Reporter Clips
- Published: August 31, 2004, By Edward Boyle, Contributing Editor
Narrow Web Converting Industry News
Apparel Goes Tag-Free
PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA — Avery Dennison Printer Systems Americas, a business unit of Avery Dennison's Retail Information Services Div., has entered the tag-free apparel sector with ComfortTag heat transfers. The technology is targeted to apparel, undergarment, and active wear markets where wearer comfort is a priority.
Tag-free apparel carries brand and product ID data on securely attached film labels instead of traditional tags to improve wearer comfort. In the process, a printing press applies product ID data, such as brand names, logos, sizing, and care information, using dark ink on a light label background. Information also can be reverse-printed in light ink on a dark background.
The preprinted labels, which are supplied to customers in roll form, bond securely to a broad range of apparel fabrics including cotton, cotton blends, and synthetics. The labels are said to resist wear and remain legible even after repeated washings. With variable imprinting, apparel manufacturers and suppliers can purchase rolls of labels printed with certain generic product information, such as the brand logo. The roll then is rerun through a thermal printer that adds variable data such as SKU, bar codes, or care instructions. Variable imprinting can take place in-line immediately before the labels are bonded to the garments.
RFID Development Announced
BURR RIDGE, IL, USA — Graphic Solutions and Power Paper, Tel Aviv, Israel, announce two new UHF-based Read-Only and Read/Write transponder ICs for battery-assisted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) smart labels.
The ICs will be available in the PowerID System, a high-performance, low-cost, turnkey RFID label system said to improve the reliability of remote monitoring, processing, and transmitting data in the supply chain. The new integrated circuits utilized in the PowerID System are powered by the thin and flexible Power Paper battery and transmit data back to a reader by means of modulated backscatter.
