RR Donnelley intros innovative line of printed electronics

USA: R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. announced the introduction of innovative RFID and NFC production capabilities as part of its printed electronics initiative.

These new capabilities enable the company to provide customers with unique printed NFC and RFID tags that can be embedded in an extensive range of products that RR Donnelley produces, including retail displays, product packaging, shipping labels, direct mail pieces, catalogs, magazines and more. Printed electronics from RR Donnelley provide customers with a single source for integrated radio frequency enabled business and consumer communications.

"Now we offer customers single-source convenience and control as we produce their RFID and NFC tags and integrate them with other materials that we create," said Thomas J. Quinlan III, RR Donnelley's president and CEO. "Even more, we can develop and host the mobile consumer experience initiated by interactive NFC tags and even provide response analytics about the programs' effectiveness."

RR Donnelley's manufacturing process allows customers to take advantage of flexible antenna design and production capabilities that tune the performance of their tags to specific applications for enhanced performance. The company's offering includes a complete suite of antenna design, testing, and proof-of-concept services to help customers identify optimal designs.

"The printed electronics solutions that we continue to develop significantly boost production flexibility," stated Ronnie Sarkar, RR Donnelley's senior VP of Technology Innovations. "We can very quickly change the production line to accommodate different specifications, dramatically reducing the cycle time associated with bringing RFID and NFC tags to market."

By combining printed electronics technology with its wide array of digital, logistics and printed products and services RR Donnelley opens the door to a new generation of interactive communications solutions. These innovations complement the company's printed electronics strategy that also features an equity position in Solicore, a leader in embedded power solutions.

In 2011, RR Donnelley had entered into a commercial agreement with Solicore to develop printed batteries.