Avery Dennison starts operations of a new RFID factory in Brazil
Avery Dennison Corporation, a global leader in materials science and the world's largest manufacturer of UHF RFID (radio frequency identification) tags, started operations of its new intelligent labels factory in Brazil. The new plant aims to meet the growing demand from various industry sectors within the national market and other regions in South America, as driven by new “contactless” consumer experience and omnichannel models. The new unit is the first in the country and the eighth in the world to start operating – among other facilities in China, Malaysia, Europe, the United States and Mexico.
Located in Vinhedo, near São Paulo, the new plant measures an area of 2000m² and has the possibility to be expanded according to regional technology adoption. The factory will produce a variety of inlay designs, available in “dry” or “wet” formats, with solutions for industries such as apparel, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, automotive, aviation and more.
“Businesses need to be prepared for constant change in terms of consumer demand and logistics needs, as we have seen recently. We are very excited about the start of this operation, as there is a growing market demand for intelligent labels in Latin America. Combining resources and manufacturing capabilities with our materials science expertise allows us to uniquely connect with our customers,” comments Fabiana Wu, RFID manager for Avery Dennison in Latin America.
Intelligent labels have been widely adopted in many markets as they enable 99%+ inventory accuracy and can provide multiple product information, such as the provenance of materials, composition of products, date of produce and a lot more. Thanks to RFID technology, multiple tagged products can be read within a few seconds from a distance of several metres and do not require line of sight, as compared with barcode systems.
“By providing each item with a unique digital identity, intelligent labels allow access to data including product information, origin, authenticity and even insights into the materials of products and how to recycle them. A technology that can help brands leverage more accurate information to significantly improve inventory management, make supply chains more efficient and reduce waste, promoting sustainability across multiple industries,” highlights Francisco Melo, VP and general ,anager of Avery Dennison Smartrac.
“Given the growing demand for this technology,” Fabiana Wu points out, “Avery Dennison will continue to invest in the region, as we believe that Brazil can further expand our vision of a future in which all products will have a unique identity and digital life, with the ability to create richer consumer experiences, where intelligent labels will be the central basis of this connectivity.”
In addition to investments in production capacity, the new plant also hosts an innovation centre, I.Lab Brazil, which is a unique experience centre that showcases Avery Dennison’s digital ID technology capabilities, including atma.io, connected product cloud by Avery Dennison: A platform that unlocks the power of connected products by assigning unique digital IDs to everyday items, providing unparalleled end-to-end transparency by tracking, storing and managing all the events associated with each individual product — from source to consumer and beyond to enable circularity.
Visitors can interact with live demos to explore how RFID is transforming multiple industries, from retail and apparel to food, beauty, healthcare, automotive, aviation and more, meet with experts, and get hands-on experience with the technologies of tomorrow.
Caption: Located in Vinhedo (SP), the multinational's first RFID unit in the country starts to manufacture a wide variety of inlay designs and also opens the doors of an interactive innovation centre (photo: Avery Dennison)