The transition to 2D barcodes is quickly becoming one of the most important changes affecting product identification, data capture, retail, manufacturing, supply chain operations, and consumer engagement. As organizations prepare for the continued evolution toward GS1 Sunrise 2027, the conversation is moving beyond simply replacing traditional 1D barcodes. Companies are beginning to ask a much bigger question: How can the move to 2D create real business value?

AIM Global will explore that question during its upcoming Barcode Community Connect: Turning the 2D Migration Into Business Value, taking place virtually November 9–10, 2026.

This two-day virtual event will bring together technology providers, standards experts, end users, solution partners, and industry leaders to discuss both the practical challenges and emerging opportunities surrounding the transition to 2D.

Topics are expected to include areas such as:

• Preparing for GS1 Sunrise 2027 and the continued coexistence of 1D and 2D barcodes
• Developing practical 2D migration and implementation roadmaps
• Printing, verification, and barcode quality considerations
• Scanning and data capture requirements across different operating environments
• Using 2D barcodes to provide access to additional product and supply chain information
• Consumer engagement and connected product experiences
• Traceability, transparency, and regulatory applications
• Cybersecurity and QR code security considerations
• Lessons learned from early implementations
• How organizations can turn required technology changes into new operational and business opportunities

The goal of Community Connect is not simply to discuss the technology. AIM wants to bring together organizations that are actively working through these challenges so the industry can share experiences, identify best practices, and better understand how 2D technologies will impact the broader AIDC ecosystem.

Call for Speakers Now Open

AIM is currently seeking speakers and organizations interested in contributing to the program.

We are particularly interested in presentations that provide practical industry perspectives, implementation experiences, case studies, technical guidance, or lessons learned. End-user perspectives are especially valuable as organizations across retail, manufacturing, healthcare, food, logistics, and other industries begin preparing their systems and operations for greater adoption of 2D barcodes. Potential speakers do not need to have all the answers. One of the purposes of Community Connect is to create an environment where organizations can openly discuss the questions, opportunities, and implementation challenges they are encountering.

If your organization is working on 2D migration, barcode implementation, printing and scanning, traceability, product identification, connected packaging, cybersecurity, or another related area, AIM would like to hear from you.

Interested in speaking? Contact Michael Allen to share your proposed topic and how your organization could contribute to the conversation.

Join us November 9–10 as the AIM community looks beyond the migration itself and explores how organizations can turn the 2D transition into measurable business value.

Warehouses and distribution centers are being asked to move faster, maintain tighter inventory control, improve worker productivity, and respond to disruptions in real time. Meeting those expectations requires more than additional automation. It requires accurate, trusted data from the warehouse floor.

I am pleased to be discussing this more as part of Modern Material Handling’s Automating the Warehouse Virtual Summit on July 30th.  During the session, “How Mobility and AIDC Are Reshaping Warehouse Execution,”  I explore how automatic identification and data capture technologies are connecting physical warehouse activity with the digital systems that manage it.

My presentation also examines how technologies such as barcodes, 2D codes, RFID, rugged mobile devices, voice systems, wearables, machine vision, real-time location systems, and sensors are helping warehouses improve visibility and execution across receiving, putaway, picking, packing, shipping, cycle counting, and returns.

Rather than focusing only on devices, the presentation looks at the larger operational question: How can warehouses use real-time data to make better decisions and improve performance?

Attendees will learn how mobility and AIDC can help organizations:

• Reduce manual data entry and warehouse errors
• Improve inventory accuracy and product visibility
• Confirm the correct item, location, order, and shipment
• Support hands-free and guided worker workflows
• Identify exceptions before they affect the customer
• Strengthen traceability, compliance, and interoperability
• Provide the trusted data needed for automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence

The webinar also highlights practical examples of connected warehouse solutions that combine technologies such as RFID, QR codes, mobile computing, serialized identifiers, enterprise systems, and blockchain. These examples demonstrate that the greatest value does not come from simply capturing more data. It comes from connecting each scan, read, image, or sensor event to a meaningful warehouse action.

Organizations considering new warehouse technologies will also receive guidance on how to prioritize their investments. The session discusses common implementation mistakes, including selecting technology before clearly identifying the operational problem, failing to integrate data with warehouse systems, overlooking worker needs, and beginning a project without measurable success criteria.

The central message is clear: mobility and AIDC are no longer simply supporting tools. They are becoming essential execution technologies that help warehouses see what is happening, confirm what is happening, and act on that information faster.

The recorded webinar will be released next week. Register now to receive access and learn how trusted data can support a more connected, accurate, and responsive warehouse operation.

Register to watch

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.