Retail case-and-pallet mandates pushed converters into chip-embedded labels. The process is not ordinary flexo: equipment, ESD, and 100% test are different. Call 800-249-0337.
HF vs UHF
High-frequency tags at 13.56 MHz. Ultra-high-frequency at 915 MHz. HF has been the more reliable build; large retailers still specified UHF for read range — about 15–20 ft versus 1–2 ft for HF.
An inlay is chip, strap, and antenna under the face stock. A printed antenna plus strap is the other stack. Both sit on a liner like any pressure-sensitive label.
Why yield hurts
UHF inlays take communication errors, mechanical damage, and electrostatic discharge. Not every inlay works before converting, and not every label works after. Inlay makers mark known duds; converters still test inbound and test again as finished labels. A “good” RFID rate of a few thousand labels an hour is slow next to 500 fpm on 4×6 in flexo. Outbound yield in the mid- to high-90s is common; end users used to 100% good labels feel that. Inlays can leave the plant fine and fail in the warehouse.
Until incoming inlays are reliable, you inspect and replace. Printed conductive-ink antennas are the hoped-for path back to press speed, but they were still early when this article was written. Inlay price has to fall for ROI; that is years, not months. Long term the converters on the sheet still called it worth the pain.
Related: label adhesives, PSA, tapes and films, packaging.