AIM’s quarterly chapter meeting brought together leaders from across the global AIM community to share updates, highlight regional priorities, and identify opportunities for continued collaboration. The meeting reflected AIM’s role as a worldwide authority on barcode, RFID, RTLS, mobile computing, and related automatic identification and data capture technologies.

Across chapters, a common theme emerged: AIM members are actively helping industry respond to regulatory change, digital transformation, traceability requirements, and the growing need for interoperable standards.

AIM Germany: Advancing EU Standards and Industry Collaboration

AIM Germany provided a detailed update on its continued participation in European standardization and regulatory discussions. Key areas of focus include the Digital Product Passport, Cyber Resilience Act, Radio Equipment Directive, cybersecurity regulations, and frequency harmonization for RFID.

AIM Germany also reported on its spring members meeting, where board members were re-elected and a membership fee increase was approved beginning in 2027. Planning is also underway for an autumn meeting hosted by Epson in the Düsseldorf area.

Chapter highlight: AIM Germany continues to play an important role in EU technical and policy discussions, especially around DPP, CRA, RED, RFID frequency harmonization, and cybersecurity regulation.

AIM Russia: Supporting Standards and National Traceability

AIM Russia reported 19 member companies as of June 2026 and continues to operate in partnership with GS1 Russia through a joint secretariat. The chapter remains active in standards development, advocacy, user education, and technical consultation.

AIM Russia serves as Secretariat for GOST Technical Committee 355 and participates in international standards activity through ISO and CIS technical committees. Recent standards activity includes updated Data Matrix specifications and syntax standards for high-capacity automatic data capture media.

Chapter highlight: AIM Russia is supporting national traceability initiatives using AIDC technologies such as UHF RFID and Data Matrix, while maintaining strong alignment with ISO-based standards.

AIM India: Expanding Industry Visibility and Event Participation

AIM India shared updates on its successful webinar, “How RFID is Transforming Retail Operations,” which saw strong participation from registered attendees. The chapter also reported continued growth in its digital presence, with 1,918 LinkedIn followers and a team strength of 11.

AIM India also participated in several major industry events, including the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Rising Bharat Summit, Chintan Shivir on India’s medical devices export ecosystem, Times Now Summit 2026, and India Pharma 2026. These activities helped position AIM India within conversations around AI, AIDC, manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and national technology growth.

Chapter highlight: AIM India is building strong visibility through webinars, national conferences, and engagement in conversations around AI, RFID, MedTech, pharma, and India’s broader innovation economy.

AIM North America: Workgroups, Awards, and Member Engagement

AIM North America reported 96 total members across manufacturers, solution providers, distributors, end users, associations, government agencies, universities, and emeritus members. The chapter also highlighted upcoming award presentations recognizing individuals, organizations, and government leaders contributing to the use of AIDC and AIT.

Several active workgroups were featured. The UDI Work Group, chaired by Jay Crowley, recently hosted a virtual seminar with more than 150 registrants and is developing guidance on selecting 2D scanners. The Food Supply Chain Work Group, chaired by Julie McGill, is preparing comments related to FDA traceability requirements and developing educational resources. The Cannabis Work Group, chaired by Duane Roebuck, continues to build podcast content around inventory tracking, QR codes, safety, smart packaging, and related topics.

Chapter highlight: AIM North America continues to drive industry education and advocacy through active workgroups focused on UDI, food traceability, cannabis, 2D barcodes, and member engagement.

AIM Asia: Launching a Regional DPP Workgroup

AIM Asia reported the official launch of its Digital Product Passport Workgroup, which has already held its first meeting. The workgroup is focusing on industries where digital traceability and product transparency are becoming increasingly important, including garments, semiconductors, food, and pharmaceuticals.

The chapter is also developing a new regional web platform to strengthen member collaboration, resource sharing, and engagement across Asia.

Chapter highlight: AIM Asia is expanding regional collaboration through a new DPP Workgroup and a digital platform designed to connect members and support shared resources.

AIM Denmark: DPP Education and New Leadership

AIM Denmark highlighted recent activities, including its April AIDC seminar, “DPP as Growth Motor,” which helped attract interest from both members and non-members. The chapter emphasized the importance of expanding DPP conversations beyond pharmaceuticals to include retail and other industries.

AIM Denmark also announced new board leadership for 2026 and 2027, with Christian Meinhardt serving as Chair, Henrik Stilling as Vice Chair, and Merete Skov Pedersen as Secretariat Lead. Upcoming activities include an AIDC ERFA event at New Aalborg Hospital in August.

Chapter highlight: AIM Denmark is using DPP-focused education and healthcare-centered events to broaden AIDC awareness and strengthen regional engagement.

AIM Japan: Standards Participation and DPP Implementation Challenges

AIM Japan discussed challenges related to ISO/IEC JTC 5 participation and Digital Product Passport implementation.

AIM Global will follow up with AIM Japan to discuss how to collaborate more closely on standards and data formatting concerns in more detail.

Chapter highlight: AIM Japan is raising important questions around international standards participation, data formatting, and practical implementation challenges related to DPP.

AIM China: Digital Food Labeling and Consumer Transparency

AIM China reported progress on the Prepackaged Food Digital Label Platform, which is supporting more than 70 food companies as they transition to digital product information. This work is helping improve consumer access to product data, strengthen transparency, and support traceability through digital labeling and identification solutions.

The chapter also continues to promote adoption of RFID, smart labels, IoT, and other AIDC innovations across multiple sectors.

Chapter highlight: AIM China is advancing digital food labeling and consumer transparency through a platform supporting more than 70 food companies.

AIM Korea: Supporting the Smart Food QR Project

AIM Korea, in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and GS1 Korea, provided consulting and technical support for the Smart Food QR project. This initiative supports the transition from traditional 1D barcodes to GS1 global 2D barcodes on food products.

The project is expected to improve digital access to food information, strengthen traceability, and support the use of global standards for richer product data.

Chapter highlight: AIM Korea is helping advance the transition to GS1 global 2D barcodes for food products through the Smart Food QR project.

AIM Global: Standards, Advocacy, Community, and Education

AIM Global provided an update organized around four key pillars: standards, advocacy, community, and education.

On the standards front, AIM highlighted its work as a redirector for ISO/IEC 15459 issuing agencies, the transition to 2D barcodes, AI and robotics, e-labeling, smart packaging, and IoT labeling.

In advocacy, AIM discussed ongoing global regulatory activity and efforts related to the FCC NextNav petition, where AIM joined a multi-association letter regarding proposed realignment of RFID frequency bands. AIM also noted continued work around the EU Digital Product Passport and plans for future DPP workgroup meetings.

Community updates included member meetups, chapter collaboration, Women of AIDC, Young Professionals, and opportunities to expand global mastermind groups. AIM also highlighted educational resources including the AIDC Fundamentals video series, RFID Community Connect post-event materials, partnered webinars, podcasts, and the Transportation, Logistics, and Warehousing industry survey.

Chapter highlight: AIM Global continues to connect chapter activity through standards leadership, advocacy, community engagement, education, and cross-regional collaboration.

Looking Ahead

The quarterly chapter meeting demonstrated the strength and diversity of AIM’s global network. From EU regulatory engagement and digital product passports to food labeling, healthcare traceability, RFID education, and 2D barcode adoption, AIM chapters are addressing the issues shaping the future of automatic identification and data capture.

AIM will continue working with its global chapters to strengthen industry education, support standards-based implementation, and help members navigate the evolving technology and regulatory landscape.

AIM Global joined a broad coalition urging the FCC to support resilient backup Positioning, Navigation, and Timing solutions without reconfiguring the 902–928 MHz Lower 900 MHz Band. The letter supports the FCC’s goal of strengthening GPS resilience, but opposes NextNav’s proposal because the band is already heavily used 9and has been for decades) by RFID, utilities, transportation, tolling, public safety, aviation, security systems, IoT, and other critical applications. The coalition argues that introducing high-power 5G operations into a band built around low-power coexistence could create interference, stranded investment, and major economic harm, including estimated RFID replacement costs of $5.0 to $7.2 billion. The letter asks the FCC to dismiss NextNav’s petition and pursue technology-neutral PNT resilience options that do not disrupt the existing Lower 900 MHz ecosystem. 

For AIM Global and the automatic identification and data capture community, the Lower 900 MHz Band is especially important because it supports RAIN RFID and other technologies that help organizations identify, track, and manage products, assets, and shipments. These systems are deeply embedded in retail, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, defense, transportation, and many other sectors.

The coalition letter warns that NextNav’s proposal would introduce high-power 5G operations into a band that has long been structured around low-power coexistence. According to the coalition, this could significantly reduce spectrum availability for current users, change the operating environment for deployed devices, and create risks of interference, degraded performance, stranded investment, and higher costs.

The coalition also emphasizes that there are other paths available for strengthening PNT resilience. The U.S. Department of Transportation and other federal agencies are already evaluating multiple complementary PNT technologies, including terrestrial and satellite-based alternatives. A technology-neutral, multi-solution approach would allow the country to advance GPS resilience without prematurely selecting one company’s preferred spectrum-based model or disrupting an ecosystem that already supports billions of dollars in economic activity.

The full letter can be viewed here. 

Following up on this item, the June 4, 2026 House Energy and Commerce hearing focused on the national need for resilient PNT capabilities, including GPS backup solutions for national security, critical infrastructure, public safety, communications, energy, finance, transportation, and emergency response. Chairman Hudson’s opening statement emphasized that GPS disruptions from jamming, spoofing, or satellite threats could have major consequences for the U.S. economy and national security, while also highlighting complementary PNT as a bipartisan priority.

Vide from this meeting can be accessed here.

As policymakers continue reviewing PNT resilience options, AIM Global will continue advocating for standards-based, interoperable, and practical solutions that protect critical infrastructure while enabling innovation. The Lower 900 MHz Band is not lightly used. It is an essential part of the modern identification, data capture, and connected technology ecosystem.

AIM Global is proud to stand with coalition partners in supporting GPS resilience while urging the FCC to protect the Lower 900 MHz Band and the many industries, organizations, and consumers that depend on it.

This week, the AIM Global RFID Experts Group convened to review and discuss a proposed initiative focused on improving interoperability and data accessibility within cold chain monitoring environments. The discussion centered on how RFID, sensor technologies, and connected data systems can better support temperature-sensitive supply chains across industries such as pharmaceuticals, food, and healthcare.

A major theme throughout the discussion was the growing need for standardized methods of accessing and sharing environmental and sensor data across multiple platforms, readers, and stakeholders. While existing RFID standards already support item identification and tracking, participants highlighted ongoing challenges associated with retrieving and interpreting sensor-based environmental data in a consistent and scalable way. The group explored how current software layers and proprietary integrations can create silos that limit visibility throughout the supply chain.

The conversation also emphasized the importance of developing practical, industry-driven guidance before pursuing a formal international standards effort. Rather than immediately launching a formal standards project, the group discussed forming an ad hoc working group to further define industry requirements, evaluate real-world use cases, and identify achievable near-term deliverables. Areas of focus included developing common data frameworks, supporting interoperable event structures, and enabling easier access to sensor information regardless of hardware or software provider.

Particular attention was given to pharmaceutical cold chain applications as a potential starting point for the initiative. Participants noted that pharmaceutical environments often present stricter regulatory requirements, stronger traceability expectations, and higher levels of technology adoption, making the sector an ideal use case for early collaboration and validation efforts.

As a next step, the RFID Experts Group will be organizing an ad hoc working session focused specifically on the cold chain proposal and its potential deliverables. This collaborative effort will help shape the direction of the initiative and determine whether the group develops a technical framework, best practices guidance, or other interoperability recommendations for the industry.

Professionals involved in RFID, cold chain logistics, pharmaceuticals, food traceability, IoT, sensor technologies, and supply chain visibility are encouraged to participate in the upcoming discussions. The RFID Experts Group continues to serve as a collaborative forum where industry stakeholders can help shape the future of interoperable identification and data-sharing technologies.

To learn more about participating in the RFID Experts Group and future cold chain interoperability discussions, reach out to Mike Allen.

Join AIM’s RFID Experts Group on May 12 at 2:00 PM ET as industry leaders begin discussion focused on end-to-end visibility, interoperability, and traceability for temperature-sensitive goods. This call has been necessitated as demand continues to rise for reliable transport of temperature-sensitive goods such as pharmaceuticals, biologics, and perishable foods.  With this, the industry is facing a growing need for more unified, scalable, and interoperable monitoring solutions. On this call, REG participants will begin exploring how AIM can help advance industry collaboration around a cold chain project aimed at improving visibility, accountability, and standards alignment across the supply chain.

Today, many cold chain operations still rely on standalone temperature data loggers that provide only limited snapshots of product conditions during transit. This fragmented approach often results in delayed feedback, siloed data, and limited ability to intervene when temperature excursions occur, creating risk for spoilage, recalls, compliance failures, and inefficiencies. According to Mordor Intelligence, the global cold chain logistics market is projected to reach approximately $515.8 billion by 2031, underscoring the scale and urgency of improving end-to-end cold chain visibility and traceability. This proposed project will explore opportunities to define a more unified framework for cold chain data integration, helping to support interoperability across hardware, software platforms, and supply chain stakeholders while enabling stronger compliance with initiatives such as FSMA 204, sustainability goals, and broader traceability efforts.

This discussion is expected to focus on the role RFID and sensor-enabled technologies can play in enabling more continuous, real-time monitoring from pallet-level visibility down to the box or item level. By establishing common data structures and encouraging broader industry alignment, this work could help reduce integration barriers, improve trust among trading partners, and unlock new opportunities for innovation across food, healthcare, logistics, and beyond. Intrested parties are encouraged to attend and contribute their perspectives as this important conversation begins.

Please contact me (mike@aimglobal.org) if you would like to be part of the call.

The RFID industry continues to evolve quickly, and staying connected to the trends, standards, and real-world applications shaping the market has never been more important. That is why we wanted to bring the community together for RFID Community Connect, a two-day virtual event designed to deliver practical education, industry perspective, and valuable cross-sector insight.

The event takes place May 19–20 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM EDT each day.  We are pleased to be bringing together solution providers, end users, standards leaders, and industry stakeholders for a focused program of concise, high-value sessions. From adoption trends and interoperability to sector-specific use cases and implementation lessons, attendees will leave with a better understanding on how RFID is creating measurable impact across industries.

This year’s program features two standout keynote presentations. On Day 1, Mark Roberti, Founder of RFID Strategies, will open the event with “The State of RFID in 2026: Trends and Market Momentum,” offering a timely look at where RFID adoption is accelerating and the forces shaping the market. On Day 2, Brian Marflak of FedEx will present “Driving 99% Accuracy: How FedEx Leveraged RFID to Boost Productivity by 20%,” sharing a compelling real-world example of how RFID is delivering measurable operational results at scale.

Beyond the keynote presentations, RFID Community Connect will feature a strong lineup of sessions designed to give attendees practical insight into where RFID is delivering value today and where the technology is headed next. While the event agenda includes a wide range of conversations across the RFID ecosystem, here is a look at just a few of the sessions attendees can expect, with more highlights to be shared in the coming weeks. The full agenda is available on the event website.

One of the featured discussions will focus on RFID standards and interoperability, an important topic as adoption continues to expand across industries and use cases. Chuck Evanhoe, Chairman of AIM will moderate a panel featuring those in the know on standards in Chris Brown of TSC, Aileen Ryan of the  RAIN Alliance, and Claude Tételin of GS1.  They will explore how standards help create consistency across data, systems, and deployments, while supporting the scalability and reliability organizations need for long-term success. For attendees looking to better understand the broader framework that makes RFID deployments work across the ecosystem, this session will provide valuable context around how standards continue to enable adoption, alignment, and confidence in the technology.

Another standout session will be  “How Embeddable RFID is Transforming Tire Traceability, Maintenance, and Circularity,” which will offer a unique look at one of the most innovative applications of RFID today. Randall Grein of Hana RFID and Peter Ramirez of Michelin will bring insights on how embeddable RFID is moving beyond traditional labels and into the tire itself, enabling persistent digital identities and full lifecycle traceability. From manufacturing through maintenance, retreading, and recycling, the session will highlight how connected tires can improve safety, support compliance, strengthen maintenance visibility, and advance circularity goals. It will also explore how digital twins are beginning to reshape operations for manufacturers, fleets, and service networks.

The program will also include “Spot-On Delivery: Baldor Specialty Foods, RFID and Precision in the Fresh Food Supply Chain,” featuring Avery Dennison’s Patrick Sheets in discussion with Suresh Palanisamy of Baldor Specialty Foods. This session will highlight how RFID is being applied in an environment where timing, accuracy, and product integrity are especially critical. Fresh food operations demand strong visibility and precision, and this discussion will provide attendees with a practical example of how RFID can support more accurate tracking, improved delivery confidence, and better execution across the supply chain. It is a strong example of RFID moving from concept to measurable operational value in a fast-moving and highly demanding sector.

Another session attendees will not want to miss is “Replace the Beep: How RFID Integrators Win Adoption Through Experience, Not Technology,” presented by John Wirthlin of Sonaria. This session will focus on an often-overlooked factor in successful RFID deployments: user experience. Rather than centering only on the technical capabilities of RFID, the discussion will examine driving stronger adoption by creating workflows and interactions that feel intuitive, practical, and easier to embrace than some traditional processes. As more organizations evaluate RFID as part of broader digital transformation and operational improvement strategies, this session will offer a useful perspective on what helps implementations gain traction in the real world.

The agenda will also feature “RFID in Challenging Packaging: Practical Lessons from Bottle Digitalization,” presented by Lou Parker of Checkpoint Systems and Paul Whitney of AsReader. RFID has long faced performance challenges when applied to liquid-filled and difficult-to-tag items, making bottle-level visibility a persistent hurdle across industries such as beverages, wine and spirits, cosmetics, health and beauty, and automotive. This session will explore  approaches to bottle digitalization that are helping overcome those barriers and opening the door to more reliable item-level traceability for products that have historically been difficult to identify and track. Attendees will learn how specialized RFID tag designs for liquid products, including shrink-wrap form factors, can support improved readability, inventory accuracy, and end-to-end visibility from production through distribution and retail. The session will also highlight real-world examples involving automotive fluids, cosmetics, health and beauty products, and wine and spirits, while exploring how handheld, wearable, and mobile RFID readers can be used in practical workflows to capture data efficiently on these items.

Together, these sessions reflect what makes RFID Community Connect especially valuable; a program built around practical deployment stories, emerging use cases, and the broader technical and strategic conversations that continue to shape the RFID industry. This is just a preview of a few of the conversations planned for the event, and AIM will be highlighting additional sessions and speakers in the coming weeks. For the full agenda and registration details, visit the event website.

Register now for RFID Community Connect

A special thank you to the sponsors supporting RFID Community Connect. Their support helps make it possible to bring together education, expertise, and meaningful industry collaboration in a format that serves the RFID community at a time when connection and shared learning matter more than ever.

We look forward to seeing you online May 19–20!