Security tags, such as those attached to expensive wines and spirits, cost the retailer 20p per bottle, plus the labour cost of fitting and removing the tags. Furthermore, the World Health Organisation estimates the counterfeit drugs market at $32 billion per annum and the cost differential between antiretroviral drugs sold in the UK and Africa (~£400 per month) makes them highly profitable for black marketeers. Subsequently, a solution is clearly needed in terms of a low-cost tag. Funded by the TSB (UK), Tracktronic and Sleepertag projects aimed at creating a low-cost security tag consisting of an On-Off-On RFID tag that has an antenna, inkjet printed directly onto the label with conductive ink. The RFID tag contacts are encapsulated by the printing of the conductive ink, ensuring the contact between the tag and antenna are robust. Whilst there is an urgent need for a low-cost security tag, the project also aimed at reducing the printed track width, enabling closer packing of tracks & a more powerful antenna. This flexible, printed low-cost antenna will form a platform technology, enabling the huge potential of RFID devices to be exploited in key markets such as packaging and security.
