OTTAWA -- is pleased to announce the world's first successful on-press manufacture of fully functional UHF RFID transponder labels. The solution, which has never been shown before at a public forum, was first showcased at the Mark Andy "RFID Focus" Seminar held April 27th & 28th at their Technology Center in Milford, OH. Mark Andy, the leading narrow web printing equipment manufacturer demonstrated to over 300 label and package converting companies the fully integrated process. After printing the antenna using XINK Silver UHF Antenna inks on a Mark Andy 2200 press, and attaching prototype Texas Instruments EPC Gen 2 straps with a Tamarack P500 RFID inline strap attachment machine, the resultant four-color adhesive RFID labels immediately read from over 14 feet.
Kevin Manes, Manager of Research and Development of Mark Andy expressed the excitement shared by all participants at the seminar, praising XINK's "amazing ink, that ambient-cures" with only room temperature blown air enabling a "real, practical, cost-effective solution for the RFID marketplace:" By using straps from leading suppliers such as Texas Instruments and Alien Technologies, and printing XINK Flexographic Antenna ink on simple narrow-web flexographic printing equipment, even non-specialized label converters are now able to produce fully functional RFID transponder labels for their customers in one easy step.
James Neilson, XINK Product Manager explains, "this exciting new technology provides today's label converter with an amazing capability to by- pass the cost of pre-constructed inlays and participate in a very high value- add opportunity." The technology requires no cleanroom facilities, provides a very high production yield, the lowest possible cost for finished RFID transponders and runs at high speed on existing equipment. Converters can even produce transponders directly on packaging substrates, avoiding the need for adhesive labels completely. There are "compelling cost reasons why converters need to plan for strap construction," stated Kevin Manes.
XINK Laboratories is working closely with Mark Andy and other global technology partners to make sure the technology is completely ready as soon as EPC Gen 2 inlays are commercially available. At the seminar, Bill Allen, Director of Strategic Alliances of Texas Instruments announced commercial availability of their Gen 2 chips in production quantities for Q3 2005. XINK Laboratories has also confirmed that Alien Technologies will have commercial Gen 2 product available by Q3 of 2005. At the recent RFID Live! conference, XINK already showed other UHF tagged products featuring XINK antennas and Alien UHF straps for pharmaceutical item tracking and baggage tracing, exhibiting impressive reading performance.
XINK Laboratories along with the Information Mediary Corporation engineering and business team is offering hosted printing, on-site printing seminars and strategic business consultancy to converters and suppliers to the RFID industry worldwide. Mark Andy, a division of Dover Corporation is the preferred brand overall in the traditional tag and label industries, providing solid history of strong experience in narrow web flexography.
