Roots Analysis Identifies Top 5 NFC and RFID Companies in Healthcare Supply Chains

Market research firm Roots Analysis released a report in December 2023 identifying five prominent NFC and RFID companies playing a crucial role in healthcare supply chains, particularly in the tracking of pharmaceutical products. The analysis covered over 90 companies offering smart labels for pharmaceuticals and healthcare, utilizing technologies like RFID, NFC, and others to track products throughout the supply chain.

The drive to improve patient safety and combat counterfeit drugs is increasing the demand for smart packaging. These smart labels can store essential information such as prescriptions and dosage instructions, improving readability and user-friendliness. They also serve as a critical tool for authenticity verification, allowing companies, distributors, and hospitals to ensure the integrity of medications. NFC technology, a form of RFID, enables wireless data transfer for security and tracking, with most smartphones capable of reading NFC chips.

The technology also plays a significant role in the pharmaceutical manufacturing process by enhancing productivity, accuracy, and inventory management. RFID is increasingly becoming an industry standard for monitoring pharmaceutical packages throughout the supply chain. The healthcare sector has seen a substantial rise in the market for smart tags and systems over the past decade, driven by the adoption of product-level medicine tagging and Real-Time Locating Systems (RTLS) to boost productivity, safety, and availability.

Roots Analysis highlighted Avery Dennison, CCL Industries, Resource Label Group, RFID Canada, and Schreiner Group as the top five companies. These firms, established between 1935 and 1991, are headquartered globally and are central to the advancement of the smart label industry within the healthcare sector.

Specifically, the identified companies include Avery Dennison (established 1935, headquartered in Mentor, Ohio), CCL Industries (established 1951, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario), Resource Label Group (established 1991, headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee), RFID Canada (established 1987, headquartered in Markham, Ontario), and Schreiner Group (established 1951, headquartered in Oberschleissheim, Germany).