DuPont foresees boost in adoption of screenprinting technology for RFID

Screenprinting is an ideal process for high volume production of low cost RFID transponders. But even in the EPC (Electronic Product Code) era, only a few players of the RFID industry have taken the big step towards additive manufacturing technology.

According to DuPont Microcircuit Materials and to a number of leading players in the RFID industry, the situation is likely to change in the near future. Sales projections for DuPont screen-printable conductive inks look particularly good today.

"Screenprinting is an easy to manage, one step process that has been successfully applied to the production of high volume, low cost RFID transponders," comments Francois Chirol, Regional Segment Manager Europe, DuPont Microcircuit Materials. "Using conductive inks for the production of RF antennae and for the assembly of electronic units is likely to become the preferred manufacturing method for UHF tags."

"Today, most manufacturers of RFID transponders are still using more costly and difficult to manage manufacturing technologies, even when trying to achieve lower costs per unit in order to the meet emerging market requirements," continues Francois Chirol. "I am convinced that any new player entering the RFID Transponder manufacturing arena and starting from scratch with his investments in capital equipment will go for the screenprinting option."