Chapter one

NanoMarkets Executive
Smart Packaging Markets 2006-2013
April 2006
NanoMarkets
Executive Summary From The NanoMarkets Report,
Smart Packaging Markets 2006-2013
E.1 Introduction

Various technologies are being applied to turn garden variety packaging into smart packaging. Among other functionalities, smart packaging can sense the environment and react to changes, offer track-and- trace capability in the supply chain, detect the presence of pathogens in packaged material and convey information to the user through a variety of means. Just where these novel capabilities have real commercial potential depends heavily on what is being packaged. Packaging for pharmaceuticals has quite different characteristics and requirements than packaging for military supplies. While this much is obvious, an analysis of the opportunities in smart packaging must take into considerations not just the -- often subtle -- demand factors in the sector in which it will be used, but also the current state of the enabling technology being employed. Is it here now or years away? Understanding implementation issues is also important, since large manufacturers have reported constant frustration with the implementation of smart packaging technologies, because of the need to coordinate so many different resources and individuals to make them work. And finally there is the issue of cost. Packaging by its very nature is a cost sensitive business no matter which sector it is addressed to -- though some sectors are much more cost sensitive than others. So a critical part of any opportunity analysis is determining whether the price is right for any given smart packaging technology and exactly where in the value chain is the money for smart packaging going to
E.2 Summary of Smart Packaging Opportunities

A number of drivers favor the increasing penetration of smart packaging, including changing consumer demand patterns – demand for more convenience, changes in demographics, increasing demand for anti- counterfeit solutions and the need to ensure the freshness and usability of packaged foods and pharmaceuticals. For brand manufacturers, smart packaging opens the prospect of making a brand identity through the use of high-tech features. In these ways, demand for smart packaging can be seen as coming not only from the end-user segment but also from retailers, brand-manufacturers and government agencies. These drivers are favoring the development and advancement of various enabling technologies, presenting significant opportunities for technology suppliers. Exhibit E-1 profiles the entire value chain for the smart packaging business and the kinds of opportunities presented at each level. 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
Exhibit E-1
Smart Packaging Value Chain
Level Contribution
Opportunities Unresolved
Smart Packaging
packaging including novel smart components (e.g. printed materials electronics) limited. Cost issues. Other materials technologies immature devices and mechanical devices Cost issues Put the smarts in smart Creating non-commodity business that is overwhelmingly commoditized aesthetic qualities to products. Improved inventory management

Printable electronics and smart packaging: Although smart packaging involves a very broad range
of new technologies, printable electronics, seems to be of special interest, since by its very nature it is well suited to bring novel technologies that can be utilized in smart packaging. The concept of printing, after all, is one that is quite familiar to packaging firms. (Although, printing electronics will require some new skill sets.) NanoMarkets believes that three aspects of printable electronics are likely to have a critical impact on the smart packaging market over the coming decade. The most important of these is in the RFID sector, where it is probably impossible to bring implementation of RFIDs down to the level of the individual package without RFIDs being printed. RFID antennas are currently being printed, but not yet the circuitry, which is mainly created using low end silicon semiconductor technology. (Small Asian firms seem to be dominant here.) But various firms are now pursuing fully printable RFIDs using organic materials (e.g., PolyIC and OrganicID) or silver inks. 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
Another area where printable electronics may make a major contribution is in novel power sources. Many implementations of smart packaging would today use standard batteries, but printable electronics holds out the prospect of printable batteries and printable thin film photovoltaic cells. These are perhaps a couple of years away from commercialization and the economics of printable power sources relative to standard batteries has still to be worked out. Finally, as we discuss in detail in the main body of this report low cost displays may have a role to play for better displaying pricing and instructions. Printable displays -- OLEDs and E-paper are now being investigated by a wide variety of firms, although their focus is seldom packaging applications. (The exception seems to be Aveso.) Much the same comment may be made about printable power sources -- many groups interested, but little interest in packaging. Exhibit E-2 shows our estimates of revenues to technology providers in the printable electronics sector from packaging applications of various kinds. Also included in this table are non- printable electronics that are clear substitutes for printable products at the present time. As might be expected the largest market for “component” products for smart packaging applications is made up of RFIDs. As printable RFIDs become a reality in the next few years, we would expect them to gradually overtake chip type RFIDs and eventually come to dominate the market. However, we would expect chip type RFIDs to reassert themselves somewhat as active RFIDs grow in importance. RFIDs contain some low level memory capabilities which seem certain to grow over the forecast period. In addition, many smart packaging solutions will require additional low-cost memory solutions, some of which will be fulfilled with printable (probably organic) memory, although this is not a highly commercialized area at the present time. Outside of organic solutions, there are many low-cost memory solutions already available and these are stable enough technologies that we expect them to play a major role in smart packaging technologies throughout the period under consideration. One of the reasons for employing memories in smart packaging solutions will be to store data from sensors. While sophisticated sensors would find a ready market in the smart packaging sector, unfortunately the focus of sensor research is more on making sensors more sensitive to a wider range of substances rather than reducing the costs considerably. Partly for this reason, printable sensors have not had much attention from commercial firms and this fact is reflected in the forecasts in Exhibit E-2. The other forecasts in Exhibit E-2 are for displays and power sources. As discussed in the main body of this report, displays seem to have many interesting possibilities in the smart packaging industry, but this is certainly not the applications that most suppliers of e-paper or OLED displays are looking at right now and minimal revenues at the level of technology supplier are expected for several years. Something very similar can be said about printable (PV and battery) power sources. However, in both cases the revenues obtained by technology suppliers in the next few years somehow underestimate the value of these “component” technologies as enablers for smart packaging. 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
Revenue from Smart Packaging Applications

E.3 Key Firms and Opportunities by Sector

Food and beverage: The penetration of smart packaging in the food and beverage sector is currently
very low. However, NanoMarkets expects to see greater penetration as the result of changing consumer patterns, especially greater health consciousness and demand for easy-to-cook meals. Technology suppliers and all in the value chain will have to work hard, however, to keep costs low and increase consumer awareness of what is available from smart packaging. Cost will certainly be their greatest
Freshness systems are the most important application area for smart packaging in this sector and there
are several kinds currently available. These include freshness indicators, which are smart labels that indicate the freshness of food through some kind of color change. Although not widely used at the present time, NanoMarkets expects that manufacturers will soon start lowering the cost of such systems, which we expect to jump start the market. Technological improvements are also needed and expected -- for example one fruit freshness system (RipeSensep) only works with pears. Other kinds of smart label serve as time-temperature indicators (TTIs) and these are finding increasing use in supply chains for foods that are highly temperature sensitive. Among the smart packaging solutions for freshness, TTIs are expected to witness the sharpest growth in sales in the next five years. Nonetheless, there are still some issues that the manufacturers of TTIs need to resolve. Again these include cost and consumer awareness. But there is also the issue of the optimal integration of TTIs into the existing supply chains and distribution channels, and of the accuracy of the TTIs themselves. Firms 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
currently supply TTIs include Bioett, Timestrip, KSW Microtec, Infratab TempTime, Information Mediary, 3M and Vitsab. A related area is that of temperature control packaging, which is especially important in the context of beverage packaging. NanoMarkets notes that many firms have attempted to enter this part of the smart packaging market, but that they have not been especially successful, in part because consumers have seen self-heating and self-cooling packages as luxury items and the volumes have not been there. There are, however, several firms in this space including some majors -- Campbell with self- heating soup, for example, and MeaWestvaco’s NanoCool packaging system Yet another kind of smart packaging for the food and beverage industry is made up of anti-pathogen packages that detect and warn the user of the presence of serious bio-contamination. These are likely to prove attractive in an environment in which consumers are nervous about avian flu and mad cow disease. However, providing cost effective anti-pathogen packaging that can detect more than one kind of pathogen is currently a major challenge, although it has attracted the attention of a few firms. Finally, there are the opportunities that emerge from food security -- specifically anti-counterfeiting measures and tamper-proof packaging. Counterfeiting in the food and beverage sector is on a sharp rise. The most common anti-counterfeiting measures are based on unique holographic authentication features or secondary image labels. These are effective for a while, but counterfeiters eventually find a way to get round these barriers. As a result, new track and trace applications are being applied in packaging using RFIDs. Firms involved in this part of the market include 3M. Tamper proof packaging is also a solution here and this is an area where there is a considerable amount of research going on, some involving color changing dyes and electronic detection methods. However, high cost poses significant limitation for the wide-spread acceptance of such products. Firms involved with novel tamper proof solutions include 3M, Letica, Crown Holdings, CSIRO, Cypak and others.
Medical and pharmaceutical: Some of the firms that have been actively engaged in developing smart
packaging for medical and pharmaceutical packages include Information Mediary, Meadwestvaco, Cypak, En-vision America, MedivoxRx, Supplyscape, Meadwestvaco, Zars, SmartSensor Telemed, Lifeline Technology and CliniSense. The attraction to this market is that it consists relatively cost products (so packaging is a smaller percentage of total cost) and the fact that the value of smart packaging can easily be established. One of the major factors driving smart packaging in this area is the need for reliable data in clinical trials. Compliance packaging is also needed for the growing numbers of senior citizens in developed countries and, as in the food and beverage sector TTIs are useful in the supply chain for Many companies have developed electronic compliance packaging that use RFID sensor grids integrated with printed circuits made from conductive inks. Although the prohibitive cost associated with this type of packaging technology blocks its mass commercialization, it has successfully made inroads into the clinical trials market. ScripTalk and Rex are two products that offer stripped down versions of compliance packaging. ScripTalk is a chip-based talking prescription, primarily targets the visually impaired. These smart packaging solutions may not necessarily be available with the drugs, but have considerable potential as standalone packages compatible with any medication. Authentication issues are – for obvious reasons – even more important with pharmaceuticals than they are with food and beverages. The U.S. government has already issued guidelines for the use of electronic pedigree systems for the pharmaceutical supply chains. These systems may use RFIDs or bar codes that record the details of every transfer by wholesalers and re-packagers, until the final sale or use of the drug. They improve in many ways over paper based drug histories. Alarmed by the increasing cases of fake Viagra, Pfizer has announced in January 2006 that it will use RFID tags on all Viagra bottles 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
in the U.S. to authenticate the products. However, authentication can be very dependent on the business and regulatory environment. The emerging economies are especially vulnerable to drug counterfeiting and there exists a special need for secure technological solutions. And although no tangible efforts have been made so far, we believe that the concern for brand protection is likely to drive large pharmaceutical companies towards smart packaging security systems in less than three years. Time-temperature Indicator labels such as HeatMarker (TimeTemp) are already being used on medicines packs, which indicate through a chemical reaction, when the product undergoes a heat abuse in the cold supply chain. However, the indicators, currently used for commercial purposes mainly on vaccine vials, are not accurate solutions. RFID-based indicators, currently produced in low volumes for trials and evaluations, have proved accurate and have indicated freezing damage. Future innovation lies in utilizing the sensor technology through printable electronics. Other opportunities include the possibility of incorporating biosensors into packaging. At present, low volumes of electrochemical diagnostics for diabetes are in the trial stages through a collaboration of Teleca Design System and Cypak. We believe that the scope for development of this concept is high. In addition, packaging that restrains the growth of microbes through anti-microbial coatings can be very useful for pharmaceutical packaging. However, the present level of packaging may not see considerable development in terms of sensors and other anti-microbial technology because the need for such packages is not substantial in the pharmaceutical industry and the technology is still immature.
Cosmetics: Packaging for cosmetics and other personal care products has always been a priority for
their manufacturers. Traditionally, cosmetics packaging constitutes a higher percentage of the product value when compared with the food and beverage sector or the pharmaceutical sector, thereby providing a higher cost margin for innovative smart packaging. Products in this area are fairly diverse. We believe that sensors that indicate ultraviolet exposure, moisture conditions, and skin types could be a major opportunity in the cosmetics smart packaging market within the next five years. Such products are already beginning to show signs of emerging. SunCheck is a product that indicates the exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun. Based on chemical reactions, it changes color to indicate that the threshold level of ultraviolet exposure has been reached and further exposure could lead to sunburns. Currently, the product is used as a patch on which sunscreen is applied in tandem with the skin. This patch could also be integrated with the packaging of a one-time use-and-throw sun-screen that would make its use more convenient to the customer. Rapid cooling effect for faster skin absorption of some cosmetics is also an important factor, directly related to product effectiveness. Cosnessens has developed a package that decreases the temperature of the product by 20 degrees within two minutes. Another innovation is Proctor and Gamble’s SK-II Airtouch Foundation package that uses ionization to apply foundation particles onto the skin.
Toys and novelties: With decreasing prices of enabling technologies, smart packaging is sure to
penetrate this sector; although it will take at least another two years for a large-scale adoption. The use of smart packaging that enables attractive features such as an eye-catching animation or a ‘talking- package’ is highly relevant in products that are meant for children. Smart packaging can enable smarter toys, where packaging plays an active part in the functioning of the entire product. For instance, a toy could have a smart packaging containing printable electronics that can serve as an antenna. Or smart packaging can enable toys and games on the exterior of other products, and thus, add value to/serve to promote the entire item. For instance, a tooth-paste packaging can contain a special code that can be sensed by the mobile to initiate a game. 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
Displays can serve as the un-avoidable feature on the exterior of games, showing glimpses of the ‘real- action’ with the toy. Sound-enabled packaging is another handy tool that can add value to the toys and make the whole product much more attractive. One particularly interesting technology for future use in toy packaging is origami electronics. The essential concept is that the packaging can be folded along certain lines and curves to complete a printable electronics circuit, thus yielding a useful product. This technology allows games and toys to be created out of smart packaging.
Military: Smart packaging requirements for military mainly encompasses the domain of food supplies in
combat operations and otherwise. Military logistics is the spine of defense operations and has been the
focus for technological advancement. In situations and locations where fresh food and water are scarce commodities, the military supplies high quality packages with extraordinarily prolonged shelf life, protection against contamination, and indications for temperature abuse. As such, the U.S. defense is all set to provide to its units the ‘smartest’ packaging available to ensure fresh and appealing food. The use of RFID also aims to modernize the military logistics systems. The utility of the RFID in this case lies in the considerable empowerment of the logistics systems through complete ‘asset visibility’, efficient inventory management and enhanced security.
Courier and postal services: Major players like DHL have recognized the utility of RFID for their
logistics system and RFID-enabled postal will eventually add value for customers by way of minimizing errors related to package tracking. The Saudi postal service is already using them and research is underway in many countries including Korea for developing automatic systems that replace bar codes and Security packages are required for delivering confidential documents, high value items, and valuable samples. Cypak has developed a security packaging for Posten (Swedish Post) to detect and record tampering with the package, for example. Other examples of safeguarding the product through packaging can be the concept employed for printer cartridges by Hewlett Packard, where the blister package has an EAS embedded so that it cannot be removed in a retail environment. 2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967 NanoMarkets
Global Smart Packaging Market

About the Report:
This new NanoMarkets report examines the market opportunities stemming from the latest generation of smart packaging solutions in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, cosmetics and personal care, toys and novelties and military sectors. It covers numerous smart packaging solutions including freshness systems, security and anti-counterfeiting systems, temperature indicators and temperature control packaging, display-based packaging and smart dispensing systems. The report provides eight- year forecasts for 23 kinds of smart packaging systems, as well as for critical components that make up those systems such as RFIDs, displays, sensors, memories and power sources. It also provides detailed charts showing how emerging technologies will be used for each sector of the smart packaging industry. The report analyzes the market from all perspectives including materials suppliers, technology providers, printers and converters, product manufacturers and retailer/distributors. Companies mentioned in the report include 3M, Aveso, Campbell, Coca Cola, CSIRO, Cypak, DuPont, DHL, Duracell, Heinz, IBM, Information Mediary, Intel, Konarka, Marks & Spencer, MeadWestvaco, PowerPaper, Proctor and Gamble, pSivida, and Wal-Mart among others. To obtain a full version of this report, please contact
Robert Nolan at (804) 360-2967 or email at [email protected]
2006 NanoMarkets, LC • PO Box 3840 • Glen Allen, VA 23058 • 804-360-2967

Source: http://www.nanoinfo.jp/whitepaper/WP118.pdf