The famous RFID Lab @ Cicrespi

1. CICRESPI spa
20060 Liscate Milano - Italy
Via Trieste, 11
Tel: +39.02.95.75.41
Fax: +39.02.95.87.203
info@cicrespi.com
www.cicrespi.com
UNI EN ISO 9001:2000
Quality Management System
Certified by Certiquality

2. Traceability Project RFID Workshop

3. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Identification, traceability and security of products
and processes with barcodes and 2D, transpon-
ders and data transmission in radiofrequency.
WORKSHOP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RFID
TECHNOLOGIES
“To be accepted new technologies must be first of
all understood, and to be understood they must
become a transparent tool where sense is clear and
functioning is intuitive.”
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4. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Company presentation
CICRESPI designs solutions and services for
identification, traceability and security of products,
processes, persons and routes.
It is a joint-stock company, recently awarded for
its 95 years of activity
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5. It is a multi-business company, its five business
units are conceived as know-how centres
specialized in markets, products and technologies.
Three towards industry for coding, marking,
labelling, automatic identification though barcodes,
dots, tags, data transmission in radiofrequency
RFID, quality control, hot stamping, pad, digital
ink-jet and thermal transfer printing. Two towards
the tertiary and Public Administration for security
of documents and money, paper treatment, interior
and exterior architectural signage, lightboxes and
exhibition of messages.
For the industrial, agri-food and beverage markets
it has developed, together with CICRESPI
ENGINEERING a company of the Group, the RFID
workshop “from field to point of sale and back”.
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6. In this space the company has organized the
production and distribution chain of products
requiring lot trackability and traceability.
It is interesting to observe in detail the use of different
technologies (labels with barcode on front and tag
on back) developed for different applications:
boxes, bottles, cartons, pallets, shelves, automatic
cash desks.
It is possible to review one’s own activity within
the entire chain, and to perceive opportunities
and issues of RFID technologies in an organic and
global way.
The outline of the technologies involved for lot
traceability and quality control for consumer
security is as follows:
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7. Tools and methods to track, trace and verify
Coding Marking Automatic identification RF Data transmissions In line inspections
Variable data Fixed data
Data Symbols
Variable data Differed Real time Non destructive
Lot Trademarks
Line Graphics
Bar-
2D dot codes Transponders Readers Terminals
codes
Ink-jet X Rays
Laser Directly HF UHF Artificial vision
Micropercussion Metaldetectors
Thermal Transfer Acuostics
Hot stamping Laser
Pad printing Proximity
Smart label Vehicled
on label
Self-adhesive label
Smart label
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Electronic logic – Application software – DB Host interface

8. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Definition of trackability and traceability
Trackability is the activity compelling a Group of Companies
connected through relationships of production, transformation
and sale of agri-food products to apply the guidelines of the
Ministry of Agriculture for the safety of consumers.
This is trackability of responsibility from Field to point of Sale.
Companies Trace the instructions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Trace Customer claim
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Traceability is the reverse route, it starts when the safety of
consumer is violated.
It is from point of sale to field.
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9. DEFINITION: The ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-
producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected
to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of
production, processing and distribution, up to final consumer.
Collection
Selection
Tr a c k a b i l i t y
Processing
Traceability
Stocking
Distribution
Points of Points of Points of Points of
sales sales sales sales
Consumer
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10. FIELD
EL D
Farms grow and collect
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR
Factories transform and pack
RE TAIL
RETAIL
RETAIL
E I
Large Scale Retailers distribute
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11. CONSUMER
CONSUMER
Consumer is satisfied
CONSUMER
CONSUMER
Consumer claims
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12. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Trackability process of the activities of a production chain
“a set of related activities to get a secure product”
Field Collection Stocking Selection Transport Ind. Stock Processes
Input
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Transformation
Filling
Environment /
Conditioning
Packages / Means
Criteria / Machines
Environment / Conditioning
Methods / Machines / Containers
Instructions
1 Location / Ground treatment / Used products
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13. Packaging Palletizing Stocking Ord. prep. Distribution Consume
8 9 10 11 12 13 Output
Customer
satisfaction
Quality and
safety ensured
Retail Logistics
Series of operations
Mapping
Tertiary packaging / labelling EAN-SSCC / IDa
Instructions Primary / Secondary packaging / coding / ID automatic
To each activity we associate instructions and responsibilities for trackability.
Thanks to the guidelines for the editing of the traceability manual, decreed by
the Ministry of Agriculture, all subjects involved within the chain, procedures and
manuals for data recording are identified, in order to allow an efficient revision
of the production process.
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14. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Barcode and transponder, technology evolution for automatic
identification
Barcode for product unit
EAN Code of Code Control
National the mark of the digit
Prefix owner product
EAN Company Prefix
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15. UCC/EAN 128 barcode for multi-products packaging, the carton
box.
Lot
Expiry date
Package code
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16. BARCODES FOR THE PALLET UNIT: UCC/EAN 128 AND SSCC
Numerical SSCC code is an univocal, serial number assigned to
the logistic unit, identifying each single pallet or carton box. It is
composed of 18 digits:
Control digit
Sequential part
of code SSCC
Indicod code assigned to the company
Italy
*Digit from 0 to 9, to be chosen by the company assigning SSCC.
Indicod-ECR suggests using sequential logic.
Data identifiers: (00) = SSCC, sequential number of the parcel
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17. TRANSPONDER FOR INTELLIGENT OBJECTS AND LABELS
Transponder is a component with a thickness of a few microns
composed of: antenna, microchip (memory from ten to approximately
some thousand bytes up to 2000 digits) and support.
In this version it can be mounted on an adhesive material, inserted
into a cardboard or in particular containers or laminated within a
plastic card, thus constituting the family of SMART CARDS and
LABELS, intelligent labels for RFID writing and reading.
Glue Chip Bonding Test
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18. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
From the guidelines of the Ministry of Agriculture to
lot trackability.
Methods for coding primary, secondary and tertiary
packaging
PRIMARY PACKAGING
=
PRODUCT UNIT
=
ALPHANUMERICAL AND BARCODES
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19. ALPHANUMERICAL CODES
• Expiry date
• Production date
• Lot number
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20. BARCODES EAN 13
For product unit
• Trays
• Flasks
• Jars
• Bottles
• Tanks
• Pots
• Blisters
• Cases
• Sachets
• Promotional
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21. Trays
Trays Flasks
Flasks Jars
Jars
Bottles
Bot tles Tanks
Tanks Pots
Pots
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22. Pots
Pots Blisters
Blisters Pre-folded sheets
Pre-folded sheets
Sachets
Sachets Promotional
Promotional Bundles and cartons
Bundles and car tons
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23. SECONDARY PACKAGING = MULTI-PRODUCTS UNIT = CARTON BOX
Barcodes UCC/EAN 128
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24. TERTIARY PACKAGING = MULTI-CARTONS UNIT = PALLET
Barcodes UCC/EAN 128 and SSCC
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25. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
RFID Workshop
Lot traceability chain in 10 steps
FIELD
We start from the field where, for the sake of traceability, during the collection
the farmer identifies the production by applying on each box a label featuring
data of field and collection date.
For this step a thermal transfer printer for barcodes, equipped with an RFID
antenna, calibrated on the frequency HF = 15.56 MHz, to record the same
information on the transponder microchip, is used.
FACTORY
When the factory receives the product, it identifies the single box by reading
the barcode featured on the label. Reading can be performed with a barcode
scanner or a reader equipped with an RFID antenna.
Production process continues, for example, by extracting a bottled juice.
Each juice bottle runs through an inspection system checking the eventual
presence of foreign bodies, and through a Taptone system ensuring the
tightening of the container.
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26. Bottle is now ready to be codified with lot number and Best Before indication.
To print these data ink-jet or laser coders are used. In the computer system
such elements are connected to the starting lot of the farmer.
Therefore bottle is labelled with a smart label featuring information both clear
(with barcode) and in RFID.
When the secondary packaging is formed, in the demo it is a six-piece unit,
the information collected so far, joined by the number of pieces per each
carton box, is written on the multiple packaging through the application of a
smart label. In this case the frequency changes, to read at longer distances
UHF is used.
Equipment “Lampo RFID” assembled in the workshop, is provided with a
scanner checking that the information featured on the label is correct.
Once the pallet has been formed by carton boxes, already marked as
described, this can be identified either exploiting barcode technology, or
though an antennas system operating in UHF, or in both ways.
Presently, in our workshop we have a controller antenna connected to central
PC and three antennas detecting the tags featured on the multiple packaging,
thus verifying what is present on the pallet.
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27. Pallet is labelled and collected information is exploited to create loads for
shipment. Pallet, becoming a “load unit”, can be managed with the same
principle: reading through barcode or antennas.
In the workshop for pallet labelling we use equipment “Termologitron”, an
electro-pneumatic labelling machine, printing during the translation of the
application arm, saving dead times, up to the point to get a double application
with a guaranteed speed of four pallets per minute.
LARGE SCALE RETAIL
When the pallet reaches a warehouse or a deposit of a large scale retailer, an
antennas system identifies it when entering, loading it at stock and indicating
in which area it should be placed. Here another antennas system, making the
shelf intelligent, is able to signal immediately the contents.
When the entire pallet or the single boxes are taken to be exposed at the
point of sale, inventory is automatically updated and moreover, when the
cart containing the labelled products runs through the magnetic field of the
antennas located near the cash desks, the receipt ticket is automatically self-
compiled.
At this point it is not difficult to follow the reverse route up to the collection
field: in fact, by exploiting the memorized information, we get a perfect
traceability.
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28. 1
RFID WORKSHOP IN 10 STEPS
Identification of the cash desks with barcode
UCC/EAN 128 and coding RFID
FIELD
EL D
Printer of self-adhesive labels in reel, thermal transfer
printing technology.
Machine set for reading-writing of HF smart labels.
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29. 2 Identification of products of different origin,
processing and bottling.
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR
Palm terminal to decode fields data.
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30. 3 Quality Control
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR Inspection system to check foreign bodies.
Checking of containers tightening.
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31. 4 Primary Packaging
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR Ink-jet or laser coders to mark production lot and expiry
date.
Head to print and apply the label on primary packaging.
Thermal transfer technology, machine set for reading-
writing of HF smart labels.
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32. 5 Secondary Packaging (carton box)
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR Head to print and apply the label on carton box.
Technology UHF radiofrequency.
30

33. 6 Pallet identification
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR Port with UHF antennas for data reception and
transmission from carton boxes to the computer
processing the label and sending it to the printer.
Logistic label size A5, 150x210 mm, with barcodes UCC/
EAN 128, SSCC and transponders.
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34. 7 Goods shipment
FACTOR
FA OR
FACTORY
OR Palm terminal for stock unloading.
Computer for the traceability of the production process.
32

35. 8 Goods reception at large scale retailer site
RE TAIL
RETAIL
RETAIL
E I Port with UHF antennas and manual barcode reader to
decode factory data.
Stock loading.
Computer to manage large scale retailer stock.
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36. 9 Warehouse stocking
RE TAI
RETAIL
RETAIL
E IL
Intelligent shelf equipped with UHF antennas for real
time management of goods handling.
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37. 10 Point of sale
RE TAIL
RETAIL
RETAIL
E I Intelligent cash desk with HF antennas to read smart
labels and code EAN 13 reader.
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38. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Network and computer supports for connections
between 1-10 and host
2- Transformation 3- Quality control
1- Field and 4- Coding and labelling
collection primary packaging
10- Point of
sale
9- Warehouse
stocking
5- Secondary
8- Goods reception packaging and
at retailer site labelling
7- Shipment 6- Pallet arranging and
labelling
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39. Automatic identification is the recognition of the product and the trackability
and traceability process through optical reading of barcodes, and electro-
magnetic of tags.
Data transmission in radiofrequency is the network of computer
telecommunication which allows knowing in real time where we are, what we
are doing and what to do.
Electronic media
The workshop can be divided into three large areas:
The field with the printer identifying the farmer and his product, the industry
managing the necessary information for traceability (from identification of
the incoming raw materials to the output pallets) with a central unit, the real
logistics with the management of loads, stocks and points of sale.
The first area is intentionally simple, to be managed also by medium-small or
simply structured companies.
Industry section includes a host computer, a network connection and specific
software.
37

40. All the above allows to command and control the activity of the RFID
readers, to send the necessary setup commands to their software, to
receive messages when tags are read, to read tags buffers and download
information, to grant visibility to reading operations and to supply the right
interface to users.
38

41. Software of the industry section, in its turn, is dividable into three parts: first
is connection of central PC with the palms (exploiting RF technology for data
transmission) or with the antennas placed in strategic points of the factory.
Such tools are necessary when the relevant operations are performed in an
area of the factory non covered by the company network0.
39

42. The second part of the software associates the supplier code to each
production lot, in this stage even the printing of all the labels featuring lot and
expiry date on primary and secondary packaging is managed.
The third part of the software manages pallets, SSCC codes and connects
these data to the company management software for the inventory.
To end the research and load the single truck, it is necessary to get similar
terminals to the ones used for the incoming processes.
40

43. In the workshop the two most used frequencies in industry can
be experimented: HF = 13.56 MHz, already standardized by ISO
norms, ensuring use and inclusion in company structures, and
UHF frequency not standardized yet, but granting a reading of
more than one meter.
Product identification
Incoming pallet
SSCC Data sent to
assignment management
Label sent to software
the printer
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44. Logistic section is composed of two parts:
Management of loads and stocks.
Real time shelf scanning to
automatically manage the
inventory
42

45. Management of point of sale.
Real time cash
desk scanning to
automatically issue
receipt ticket
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46. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
Attending customers step by step
Through its workshop CICRESPI intends to supply a valid technical -
educational support to users, developers and implementers of systems for
traceability in general and RFID in particular, by helping them to develop
personalized solutions, allowing them to deepen experimentation of this
technology on the most critical areas.
In our workshop also wider corporate targets are pursued, such as: studies on
the manners of propagation of signals, on possible interferences, evaluations
on the performances of different antennas, progressive improvement of
software, and even more.
To face each specific customer problem, we try to reproduce in our workshop
the most realistic conditions as possible; hence the section of pallet labelling
is in real dimensions, and each machine used (checkers, printers, labellers,
etc.) is standard; it is even possible to mount, each time in a different way,
antennas and readers with more active readers at the same time.
44

47. During the adjustment of the project, each issue affecting the final performance
of the installation is investigated.
The approach is to face each trackability and RFID project by considering
the kind of objects to support, where the tag should be placed, which kind of
tags and readers to choose, if it will be necessary to add insulating items, and
moreover which can be the limits of the system chosen and the packaging
materials involved.
Other factors effect the final result: distance between transmitter and reader,
features of the transmitting and receiving antennas (shape, frequency,
etc.), eventual signals weakening in all different steps, interferences in the
environment (those among readers due to the presence of more readers at
the same time, those among close channels due to strong signals in close
frequencies).
All these elements must be carefully screened to get the desired result.
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48. FROM FIELD TO POINT OF SALE AND BACK
The future
Initially the development of RFID should concentrate on services and
processes using reusable transponders, following the standards already
accepted for passive transponders.
When new technologies and standards will be mature, RFID will develop
as individual identification of finished products and introduction of low cost
passive transponders.
Such developments will allow creating best practices to progress from “RFID
project” to “RFID product”, and in such steps the role of the workshops will be
essential in the transformation of the RFID into commodity.
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49. CICRESPI, strategic partner
VIDEOJET TECHNOLOGIES INC., brands Videojet, Marsh, Cheshire
AVERY DENNISON, labelling systems and RFID applications.
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50. You are invited to reserve your date
in Liscate Milano, Italy
Via Trieste, 11
to visit our RFID workshop
e-mail: sabina.resmini@cicrespi.com
Tel: +39.02.95.75.42.03
Fax: +39.02.95.75.42.04
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