Authors: Nick Petersen, Bluesight, Peter Bloch, Avery Dennison, Susanne Hazrati, NXP Semiconductors
Once considered a niche tool for anti-counterfeiting and supply chain tracking in the pharmaceutical industry, RAIN UHF RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology is now at the center of a transformative shift in how pharmaceutical medications are managed, tracked, and delivered worldwide. By using radio waves to wirelessly transmit a tag’s unique serial number to a reader, RFID medication management systems seamlessly convert physical inventory into actionable digital data.
As RFID technology becomes more mature, making it more accessible and cost-effective, pharmaceutical manufacturers must ask themselves: Is our manufacturing process future-ready? The real question isn’t whether RFID belongs in your operations, but how to implement it strategically and effectively to unlock its full potential.
Understanding how RFID tracking systems have evolved, its current applications, and where the technology is headed is critical for manufacturers looking to stay innovative.
The Growth of RFID in Pharmaceuticals
Early RFID adoption in pharmaceutical manufacturing faced significant hurdles, largely due to the infrastructure limitations and implementation challenges at the time. Initial efforts focused on supply chain visibility, but the lack of a RFID infrastructure implemented throughout the supply chain limited the technology’s effectiveness. Additionally, early RFID implementations relied on extended memory chips and complex encoding processes on packaging lines, leading to high failure rates and inflated costs. The specific form of the technology wasn’t scalable or practical for high-volume pharmaceutical production.
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed dramatically. Over the past decade, critical advancements in RFID technology and supply chain infrastructures have driven widespread interest and adoption —reducing costs across medication manufacturers. Some factors driving this change include::
Health System Demands: Hospitals and healthcare providers increasingly rely on RFID kit and tray management, creating a strong commercial incentive for pharmaceutical manufacturers to tag their products. What was once a “nice-to-have” has become nonnegotiable. The most common hospital use-cases for RFID medication management focus on high-volume injectable generics, though the demand for RFID in biologics, oncology drugs, and other high-cost items is on the rise.
Testing Specifications: Many of the attributes implicit in injectable drug tagging make reading RAIN RFID tags difficult: high densities, objects with curved faces, liquids and metal foils. Today, robust testing methods have produced high quality certification procedures like Spec S from ARC Lab at Auburn University, giving manufacturers confidence that the materials they choose will work.
Cloud Registries: Cloud-based medication management and tracking solutions have been recognized as the most economical way to store and access item attributed data instead of on individual tags. These types of registries are also used to look up recalls and manage drugs safely.
Adaptable Solutions: Pharmaceutical manufacturers can now implement RFID technology with minimal operational disruption through drop-in solutions that integrate into existing packaging lines.
Tailored RFID Products: Industry leaders including Avery Dennison have developed pharmaceutical-specific inlays, such as the Spec S-certified AD MiniDose with NXP’s high-performance UCODE chips. These inlays are designed to address common challenges, including curved surfaces, liquids, and dense storage configurations.
These advancements have positioned RFID medication tracking tools as a scalable and impactful solution for pharmaceutical manufacturers, paving the way for widespread adoption.
Best Practices for RFID Medication Management from Industry Experts
Today, pharmaceutical manufacturers have a clear roadmap for successful RFID implementation – one that builds on the lessons learned from other industries. RFID standards and innovation are driven by the retail industry, which accounts for over 80% of all RAIN RFID tags in use today. The retail industry has transitioned to almost exclusively 96-bit tags, encoded and locked by the converter, associated on the packaging line. This approach has been proven to offer high levels of quality and performance at a lower cost and less complexity to manufacturers.
Experts from Bluesight (automation systems), Avery Dennison (inlays and label materials), and NXP Semiconductors (RFID chips), recommend four strategies to maximize performance and efficiency:
Choose ARC-Certified Products
Selecting ARC-certified inlays specifically designed for pharmaceuticals guarantees optimal performance under real-world conditions. Products tested and approved for Spec S standards are engineered for challenging applications, such as tagging vials, syringes, and liquid-filled containers.
Utilize Low Memory (Latest Generation) Chips
The move to low memory RFID tags (i.e., 96-bit and 128-bit) has proven to be a catalyst for lower costs and better scalability. These tags, such as those with NXP’s UCODE chipsets, balance cost-efficiency and performance.
Leverage Cloud Infrastructure
Store operational data in cloud registries rather than on the tag itself. By registering EPC/TID combinations in a cloud database that your customers will use, operational efficiency and accessibility can be improved drastically. Platforms like the Bluesight Registry already handle over 325 million doses, demonstrating the benefits of centralized cloud storage.
Seamless Integration with Packaging Lines
Modern RFID tracking systems are designed to integrate seamlessly into existing pharmaceutical packaging lines. By partnering with the leading organizations in the RFID industry, such as Bluesight (automation systems), Avery Dennison (inlays and label materials), and NXP (RFID chips), you can design an adaptation strategy that minimizes downtime and maximizes production efficiency.
The Road Ahead: What’s Next for RFID in the Pharmaceutical Industry?
RFID medication tracking and management technology is seeing significant advancements and expanding its applications in the pharmaceutical industry – showing approximately 40% growth in the number of sites using RFID automation systems and a 450% increase in the number of source-tagged presentations of drugs over the past five years. Areas of growth include:
- RFID tracking for specialty and high-value drugs. Biologics and oncological medications that are often stored in infusion clinics, cancer centers, or compounding pharmacies,represent a substantial financial investment, and RFID tracking ensures that every dose is properly accounted for.
Additionally, RFID inlays are adapting to accommodate new product types, including pre-filled syringes, auto-injectors, and non-polypropylene bags. By refining designs to work with unconventional materials and product configurations, RFID is broadening its usability in the field.
- Improved RFID tag performance. This is another potential area of future development, with chip manufacturers including NXP Semiconductors envisioning this as a possibility for moving the technology forward. Features such as tamper evidence and temperature monitoring may become more relevant, particularly for pharmaceutical cold chains and the storage of high-value medications.
- As RFID adoption continues to grow, the technology is poised to become an industry standard for pharmaceutical manufacturing and industry collaboration will play a vital role. Partnerships between solution providers, manufacturers, and healthcare facilities will continue fostering a more standardized and streamlined approach to RFID tagging and data sharing across the supply chain. Future advancements will likely also focus on regulatory alignment and industry standards, as governing bodies and leading organizations recognize RFID’s benefits and introduce guidelines to encourage wider adoption.
With RFID at the forefront of pharmaceutical supply chain innovation, manufacturers that embrace and strategically implement this technology will be well-positioned for the future – from the manufacturing line all the way to the patient.
To learn more, visit Bluesight and Avery Dennison at CPHI Americas in booth #1257.