As the logistics industry looks toward ever-increasing efficiency and automation in supply chains, the potential for active track-and-trace devices has never been greater. Compared to legacy technology like barcodes and radio frequency identification (RFID), active devices employing wireless technology such as Bluetooth or cellular don't require manual scanning or human intervention. They simply create wireless signals identifying shipment location or inventory counts, automatically. Active tracking devices remove the need for manual work while removing the potential for human error.   

At the heart of the matter is data quality. Active track-and-trace devices are sensors, acting autonomously to collect location data or signal the presence of a shipment or inventory at a particular place. This means the data is unaffected by errors such as mis-scans or mishandled paperwork. For companies relying on transparency and visibility in their supply chain to manage and optimize real-time manufacturing, for instance, their ability to do so is only as good as the data collected. 

Passive devices such as standard barcode labels or RFID are of course very low cost, with an established ecosystem of printers and scanners. But the data collection is manual and fraught with human error. RFID technology attempts to improve upon the standard barcode, but it's also a passive device, requiring interrogation from expensive, installed or handheld readers.  Over the past twenty years, RFID hasn't established itself within the logistics industry, due to its installation complexity, range, and limitations requiring movement of shipments or inventory through scanning tunnels or gates. 

While there’s potential for active devices to overcome these industry problems and provide automated tracking, they have been plagued by the same limiting factors as RFID — both cost and complexity of use. Active devices on the market today are bulky, and require batteries, often lithium ones, which as a dangerous good cannot be transported on airplanes. They also usually require reverse logistics, meaning that the active tracking devices need to be returned after tracking a shipment for recharging and reuse. 

Recent advances in thin film printed electronics are now enabling a new class of active tracking devices – smart, wireless labels, that are flexible, near paper-thin and disposable. One of the  key technical challenges has largely been around coating a battery thin enough to form a label, while also able to power the active beaconing electronics inside. There are only a few companies in the industry solving these problems and currently producing both Bluetooth and cellular LPWANs (Low-Power Wide-Area Networks) smart labels. 

Thin film electronics is a rapidly evolving technology that has the potential to revolutionize supply chains and shipping as well as other industries. According to a Comprehensive Research Report by Market Research Future (MRFR), the printed electronics market could thrive at a rate of 13.0 percent between 2023 and 2032 and the market size is expected to reach around $12.3 billion by the end of the year 2032. 

The upshot of these advances in thin film printing technology is that these new active, smart labels can be simply printed in off-the-shelf thermal barcode printers, just like ordinary labels.  That means that the once-complex process of using active devices for tracking, handing batteries, and clunky physical devices, is no more, setting the stage for their mass deployment and an exciting future of automated supply chain and logistics systems. 

Brian Krejcarek is CEO of Reelables.