Jones, a packaging company, has entered into a commercial partnership with Thin Film Electronics ASA, a provider of printed electronics and smart systems. The companies will integrate Thinfilm's NFC OpenSense technology into paperboard pharmaceutical packaging and establish manufacturing processes for production on Jones' high speed lines. Jones and Thinfilm will engage pharmaceutical companies to integrate the smart technology into prescription and over-the-counter product packaging.

NFC OpenSense tags are thin, flexible labels that can detect both a product's “factory sealed” and “opened” states and wirelessly communicate contextual content with the tap of an NFC-enabled smartphone. The tags contain unique identifiers that make it possible for pharmaceutical companies to authenticate products and track them to the individual-item level using powerful software and analytics tools. In addition, the tags remain active even after a product's factory seal has been broken, empowering brands and medical staff to extend the dialogue with consumers and patients.

Thinfilm's “Tag Talks First” protocol is a key feature of the NFC OpenSense tag and enables a read-speed that is up to 20 times faster than conventional NFC solutions, which makes it a suitable . technology for use within the high-speed, high-volume production lines found in Jones' manufacturing facilities. The work conducted by Jones and Thinfilm will also include the integration of ferrite shield labels with the NFC OpenSense tags. This will enable the NFC technology to function on metalized packaging, such as blisters commonly used for cold/flu medication, which is aligned with Jones' contract packaging capabilities in the area of customized blister packaging solutions for solid dose products including tablets, caplets, capsules, and gel caps.

The Jones/Thinfilm smart packaging collaboration will be funded, in part, by grants from both the Swedish and Canadian governments.

Source: Jones