Beontag Drives Innovation with Diversified RFID Products and Solutions
Beontag drives innovation in the field of track and traceability in various industries. The result: increased sustainability with cutting-edge ECO RFID products and solutions. Ricardo Lobo, CEO of Beontag shares insights into the concept of diversification in the context of product and solution development.
Ricardo Lobo is CEO of Beontag, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of self-adhesives and smart tags for RFID and NFC solutions. Having led the company for over 8 years, Ricardo has helped develop and expand Beontag into the global business enabler it is today. His mission is to drive seamless communication between companies, products, and people through his expertise and passion for the potential of IoT and data communication.
Interview with Ricardo Lobo
Investment in R&D
1. What are the long-term goals you aim to achieve through your investments in R&D?
After significant investment in growth in recent years, our investment strategy now focuses on innovation, sustainability, and R&D, in line with our ambition to be a global business enabler.
This ambition is attached to our most long-term investments in operational ‘centres of excellence’ in Brazil, Finland, Italy, USA, and China.
Our scope has grown from label manufacturing into a global technology developer that shapes efficient and sustainable supply chains, transport systems, payment infrastructures, and communication networks. Today, Beontag is at the cutting edge of the R&D driving technological innovation across a wide range of sectors and industries, using a vast array of hardware and software.
2. What investments have been made, or are going to be made in R&D at Beontag?
In November 2023, we unveiled our new landmark site in Dayton, Ohio, to meet the exciting growth potential in the North American market. We have invested $60 million in the facility, which will serve as a hub for manufacturing PSA (pressure sensitive adhesives) products and RFID tags. This 200-person site will be fully operational by the end of this year.
Our commitment to innovation was underscored by the inauguration of our flagship R&D centre in Tampere, Finland, in January 2024. Following an initial investment of €10 million, the factory is set to drive product innovations for a range of digital tag solutions.
Also in early 2024, we proudly opened our state-of-the-art facility in Bologna, Italy, signalling our dedication to advancing product quality and industry standards. Our Bologna team is empowered to advance product quality and spearhead advancements within the industry.
In March, I visited our team in Guangzhou, China. With over €3 million invested between 2022 and 2023, and further projections for 2024 totalling €4 million, our Guangzhou facility aims to meet the substantial growth of Smart Cities and Transport capabilities in the region. We predict a 10% year-on-year increase in headcount, expanding the team in Guangzhou to 226 employees.
Reflecting on the last 6 months alone, I am incredibly proud and excited about the contributions Beontag will make to the industries we serve, pushing the boundaries of what is possible for product quality, sustainability, and affordability.
Interview with Ricardo Lobo
Investment in R&D
1. What are the long-term goals you aim to achieve through your investments in R&D?
After significant investment in growth in recent years, our investment strategy now focuses on innovation, sustainability, and R&D, in line with our ambition to be a global business enabler.
This ambition is attached to our most long-term investments in operational ‘centres of excellence’ in Brazil, Finland, Italy, USA, and China.
Our scope has grown from label manufacturing into a global technology developer that shapes efficient and sustainable supply chains, transport systems, payment infrastructures, and communication networks. Today, Beontag is at the cutting edge of the R&D driving technological innovation across a wide range of sectors and industries, using a vast array of hardware and software.
2. What investments have been made, or are going to be made in R&D at Beontag?
In November 2023, we unveiled our new landmark site in Dayton, Ohio, to meet the exciting growth potential in the North American market. We have invested $60 million in the facility, which will serve as a hub for manufacturing PSA (pressure sensitive adhesives) products and RFID tags. This 200-person site will be fully operational by the end of this year.
Our commitment to innovation was underscored by the inauguration of our flagship R&D centre in Tampere, Finland, in January 2024. Following an initial investment of €10 million, the factory is set to drive product innovations for a range of digital tag solutions.
Also in early 2024, we proudly opened our state-of-the-art facility in Bologna, Italy, signalling our dedication to advancing product quality and industry standards. Our Bologna team is empowered to advance product quality and spearhead advancements within the industry.
In March, I visited our team in Guangzhou, China. With over €3 million invested between 2022 and 2023, and further projections for 2024 totalling €4 million, our Guangzhou facility aims to meet the substantial growth of Smart Cities and Transport capabilities in the region. We predict a 10% year-on-year increase in headcount, expanding the team in Guangzhou to 226 employees.
Reflecting on the last 6 months alone, I am incredibly proud and excited about the contributions Beontag will make to the industries we serve, pushing the boundaries of what is possible for product quality, sustainability, and affordability.
Ricardo Lobo is CEO of Beontag, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of self-adhesives and smart tags for RFID and NFC solutions. Having led the company for over 8 years, Ricardo has helped develop and expand Beontag into the global business enabler it is today. His mission is to drive seamless communication between companies, products, and people through his expertise and passion for the potential of IoT and data communication.
Beontag
- Global distributor and IoT solutions provider
- Customers: Companies from a wide range of industries
- Products: RFID, BLE, and NFC hardware
- Solutions: Asset management, localization, access control, and more.
Diversification
3. How does your company define diversification, and why is it important?
By creating a broad base of technological solutions, we operate with the benefit of seeing the distinct challenges experienced in different sectors, allowing us to pinpoint the connections between industry-specific obstacles.
This cross-pollination empowers us to create tailored solutions in countless sectors – including apparel, retail, luxury, payments, transportation, smart cities, heavy industries, and more.
We aim to continue diversifying our focus as new opportunities emerge to shape a world where sustainability, efficiency, and user experience go hand-in-hand.
4. Can you provide examples of how your company has diversified its products, solutions, or services?
The versatility of our RFID products means they can be deployed across a vast range of use cases, from connected luxury products through the traceability of the entire life cycle of a tyre, and everything in between.
For example, we work with Volvo to steer the timing of the ‘just in time’ automated production line at their manufacturing plants, where production of every car starts with a Beontag RFID tag. But we also offer solutions for luxury brands such as Bulgari. While we also operate in the smart cities segment, we provide Venice Vaporetto tickets.
Outside of this example, we have made a significant effort to diversify our proprietary range of sustainable RFID solutions, including the fully paper-based ECO RFID technology, which we have developed in-house. Paper-based RFID tags are highly flexible and durable, and offer industry-leading, real-time reading, counting, and tracing capability to any product or surface they are attached to.
With product innovations such as these, and many more, we are constantly exploring new ways to support our customers and help them to unlock new business models and revenue streams.
Diversification
3. How does your company define diversification, and why is it important?
By creating a broad base of technological solutions, we operate with the benefit of seeing the distinct challenges experienced in different sectors, allowing us to pinpoint the connections between industry-specific obstacles.
This cross-pollination empowers us to create tailored solutions in countless sectors – including apparel, retail, luxury, payments, transportation, smart cities, heavy industries, and more.
We aim to continue diversifying our focus as new opportunities emerge to shape a world where sustainability, efficiency, and user experience go hand-in-hand.
4. Can you provide examples of how your company has diversified its products, solutions, or services?
The versatility of our RFID products means they can be deployed across a vast range of use cases, from connected luxury products through the traceability of the entire life cycle of a tyre, and everything in between.
For example, we work with Volvo to steer the timing of the ‘just in time’ automated production line at their manufacturing plants, where production of every car starts with a Beontag RFID tag. But we also offer solutions for luxury brands such as Bulgari. While we also operate in the smart cities segment, we provide Venice Vaporetto tickets.
Outside of this example, we have made a significant effort to diversify our proprietary range of sustainable RFID solutions, including the fully paper-based ECO RFID technology, which we have developed in-house. Paper-based RFID tags are highly flexible and durable, and offer industry-leading, real-time reading, counting, and tracing capability to any product or surface they are attached to.
With product innovations such as these, and many more, we are constantly exploring new ways to support our customers and help them to unlock new business models and revenue streams.
Beontag
- Global distributor and IoT solutions provider
- Customers: Companies from a wide range of industries
- Products: RFID, BLE, and NFC hardware
- Solutions: Asset management, localization, access control, and more.
Sustainable Solutions
5. How does your company define sustainable solutions, and why are they important to your business?
Beontag is committed to promoting sustainability, both within our operations and in the solutions that we offer. This effort combines our company’s ambitious ESG Strategy aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Our tracking and traceability capabilities enable our customers to better measure the sustainability credentials of any product, supply chain or inventory, for example their corporate carbon footprint – but our sustainability efforts do not stop there.
Our sustainable product portfolio incorporates cutting-edge plastic-free technology in RFID tags. By focusing on sustainable-led innovation, we share an industry-wide commitment to traceability and transparency solutions, with a smaller carbon footprint and enhanced customer experience.
6. Can you provide examples of sustainable initiatives or projects that your company has already implemented?
Beontag’s growing “ECO” range of sustainability products and solutions enables our customers to reduce their carbon footprint. The range includes ECO RFID tag, which reduces the indirect emissions of its consumers by more than half the gCO₂e per unit of RFID tag compared to a PET/Alu tag throughout the tag’s entire life cycle.
Company-wide, we have developed a 2030 roadmap that will guide Beontag’s ESG commitments and targets through the rest of this decade. This roadmap incorporates strategic acquisitions, investment in innovative technology and promoting balance in our supply chain.
We launched our 2030 ESG strategy in 2022, and it has already accomplished so much thanks to the efforts of our teams all over the world. More than 50% of our DTE products are now sourced from short-distance supply¹, plus we have assessed sources of clean energy generation. I am excited to take further steps to reduce our carbon footprint by driving climate-focused internal operations that enable both us and our customers to drive sustainable businesses.
¹ according to our internal definition, short-distance supply means materials sourced from local suppliers (same continent, tier 1).