needed a
system not only to encode and print at that speed; but also identify the bad
RFID tags without stopping the printer. By adding a reader antenna near the
unwind station and another antenna after the print head, we could read, encode,
print and skip a label if required due to a bad tag. Bad tags do happen; probably around 1% of the
time. We needed to be able to identify
the any tags that should not to use for tracking.”
According to Eric Casavant, FlexStra8 Product Engineer, “we designed
this system to be incredibly easy to use.
The system snaps onto the 7500 in a few seconds; then upgrades the
device into a print on-demand color RFID printer.”
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| C7500 Pop-In RFID Encoder |
With
my history with UHF RFID labels, I see an opportunity for the use of these
tags/labels in apparel. RFID in apparel
has grown significantly in size over the last few years. According to this article, nearly 4 billion
RFID tags were used in apparel in 2015: http://www.supplychainbrain.com/content/latest-content/single-article/article/retail-apparel-industry-taps-rfid-for-inventory-accuracy/. A perfect application for the C7500 and RFID tags/labels.
After the initial work with the C7500, Flexstr8 has found two other
interesting applications. Ralph says, “GHS labels for time and temperature
sensitive chemicals is a natural RFID market; especially with the requirement
to print colored pictograms. RFID helps
users track and locate time and/or temperature sensitive compounds easily and
quickly.”
Ralph continues, “We also see a new market for identifying individual cannabis plants. With our
RFID encoded tags, growers can track individual plants; and especially cloned
plants. With RFID, you can identify and
track individual plants; which is required in certain states. Color coding and potential
marketing benefits is important with the capability to print in color on tags and
labels.”
If you see a market for this fascinating new technology, please share
with me your thoughts. If you have a
need to track items quickly and easily using on-demand color labels, contact me
to discuss this new solution from FlexStr8.
Guy Mikel
855-962-7670
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