Sonoco and IPICO to Co-Develop and Commercialize RFID Technologies for the Paper Making Industry

HARTSVILLE, SC and BURLINGTON, ON, Dec. 18, 2007 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) – Sonoco and IPICO Inc. today announced an agreement to co-develop and commercialize Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for the paper making industry. The agreement will enable the development of an RFID tracking solution for Sonoco’s paper making tube and core customers.

“We have looked at a number of RFID tag technologies and feel that IPICO’s technology is best suited to withstand the demanding environment found in paper mills,” said John Colyer, Sonoco’s division vice president and general manager, Industrial Products North America. “We are excited about the opportunity to work closely with IPICO to develop practical solutions for the paper industry’s supply chain challenges.”

The optimum RFID solution for the paper-making industry requires a tag to be incorporated into the paper roll, at its core, so that the roll can be tracked from the paper machine winder to the point of use. Standard-issue low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and ultra high frequency (UHF) tag technologies to date have not met customers’ performance expectations due to the high carbon and water content of paper, which can result in signal interference and data loss.

IPICO’s Intellicore tag and reader solutions, based on the unique IP-X-based Dual Frequency RFID technology, solve the signal problem and address the unique requirements of the paper industry. These include the need to read shafted and shaftless winding equipment; inventory tracking in a variety of paper handling scenarios such as roll clamps and roll stands; and monitoring the location of clamp trucks as they move throughout the operation.

“The paper industry produces hundreds of millions of rolls annually and to date has not had a reliable, real-time electronic tracking solution,” said Gordon Westwater, President, IPICO Inc. “By utilizing IPICO RFID technology, Sonoco, the world’s largest producer of paper-based tubes and cores, is empowering its customers to identify, track and locate paper rolls, no matter where they are in the supply chain. This new level of inventory management and control can deliver a rapid, measurable return on investment.”

IPICO’s technology currently performs in a wide range of challenging application environments where conventional technologies fall short, including electronic vehicle identification, container identification and security, extreme environments and paper rolls.

About Sonoco

Sonoco, founded in 1899, is a global manufacturer of industrial and consumer packaging and provider of packaging services, with more than 330 operations in 35 countries, serving customers in some 85 nations. For more information on Sonoco (NYSE: SON), visit www.sonoco.com.

About IPICO

IPICO Inc. is an RFID solution supplier with operations in Canada, United States, South Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. IPICO produces smart labels, tags and readers based on the IP-X communication protocol. Its products are designed to conform to regulatory requirements in most major geographical regions, to excel at long read range, fast multi-read anti-collision and high thru-beam read-speeds of dynamic tag populations, and to allow for multi-reader rollout in close proximity. IPICO’s products are used to optimize the management of products, equipment, people, animals and processes within the logistics and other value chains. For further information, go to www.ipico.com.