| Packaging Strategies: DuPont, Partners Assist in Package Scanning's Emergence |
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DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers has aligned support from several converters for two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology, paving the way for its rapid emergence on packages in North America. Working with technology provider Scanbuy, DuPont is helping the industry realize the commercial use of a barcode printed on packages and read by a mobile networking device, such as a camera-enabled cellular phone or personal digital assistant (PDA). The Ezcode technology works in low-light and small-footprint environments, allowing barcodes to be printed with virtually any package format. In tandem with Marietta, GA-based converter Graphic Packaging and Atlanta-based Printpack, the companies have aligned support for mobile-enabled two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology including the use of the global, interoperable EZCode system, said Shanna Moore, global sustainability director for Wilmington, DE-based DuPont. Several other, competing scanning technologies are also available globally that use differing code systems. "We want to avoid the problem of consumers growing frustrated by having to use multiple codes from different [cell-phone] companies and for different packages," Moore said. "One uniform set of codes needs to be widely available and widely used." In North America, the situation is made more challenging due to a closed network system that allows each cell-phone company to choose its own scanning device. But the major cell-phone companies have already agreed to use the Scanbuy system, and many new phones will come pre-loaded with the software. The scanning technology includes use of a coded square placed on a primary or secondary package. The technology is fairly simple: A camera phone, using EZcode software from New York-based Scanbuy, can click on the package code. A message immediately allows consumers to upload promotions, recipes, nutritional information, and other data and give brand owners access to consumer demographics. The technology's emergence in packaging could come quickly; all it may take is a major brand owner rolling out a marketing campaign around the system, Moore added. As chronicled in the July 31 issue, Graphic Packaging and technology provider Augme Mobile have mobile-enabled 2D code adoptions for paperboard packaging and are working with DuPont in a marketing agreement. Printpack also has tested the Scanbuy technology on flexible printing presses at high speeds, allowing the barcodes to be printed onto films and bags. "All the critical pieces are in motion," Moore said. "We've demonstrated that this can be effective." Packaging Strategies' Perspective: An interesting sidelight to this technology is the potential ability of consumers to upload information about the environmental impact of a package or product. As companies such as Wal-Mart stress the need for greater transparency, cell phones could help consumers understand where a package or product was sourced and other environmental inputs.
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