What is Smart Packaging?

As packaging solutions and the technology they use continue to evolve, we’re seeing an increase in the number of businesses using smart packaging to optimise efficiency, security and customer engagement.

But what is smart packaging exactly? How does the burgeoning innovation actually work? And what other benefits have we seen smart packaging create for the businesses leveraging it? We’ll answer these key questions for you below.

Smart packaging covers a few different types of packaging solutions, which we’ll get onto a little later, but broadly it refers to packaging that’s more than just simple containment and protection.

Smart packaging as a whole places the focus on creating solutions that are tailored to suit specific products. For example, packaging featuring QR codes can be used to take customers to websites or campaigns, as well as for product authentication and inventory tracking. Elsewhere, certain types of packaging may be used to protect against tampering by including radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or tamper-evident seals.

It’s becoming increasingly popular across certain industries too. Food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, fashion, and cosmetics, to name just a few all benefit from the use of smart packaging.

In the food and beverage industry, it’s helping to reduce waste and improve consumption safety thanks to sensors that track temperature exposure and contents freshness. Smart labels also allow for clear expiry dates and storage details, strengthening accuracy further.

Pharmaceutical businesses, another cold-chain industry where product temperature is vital, RFID-enabled packaging keeps medicines and vaccines safe when in transport. With real-time monitoring of temperature-sensitive drugs, those in the industry can maintain compliance across safety regulations.

Supply chain operations, meanwhile, use Internet of Things-connected sensors to track products from manufacturing to delivery – streamlining efficiency, preventing losses and improving logistics as a whole.

Intelligent Packaging

Intelligent packaging uses sensors and indicators to monitor a product’s condition, and then provide info about its status over the course of delivery.

This information might cover the likes of temperature, storage time, temperature and freshness, changing colour to indicate instances of where leaks or contamination have occurred.

Active Packaging

With this kind of packaging, often designed to increase the product’s shelf life, the package interacts with the contents inside, releasing compounds that enrich or eliminate specific components.

While this sounds quite odd, you’ll likely have seen it used in products as everyday as plastic beer bottles, where oxygen absorbers are added to bottle caps to increase shelf life from three to six months.

Connected Packaging

Lastly, there’s connected packaging. Here, packaging integrates with digital technologies, turning packaging from mere storage solution to an engaging interactive experience.

Through QR codes, bar codes or image recognition, brands can lead their customers to questionnaires, games and other interactive experiences. This then gives brands the ability to increase their brand presence and gather greater customer insights, to better understand consumers.

As the above hints at, there are several unique ways that smart packaging can function, which we’ll detail below.

Smart Packaging Technology

QR Codes: QR codes are like traditional barcodes, but since their codes hold information horizontally and vertically, they can contain over a hundred times more information. Scanning them via smartphones allows for everything from production information and traceability to interactive engagement and targeted marketing campaigns.

Sensors and Indicators: The sensors and indicators used in smart packaging work in a few different ways:

– Colorimetric, or visual, indicators feature chemical dyes that change when responding to increases in ethylene, spoilage and temperature changes.
– Active gas and chemical sensors measure changes in oxygen, carbon dioxide or volatile contents, reacting to their microbial or chemical degradation.
– Bio-based sensors use natural compounds like anthocyanins to keep tabs on freshness.
– Indicators also feature transducers which convert the chemical signal into an optical one. For example, a label that might turn red to indicate that the food within has rotted and shouldn’t be consumed.

RFID and NFC: Both RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) or NFC (Near Field Communication) tags both consist of a microchip and antenna, and can either be embedded within the packaging material or attached to packaging exteriors.

These tags contain unique identification data, which is then read by RFID/NC readers to retrieve the relevant information.

Barcodes: The traditional barcode, used for the likes of product identification, Point-of-Sale transactions, and inventory management, works through the use of a specialised scanner’s laser to scan and detect its patterns.

Enhanced product quality

With so many options to safeguard the integrity of the contents inside, smart packaging ensures business can maintain the highest standards of quality and freshness, helping to ensure longer-lasting freshness on shelves and in transit.

Seamless supply chain tracking

Smart packaging’s improved tracking and tracing functionality means businesses can monitor their packages’ progress as it moves through the supply chain. With this optimised transparency, it becomes far easier to spot problems, delays and issues with stock.

Improved sustainability efforts

By identifying opportunities to use less material and package products more efficiently, businesses can become more environmentally conscious as a result. And in age where environmental impact is a key factor for consumers, a more ethical approach could be what leads them to decide on purchasing from your business.

Greater customer engagement and education

When customers can interact with your brand through its packaging by taking them to useful resources like nutritional value or ingredient information; how to guides or user manuals, you’re not only giving them a chance to engage with you further, you’re enhancing their product knowledge through the insights they can glean from this engagement.

Smart packaging brings value to a business beyond simply protecting goods. By innovating across a number of areas, including security, supply chain management and customer engagement, businesses who use smart packaging could well have a head start on their competitors.

If you’re looking to stand out through powerful digital print or stronger sustainability, then our experts can help with both. Head here to start the conversation, or find more information on what Tyler can do for your business’ packaging below:

– Discover our recyclable ready range
– Explore Tyler’s compostable packaging
– Learn more about our flexible digital print options