According to reports, the development would allow beverage manufacturers to continue to use their existing manufacturing equipment even if they shift to the new cap. NEC Corp. and container company Toyo Seikan Kaisha, Ltd. said they have managed to fit a built in chip and a micro antenna inside the plastic cap, according to various Japanese media reports. No information on the RFID cap was available in English. Mami Akasaka of Tech-On! journal said the cap is embedded with a passive 2.45 GHz RFID tag with a communication range extends to 10 cm. The companies claimed that the design of the 24-mm diameter, butterfly-shaped tag, prevents interference with the RFID signal from any moisture released by the drink. The RFID tag used in the bottle cap was developed by NEC Electronics. The companies plan to start mass-producing the bottle cap at Toyo Seikan Group's Japan Crown Cork Co., Ltd. in 2008, Tech-On! reported. Tokyo Seikan and NEC are jointly exploring the possible RFID tag embedding with metal cans, plastic containers, glass bottles and paper packages, according to the journal. RFID technology is helping to transform logistics by providing a means of tracking and tracing individual products throughout the supply chain. So far, the high cost of tags, error read rates and privacy concerns have held back its wider deployment. RFID could also be used to track individual items, consumption patterns and consumer preferences.
