The global supply chain is under strain by the confluence of increased demand for goods and services transported worldwide and worsening natural disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic has also triggered a wave of pharmaceutical fraud, prompting calls for more oversight of medication handling. The situation warrants increased visibility into the flow of goods—something that AT&T is working to deliver with Smart Label, developed by Sony Semiconductor, which dramatically increases product tracking intelligence.
A supply chain system that would otherwise run on precision is subject to the challenges of unforeseen circumstances. After well over a year, the pandemic is still taking its toll on the global supply chain. A spring 2021 survey by the Institute for Supply Management revealed that by the end of May, the pandemic was still causing severe supply chain disruptions for 15 percent of U.S., 10 percent of Canadian, 26 percent of European and 36 percent of Chinese business respondents.
Other natural disasters, like extreme weather events, can delay the delivery of medical supplies, personal protective equipment and perishable agricultural products. In March, a giant container ship blocked the Suez Canal for days costing the global economy an estimated $9.6 billion per day.
These occurrences necessitate a better way to keep track of the location and conditions of products en route to their final destinations. For AT&T, that solution is the Smart Label. The company has made this technology available to its business customers that utilize logistics. Efforts to develop the Smart Label grew out of challenges the Bayer Crop Science Division faced. It lacked a way to track agricultural seed products throughout the supply chain, putting millions of dollars in revenue at risk.
“All large enterprises in the world dealing with finished goods are seeking comprehensive functional and technical solutions to solve one of the top use cases: Real-Time Channel Inventory,” said Christof Backhaus, digital lead product supply and Smart Label project lead at Bayer. “The Smart Label indicates how much product is in the market, from the packaging line to the end-customer. Due to the technical composition, we do not require any additional infrastructure, manual scanning, or other expensive tools.”
By connecting with AT&T’s LTE-M network, the label can send data to the Smart Label cloud, enabling location awareness and decision-making for products in transit. According to AT&T, this feature differs from other similar labels on the market, which rely on Wi-Fi access, radio-frequency identification and other limited connections.
Printed by Sony, the Smart Label includes a wireless module with FCC ID: HSW-TY1SCDM and a zinc-carbon bipolar 6V battery with global connectivity supporting 3GPP LTE Release 13 CAT-M/NB-IoT with transmission power EIRP 20dBm, according to Aviv Castro, vice president of Business Development at Sony Semiconductor Israel.
Castro said that the label functions at between 0 and 60 degrees Celsius, is disposable, and contains no hazardous materials. The labels should be sorted in a separate disposal bin to allow for waste recovery.
“We are proud to take a leading position in revolutionizing the digital supply chain with a disruptive solution, utilizing Sony’s Altair low power cellular IoT technology based on its ALT1250 chipset,” Castro said. “We created this solution in partnership with leading innovative producers of flexible electronics and printable batteries—increasing end-to-end transparency in the supply chain and making actionable decisions possible thanks to massive amounts of data.”
Business customers interested in utilizing the Smart Label can gain support through AT&T’s IoT Professional Services organization, which provides installation, deployment and project management assistance.
While Sony owns the patent on the Smart Label technology, AT&T does not have exclusive rights to its use. AT&T Business Vice President of Market Development Lilach Ilan envisions the Smart Label technology potentially becoming the de facto shipping label for any package or parcel requiring conditional monitoring and tracking capabilities as it doesn’t have the supply chain visibility gaps of other current technologies.
Other smart labels exist on the market based on radio-frequency identification, such as the eAgile smart label used for medical devices and pharmaceuticals to help hospitals manage inventory. Such labels can, for instance, send an alert when medication containers are opened.
The World Health Organization estimates that over half of medications from online pharmacies are counterfeit, leading to a dangerous situation that can be alleviated by security measures such as smart labels. The rise in illegal pharmacies skyrocketed during the pandemic, though incidents of medication falsification had been on the increase in previous years. Although smart labels are viewed as a remedy, there are also concerns about the cost and privacy issues associated with them. AT&T did not offer price estimates for the Smart Label, saying that prices vary and that quotes can be given to prospective customers. However, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags can cost up to $50 per tag, according to a report from HIMSS.
RFID technology has facilitated efficiency and security in transporting goods for decades. With smart label innovations that can use cellular networks, progress in tracking ability seems to be taking a giant leap forward.
Although the Smart Label is depicted as being on the exterior of product packaging, labels such as RFIDs can be placed within medication bottles. For example, having an RFID embedded within the top of a pill jar would allow manufacturers to know when the containers are accessed. While studies have found that RFIDs can make medications safer, the technology is more limited in scope and accuracy than a smart label connected to the cloud. However, patient privacy is another concern raised by RFIDs, and depending on how other smart labels are used, there could be similar privacy issues for those connected to cellular networks.
The Smart Label, and others of its kind, are geared toward business customers with products of high value or controlled substances. Things like pharmaceuticals, vaccines, products that expire, and expensive items like vehicles benefit from more precise tracking than other goods. Medical inventory like the COVID-19 vaccines needs to be kept within specific temperature ranges, which can be accomplished through smart label sensors that send real-time alerts.
The Smart Label also helps with logistics, such as identifying delivery process issues that can establish distribution schedules and result in the most efficient deliveries. For retailers, notifications sent about the status of perishable items can save money and help prevent tampering and theft.
“Working with Sony, we are providing full visibility of every item shipped via the end-to-end integrated IoT Smart Label solution, said Robert Boyanovsky, vice president of Mobility, IoT and 5G at AT&T. “Smart Label promises to help businesses like Bayer realize the full potential of the IoT and global tracking to deliver improvements in revenue and cost savings and make their supply chains more efficient. Our sales team is prepared to engage with prospective customers now.”