Damage during transport is something you want to avoid. In addition to physical damage due to poor packaging, damage can also occur due to excessive fluctuations in temperature, humidity, shocks, CO2, or deviating oxygen levels. But how do you make these parameters easily and affordably transparent for both the sender and recipient during transport? How do you know if the temperature remained within the set bandwidths during the transport of, for example, medicines, flowers, vegetables, fruit, or seeds? PaperWise and Tapp.online are joining forces and offering the solution with sensors in paper and packaging!

Smart paper

“Smart Paper” is what Niels Postma, founder of Tapp.online, calls his invention. After several years of development, Tapp.online has succeeded in equipping paper with sensors that can measure temperature, humidity, shocks, tilt angle, oxygen levels, CO2, or anything else during transport. Both the sender and recipient can very easily view the exact data throughout the entire transport process, anywhere in the world.

Simply by using your mobile phone. Without special software, apps, cables, electricity, batteries, or anything else—only by holding a smartphone with an NFC reader near the chip in the PaperWise paper. But how does this save costs? Below are two practical examples.

Insight into temperature fluctuations increases yield per hectare of arable farming

Seeds are shipped by companies all over the world. For an optimal germination process, the seeds must remain within specific temperature bandwidths during transport. If temperatures deviate too much during transport, the seed may still look fine, but it will germinate less effectively. The yield per hectare of the crop will decrease drastically.

To prevent this damage, various types of packaging such as boxes, pallets, and big bags can be equipped with a PaperWise printed label featuring Smart Paper temperature sensors. The sensor with a built-in chip is applied to the paper during the printing of the labels or tags. Batteries are not required. The recipient only needs to hold their smartphone near the chip in the label. They immediately see the temperature graph on their screen, along with any additional information about the seeds, the variety, usage instructions, and an image.

Logging data regarding temperature fluctuations and the ability to send additional information about medicines during transport increases safety for the pharmaceutical industry. Medicines are also sent all over the world—from remote, dry, and hot regions in Africa to humid and tropical areas around the equator. You can imagine that a pallet full of medicines in a remote village in Africa or in a sparsely populated area in the tropics raises many questions. Which medicines are packed on this pallet? What are the medicines intended for? And have the medicines remained sufficiently cooled and dry during transport and therefore still usable? Far from civilization, where power, batteries, and special software are not always immediately available, labels and sustainable packaging from PaperWise equipped with Smart Paper sensors offer the perfect solution. All information about the shipment, the medicines, storage advice, and temperature fluctuations is immediately visible on the screen of the recipient’s mobile phone. Simply by holding the mobile phone near the smart packaging with the NFC chip.

How PaperWise equipped with smart paper sensors works

To measure is to know. Collecting data has become an indispensable part of our society. The analysis of big data offers insights that can save costs or improve quality and safety. Before Smart Paper was introduced to the market, the transport market used data loggers to measure environmental variables. However, these data loggers have several disadvantages for this application. In addition to the high price, you are stuck with electronics, cables, plugs, and batteries. And where do you hide the data logger? PaperWise equipped with Smart Paper sensors offers a solution to these problems.

Collecting data on environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, shocks, CO2, or oxygen during transport becomes very simple. During the printing of the packaging or label, the Smart Paper sensor and chip are applied to the paper. The inks are positively and negatively charged and function as a battery with a lifespan of at least 6 months. The chip in the sensor measures the environment every 15 minutes, but this measurement can also be set to shorter or longer intervals. The interval is, in fact, completely adjustable.

As soon as the recipient holds their smartphone near the NFC chip, the data of the environmental variables is read and sent to a secure and protected internet environment. The data is accessible via personalized cloud dashboards. The cloud environment also offers space for additional information, images, videos, and photos. No hassle with USB cables; you only need a smartphone with an NFC reader. Both the recipient and the sender have immediate access to all data as soon as the phone has read the chip, whereas with traditional data loggers, it is difficult to get the data to the sending party as well.

The Smart Paper sensors from Tapp.online can be integrated into many sustainable PaperWise packaging solutions, custom-made and provided with your own design. This means custom branding is possible, unlike with traditional data loggers. Furthermore, PaperWise equipped with Smart Paper sensors can simply be recycled through the normal waste paper stream. The sensor, chip, and inks have no negative impact on the paper recycling process, whereas traditional data loggers involve plastic, metal, and sometimes even mercury. The inks leave the paper mill along with inks from other waste paper. The chip is a very small piece of metal that is disposed of with staples and paperclips via residual waste. And the PaperWise paper is reused for new paper. Choosing PaperWise equipped with Smart Paper sensors means choosing a more sustainable and cost-saving alternative compared to traditional data loggers.

What are the costs of Smart Paper?

The internet environment where the data is stored and managed can be fully personalized and tailored to the identity of the sender or recipient. Analyses of the data can also be performed in this environment. Naturally, the data can be exported to XML, Excel, CSV, or PDF. Per package or label, an investment of €5 to €15 should be taken into account for a print run between 100 and 100,000 units.

Why do Tapp.online and PaperWise choose each other?

PaperWise wants to contribute positively to a better world, and we do that with paper and paperboard made from agricultural waste. This innovation changes the paper industry for the better. Smart Paper makes logging environmental data simple, affordable, recyclable, and accessible to a wide audience. Both PaperWise and Tapp.online believe in each other’s innovation and are of the opinion that they offer the market the best solution by working together. If you want to measure and log environmental factors during your transport, choose PaperWise paper and eco-friendly packaging equipped with Smart Paper sensors. Together, we make the world a little more beautiful.