The Latest RFID Solutions to Protect the Supply Chain

NGP. How can RFID help protect the pharmaceutical supply chain and, ultimately, their customers?
AC. RFID can ensure product integrity and traceability. Using Checkpoint’s RFID solutions helps pharmaceutical companies take the first step in creating a safe and traceable process for the supply chain. Our solutions create a locked down supply chain with little or no shrink. Using RFID provides advantages such as the ability to automatically track products through the supply chain at the pallet, case or item-level. RFID systems will improve product visibility throughout the supply chain and provide the ability for pharmaceutical companies to secure their entire supply chain, from their own facilities through to retail and pharmacy locations.

NGP. What are some of the current ‘pain points’ that pharmaceutical companies are experiencing?
AC. While the pharmaceutical companies know they have a responsibility to create safe products, the industry is plagued by the problem of black market and counterfeit versions of products, which are currently more than five percent of the market and probably rising. These counterfeit versions, combined with drug theft, are the critical reasons to look for improved processes to eliminate risk factors, and create consumer confidence in the pharmaceutical industry.

NGP. What is unique about your RFID solutions?
AC. Checkpoint has unparalleled experience in this industry. Each year, approximately 125 million Checkpoint tags are integrated and applied to pharmaceutical products. We work closely with pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors and third-party logistics providers to identify areas where RFID can create value beyond vendor and regulatory mandates and help them to improve business processes and generate sustainable ROI.

NGP. What have been recent innovations?
AC. Checkpoint’s newest solution is the Evolve label, which is the first label to combine the benefits of EPC inventory visibility and Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) theft deterrence. This means that a single label can be used for both functions. The Evolve labels, which are patent-pending, incorporate both an RF circuit and a UHF antenna in one label. They operate in the UHF band of 860 to 960 MHz for RFID and functions such as inventory visibility, as well as 8.2 MHz for retailers’ RF-EAS security systems. They are Gen 2 compliant to work with Checkpoint’s UHF Portals or any certified Gen 2 reader and antenna hardware.

What this means is that the Evolve label enables both manufacturers and retailers to take advantage of RFID technology to gain greater control over their inventory from receiving areas to retailers’ sales floors. Additionally, this same label will work with retailers’ RF-EAS security systems to continue to leverage their investments in those systems. Merchandise arrives at the store floor-ready with security already embedded.

Checkpoint has been a leader in creating package-embedded security for all types of pharmaceutical products. We continue to look at new and unique ways to embed RFID-enabled solutions as well, providing true enablers for e-pedigrees for the supply chain. We create patented systems to be used with bottles and blister packs. We offer the benefit of solutions that can be embedded directly into the packaging at the source, providing pharmaceutical companies the ability to truly track their products from the time they leave manufacturing until they reach the pharmacy.

About Checkpoint Systems, Inc.
Checkpoint Systems, Inc. is the leading supplier of retail shrink management solutions. Checkpoint’s global team helps retailers – and their suppliers – reduce theft, increase inventory visibility and provide consumers with greater merchandise availability through the company’s rapidly evolving RF technology, expanding shrink management offerings and Check-Net labeling solutions. Checkpoint has more than one million RF devices installed in stores today, and since the advent of the modern retail age has secured more than 100 billion products. Scaling cost-efficiently, Checkpoint’s solutions provide increased revenues and profits to a fast-growing community of successful retailers, and a superior experience for their consumers. Listed on the NYSE (NYSE:CKP), Checkpoint operates in every geographic market and employs 3,200 people worldwide.

For more information on how Checkpoint can help you create a secure pharmaceutical supply chain, please call 800-257-5540, ext. 3730, or e-mail rfid@checkpt.com.