SBIR Phase II: Material Adjusted Signature Tags for Cradle-to-Grave Inventory Applications

这个小企业创新研究二期项目改善了库存管理。据估计，由于不完全了解公司的库存，每年损失8180亿美元。这个问题的发生是因为在供应链（零售、物流和最终用户）的制造过程中缺少标签。目前，传统的供应链管理迫使公司在每一步至少添加一个新标签。该项目将减少每个产品的标签数量，成倍减少浪费，提高供应链效率，防止仿冒品或假冒产品进入供应链。所有这些都将帮助企业更有效地运作，更好地服务客户，并使消费者能够获得他们购买的详细信息。该项目的智力优势在于，通过优化和可扩展性任务，开发了第一个商业上可行的、从摇篮到坟墓的库存标签。这项创新是一个无芯片的库存标签，每个产品都有一个唯一的序列号，以提供从摇篮到坟墓的功能。基础材料调整签名标签（MAST）技术使用可打印材料来创建独特的射频（RF）信号。MAST标签将允许直接打印或应用标签到产品上，允许一种有效的方式来可靠地识别，跟踪和属性数据到产品的整个生命周期。该项目将提高标签的数据潜力，优化可制造性，并实现更高的可读性。除了优化和可扩展性里程碑之外，该项目还将在相关环境中测试标签、读取器和制造设备。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project improves inventory management. An estimated $818 billion is lost annually due to incomplete knowledge of a company’s inventory. The problem occurs because of the absence of a label at manufacturing that survives through the supply chain (retail, logistics, and end user). Currently, traditional supply chain management forces a company to add at least one new tag at each step. This project will reduce the number of tags per product, exponentially decrease waste, increase supply chain efficiency, and prevent knockoffs or counterfeits from being added to the supply chain. All of this will help businesses run more effectively, better serve customers, and enable consumers to gain detailed knowledge of their purchases.The intellectual merit of this project is development of the first commercially viable, cradle-to-grave inventory tag through optimization and scalability tasks. The innovation is a chipless inventory tag with a unique serial number for every product to provide the cradle-to-grave functionality. The underlying Material Adjusted Signature Tag (MAST) technology uses printable materials to create a unique radio frequency (RF) signal. The MAST tags will enable direct printing or application of a tag onto a product, allowing an efficient way to reliably identify, track, and attribute data to a product throughout its life. This project will improve the tag’s data potential, optimize manufacturability, and achieve greater readability. Beyond optimization and scalability milestones, this project will test the tags, readers, and manufacturing equipment in relevant environments.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.