From October 03rd to 05th the Intelligent Printing & Packaging Conference for Gravure took place in Cherry Hill , NJ . This event was provided by the GAA – Gravure Association of America. Felinto accepted GAA's invitation to the conference as the only Latin America representative, understanding the importance of such meeting and to continue its constant search for technological innovations. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the use of Gravure in Printed Electronics, highlighting the production and use of RFID systems.
RFID - Radio Frequency Identification – is an automatic identification method, relying on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders. An RFID tag is an object that can be attached to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification using radio waves.
One of the obvious uses of RFID is the identification of products in supermarkets and retail stores. In the current bar code system, it is necessary to scan each and every object to compute all values a customer is going to pay for. With the use of RFID, all products will be identified at once. The customer will pass its cart through a reading unit, which will locate and identify all RFID tags on its range. However, the use of RFID is much wider. With RFID tags in food, drinks, electronics, etc., manufactures and retailers will be able to track the products from the packaging process up to the final customer. Further more, the use of RFID tags will help on anti-counterfeit and anti-threat. Not to mention the new electronic passports that are to be used in a short period, they will also use RFID tags.
The RFID technology is not recent, great corporations already use such tags to identify pallets and bigger loads. The challenge however is, how to reduce the costs of these electronic tags in order to use them in each and every single item on a supermarket? The solution is: Gravure Printed Electronics!
With the use of conductive inks, it is already possible today, to print simple circuits in Gravure presses. In partnership with its raw materials and equipment suppliers, Felinto has already started its researches and first developments in printed electronics on flexible packaging.
Many challenges are yet to be faced before we can go to retail stores and shop in such a simple way. In the meanwhile Felinto is working to make this dream happen, and make printed electronics be one of its quality products and services.

Author: Tiago Felinto
International Sales