Edson Perin
• The Smarter Packaging solution from HP Brazil
• Watch Diego Mutta’s exclusive interview with IoP Journal
• Other 2022 GS1 Automation Award winners
HP Brasil smart packaging solution won the 2022 GS1 Brazil Automation Award, which was delivered this Wednesday, November 9, in Sao Paulo (SP). Through innovation, the company’s customers can be completely sure that they are purchasing genuine products and that they will be able to properly dispose and recycle products through smart packaging developed by HP itself.
The company adopted the same process of digitally printing personalized codes, which it had been using on the boxes of printing equipment, on the packaging of ink cartridges manufactured in Brazil. In this way, each cartridge gains a unique identity, in the Smarter Packaging project, which uses Smart Packaging technologies such as Security QR Codes and RFID tags.
HP started to implement the technologies in ink cartridges initially in a testing phase, to evaluate how this solution would perform in practice, bringing a new experience of authentication and validity of cartridges sold both in the company’s own online stores and in physical stores.
The Smarter Packaging solution from HP Brazil
Through the Smarter Packaging solution, HP ink cartridge buyers can be confident that they are buying a genuine product. To do this, simply point the smartphone camera at the QR Code printed by digital process on the cartridge packaging.
When the consumer performs this action, he immediately receives information about whether or not the product in his hands is an original cartridge. In addition, the customer immediately has access to a page with information about the product, services, access to in-store promotions and much more.
No special app is needed to perform the action. Consumers just need to point their smartphone camera at the QR Code printed on the cartridge package and follow the instructions that will appear on the screen. Currently, cell phone cameras automatically identify QR Codes and present the options programmed in the digital code.
In order to be able to apply this Security QR Code, HP Brasil adopted a change in the production of its packaging, which is no longer produced in conventional processes, and started to be manufactured by digital printers, which print the serialized codes, which guarantees full traceability. and product identification.
From the moment that HP decided to adopt the Digital Printing technology, which was developed by HP itself, according to Diego Mutta, reverse logistics and projects manager at HP Brazil, this solution became available to all customers of the brand. “This is not a technology available only to HP. It can be used by other companies and other sectors, such as food, pharmaceutical, beauty, etc. Thus, everyone can apply this technology to their packaging”.
Watch Diego Mutta’s exclusive interview with IoP Journal: click here (06/17/2022).
The technology of printing packages through the digital process brings a series of added values. “An example that we bring here, when making the change from a conventional technology to a digital one, is that we can print on demand. That is, companies can print exactly the volume of packaging they need for the products produced”, says Mutta, which eliminates waste. “In this case, there is no minimum order quantity, which conventional processes need to have an adequate cost”.
As a result, Mutta adds that, in addition to cost benefits, sustainability gains are also achieved. “Because I can ensure a more efficient process, with less materials, and with a smaller carbon footprint as well”.
In the case of cartridges, another sustainability gain is guaranteed by the reverse logistics program that HP carries out, removing at home devices already used by customers and which may have their materials reused in the production of new cartridges or other goods. “HP’s Planet Partner program has been available for several years, free of charge, by collecting used cartridges at home. Now, customers can scan the cartridges to find out if they are genuine HP products, and also, with a click on the web page, request the product to be discarded”.
HP Brazil has been a pioneer in the use of advanced technologies for supply chain control, sustainability and customer experience for at least the last 20 years. The company’s investments in smart packaging – or Smart Packaging – range from the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the brand’s printers manufactured in Brazil, ensuring 100% efficiency in its assembly lines and also in the delivery of products and their respective accessories, to the use of technology that digitally prints personalized codes on the boxes to carry out a closer communication with its consumers.
Other 2022 GS1 Automation Award Winners
- Itaueira — Traceability and application of 2D Code with Digital Link
- Cimo — Innovation — Application of 2D Code with Digital Link
- Supermercado Pinheiro — Tecnologia no varejo — Segurança do alimento e leitura do Código 2D no PDV
- HP — SMART(ER) Packaging — Sustentabilidade
- Savegnago — Consumer Experience — Food Safety and 2D Code Reading at POS
- Toledo — Consumer Experience — Food Safety and 2D Code Reading at POS
- Gertec — Consumer Experience — Food Safety and 2D Code Reading at POS
- Totvs — Consumer Experience — Food Safety and 2D Code Reading at POS
- GeWeb — Consumer Experience — Food Safety and 2D Code Reading at POS
- Magalu — Data quality and authenticity
- Senai — Education — 2D Inventory
- Dia% — Electronic Tax Documents — Invoice Automation – NF-e
- Edicom — Electronic Tax Documents — Invoice Automation – NF-e
- Heborá — From field to table — Código das Abelhas
- Unidasul — From field to table — 2D Coded food/packaging safety
- Sunnyvale — From field to table — 2D Coded food/packaging safety
- Paripassu — From field to table — 2D Coded food/packaging safety
- Porto Brasil — EPC/RFID Automation — EPC/RFID Project Porto Brasil Cerâmica
- Itag — EPC/RFID Automation — EPC/RFID Project Porto Brasil Cerâmica