Connecting the physical with the digital
SMART
PACKAGING:
Smartphones can be used to grab information such as recipes, promotions and brand information from beverage and food packages. Photo courtesy of: Gorodenkoff via iStock/Getty Images
We think of smart packaging as the enabler connecting physical assets with the digital platform.
— Jan Schnitker, CEO and co-founder, Is It Fresh
Machine-readable (digital) code dating will likely provide the entry point for truly smart packages.
— Thomas Dunn, independent consultant, EAS Consulting Group
Food processors can integrate this technology a number of ways. Schnitker says the first step is the physical integration, which happens in different ways depending on the packaging type, label technology and sensor technology used. A typical integration would be a pressure-sensitive adhesive that is applied to the inside or outside of the packaging, which does not differ in its complexity to industry-standard labels. So it can be as easy as exchanging the label type or adding a label.
Smart packaging that uses chemical sensors and evaluates freshness via a liquid or gas-sensing principle requires a “molecular pathway" to the sensor element. “This can happen through direct contact or through membrane materials in such a way that the analyte is able to reach the sensing element,” Schnitker says. “The entire sensor and label can also be embedded in the packaging stack in more advanced scenarios. Food processors would simply purchase a different packaging type from their packaging supplier.
The second step is digital integration during production. The smart food package would pass by, for example, on a conveyor belt through an NFC and optical readout tunnel that registers the smart label in real-time, associates all the product information and generates the first measurement of the quality. “This process happens with a complete IT/OT-integration, full cloud-support and automatic data analysis. Essentially any manufacturing line can be retrofitted with such a solution very cost effectively,” he says.
Dunn says some food processors are taking advantage of QR codes on packages and smart devices in consumers’ hands to leverage printed but space-limited label or package data with dynamic product information available on the internet.
“Proposed FDA proposals regarding food traceability records for certain foods require that electronic sortable spreadsheets, containing relevant traceability information, be available to the agency within 24 hours its request. Package QR codes will support real-time consumer access to lot identifiers of these foods during FDA recall investigations,” says Dunn.
Prost notes that embedding track/trace capabilities can take a number of forms. “[Stratus] enable[s] control or software to be operated on machine (addressing latency issues), on prem [on-premises infrastructure] and/or in the cloud. Our high availability and redundant options mean that concerns about losing this critical data are minimized,” he says.
Smart packaging improves scheduling, tracking and achieving better utilization of equipment.
— Aric Prost, senior director of OEM, Stratus Technologies
According to Dunn, the most practiced form of smart packaging involves time temperature indicators (TTIs), originally proposed in the early 1950s. These devices—usually for products with refrigerated or frozen storage and distribution—document thermal exposure and may estimate the remaining shelf life of perishable products, he says. Indicators take several forms: irreversible chemical color changes resulting from the accumulated effects of time and temperature on a distinctive image; enzyme-caused color changes proportional to cumulative time above an activation temperature; thermal expansion thermometers with ongoing data logging.
“TTI functionality for packages provides more value for the supply chain upstream of consumer display where environmental monitoring data is available to verify on-package information and support save vs. discard decisions. Temperature dependence of the efficacy of some pharmaceuticals (not only their safety) gives more value to TTI technology for those products than does its use for packaged food point-of-use,” Dunn says.
Dunn notes that, in spite of recent allegations about using code dating of packaged foods to prompt consumers to waste otherwise good food, smart packaging functionality is not a favored solution. “The commercial implications of letting consumers use package color changes to distinguish between products that are good and safe and those that are spoiled or unsafe are substantial: product liability for unsafe products labeled as ‘safe’ and the lost value of prematurely identified ‘out-of-date,’ unsalable products. These concerns dictate that the precision and accuracy of information be faultless. False negatives put spoiled or unsafe smart packaging product in consumer households while false positives risk substantial waste of good food,” says Dunn.
Schnitker adds, “Many of the available solutions in the market are also expressing ‘smartness,’ such as a freshness indicator on packages that changes color to indicate the chemical spoilage of food, which are very helpful in many ways but don't help a large amount of supply chain participants,” he says.
According to Dunn, TTI technology has evolved to more advanced biological (e.g., enzymatic) and physical (e.g., differential thermal expansion) techniques. “For valuable, temperature-sensitive food products, careful monitoring and data logging of ambient storage and transport temperatures provide cost and accuracy advantages over on-package TTI technology,” he says.
Additionally, he says that there is an array of smart packaging definitions among specific segments in the industry. “We believe that one distinctive element will be two criteria. First, there is the digitalization criteria. If we abstract the goals of packaging looking into the future, it would be reasonable to argue that it has evolved from being a mere ‘container’ of food product that is simply a barrier between the food product and the outside to a ‘communicator.’ Or, a connector that links the physical world and the digital world, as well as connecting the product to the consumer with different means like a sensor or display technology.
“We believe that there is another criterion that is going hand in hand with customer needs—it is becoming visible to the customer. Previous advances of smart packaging with better diffusion barriers, modified atmosphere packaging and many other very useful technologies are barely noticed by the end consumer. This relationship will change, in our opinion,” Schnitker says.
“Our particular angle at Is It Fresh is the ultra-cost-efficient transformation of the physical asset into a digital asset that fulfills both criteria mentioned above in the sense of a ‘connected product’ that utilizes advanced packaging materials and sensor technology to provide real-time info and analytics on dozens of parameters for full end-to-end tracking for every supply chain participant—so a B2B2C-compatible solution,” he says.
Smart food packaging inherently involves the delivery of information about that food to a responsible party—a consumer, warehouse manager, delivery driver, etc. Dunn says that information is not an end in itself, but rather support for a decision by the receiving party. “Should the consumer buy that package or not? Should the warehouse manager discard product that experienced excessive heat? Should the driver check the thermostat in his truck? Unless and until smart packaging can deliver timely, accurate and dependable information to support decision-makers at specific points in the food supply chain, it remains no more than an interesting tool for which no useful function exists—a solution in search of a workable problem to resolve.”
Definitive code dating of packaged products presents an unsolved problem, Dunn says.
“[This is a] difficult challenge that remains unworkable for now, but no less important because of the difficulty. The science of product ‘shelf life’ estimation distinguishes many critical input variables for which accurate sensors and data are simply lacking… product condition prior to packaging, protection by its packaging, physical forces to be encountered during transport; temperature and humidity during storage and display; cellular chemistry; genetic varieties to name but a few.” Consumer partiality toward freshness and locally sourced products indicate their preferences for packaged foods with “first-day” quality. Dunn says that until food science defines for each food (actually for each recipe and process) that quality’s biologic, chemical and physical dimensions and their tendencies to change over time, no package is “smart enough” to signal that a food’s shelf life has expired.
Schnitker says that Is It Fresh is tackling these challenges. “First, we determine the label type and the integration, for example, by providing a roll of tags that is compatible with existing label dispensing systems or planning the necessary changes. This step depends heavily on the packaging type and can vary from very simple to complicated.” He says that advanced packaging integration questions are best answered with the supplier of the packaging material. “The biggest challenge for the easiest smart labels is less of a technical nature and more from a management and innovation perspective.”
He says the second challenge is the readout technology on the manufacturing floor, which must be integrated without any significant downtime into an existing line. “This is usually a very long and tedious process with a variety of partners from the electrical IT/OT side to the data management, ERP integration, etc. Often enough, this would not be feasible as a retrofit solution without shutting down lines for a long time,” Schnitker says.
“We are taking this entire issue out of the equation with our turnkey approach that is compatible with any existing system. We provide a drop-in solution that can always be used as an aftermarket installation. Typically, a tunnel is about 1 m in length that we put over a free segment into the line without modifying or touching existing installation, only requiring power and any form of internet connectivity via Ethernet, WiFi or 4G/5G.” He says the tunnel is completely self-sustained but has electrical connectivity to other systems if required.
Is It Fresh digitalizes packages at the individual level with ultra-low-cost RFID/NFC-enabled tracking and freshness sensors, integrated with a SaaS/private cloud data platform. Photo courtesy of: IS IT FRESH
Dunn says that in a high-tech, information-driven economy, the most valuable smart functionality from a package will be an ability to connect that package to the Internet of Things (IoT) that electronically stores and retrieves all food chain transactions involving the package together with the identity of parties responsible for those transactions. “Package code dating currently provides package-specific analog information that links to the food chain. Machine-readable (digital) code dating will likely provide the entry point for truly smart packages.”
When looking to the future, Schnitker says, “We believe that advanced sensor systems like ours will become in one way a standard. There will be large arrays of the sensor system and a very high degree of connectivity for efficient supply chains on the B2B side and equally a better end-consumer user experience (UX) with the ‘connected products.’ We also see a huge spike in direct-to-consumer food products like HMR/meal-kits. The pandemic has boosted this huge trend, and the integration of smart packaging is key for the logistics and delivery process.”
“Nearly every risk metric rises with the trend to avoid well-established packaging technology, which ultimately leads to even more waste. The idea of saving a few grams of plastic, which can be recycled, stands in contrast to ecological CO2 footprint of nearly food product, which is orders of magnitude more valuable than plastic. Additionally, recycling of biodegradable materials is a challenge on its own,” Schnitker adds. //