Alongside the usual indispensable mix of business, product, materials and technology news, this month brings details of a sister publication we have just launched covering all aspects of RFID.

Analysts believe that, despite some uncertainties, this fast-developing technology will transform businesses’ supply chain and logistics operations even more radically than the (now) humble barcode did 20 years ago.

Thus far, concerns over the tags’ current high cost and continuing confusion over operating frequencies have slowed the technology’s widescale adoption. However, this year’s emergence of global operating standards and the growing insistence of powerful retailers like Wal-Mart that suppliers begin tagging has raised interest to new heights in the technology.

RFID is the future and anyone in the packaging, retail or logistics sectors who does not keep up to speed will suffer in the long-term.

RFID Solutions will guide the unfamiliar through the RFID maze and provide newcomers and the relatively experienced alike with all the latest business and technology news, and current comment and analysis.

There is also news of the Institute of Packaging’s new, re-named and extensively revamped Directory and Review, now called “PackSource”. It is a veritable “who’s who of who does what” in the UK packaging industry, whether your requirement is for a specialist closure supplier, an independent design consultant or a company to design and install a complete high speed machinery line.

PackSource also looks in-depth at the latest industry developments and provides expert opinion on current and forthcoming issues and their potential impact on different parts of the packaging chain.