TOPPAN Digital, a subsidiary of TOPPAN Holdings (HD), announced on September 8th that it has developed an index IC tag that can handle packages made of metal, which are generally considered to interfere with the reading of other packages.
The product will be launched in November 2025, primarily targeting companies responsible for in-hospital logistics management (SPD).
<Appearance of IC tag label>
<Image of reading>
In the medical and pharmaceutical industry, which handles a large number of pharmaceutical products and drugs, accuracy in operations is required, but labor shortages are becoming serious, making it essential to streamline logistics management.
In recent years, RFID technology has been used for SPD (Supply, Processing, and Distribution) management within hospitals, but a challenge has been that it often fails to read properly when packages made of various materials such as plastic, paper, and aluminum are stored in close proximity.
Metals, in particular, have the property of blocking radio waves and interfering with the reading of other packages. Therefore, TOPPAN Digital has developed an index IC tag that can be used on packages made of any material, regardless of whether they are metallic or non-metallic.
The index IC tag is a UHF band type that allows for simultaneous reading of tags over long distances. Its key feature is its ability to reliably communicate over long distances of several meters, even when packages made of different materials with varying communication ranges are densely packed together.
The IC tag dimensions are 14.5 x 70 mm for the antenna and 20 x 76 mm for the label. A portion of the label is attached, and the tip is left protruding for use.
The price starts at 20 yen per sheet (for bulk orders of 100 million sheets/excluding printing and data writing). The company aims to provide these sheets to companies in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, such as hospitals and those managing the logistics of medical products, and is targeting sales of approximately 20 billion yen in fiscal year 2026.
