Honeywell Deploys Blockchain Technology For Label Printers To Help Supply Chains Become More Secure

Honeywell announced it is helping companies with complex supply chains leverage blockchain technology for end-to-end tracing, identifying and removing counterfeit parts, improving inventory management and managing their brand reputation.

Honeywell is working with iTRACE Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of supply chain security applications for anti grey market and anti-counterfeit, to integrate product verification technology with industrial printers to provide real time verification, authentication and track-and-trace of printed labels.

The iTRACE 2DMI® solution can be easily printed, verified and registered to the blockchain directly on the Honeywell PX940v Industrial Printer, enabling secure product authentication and track and trace to be deployed in any warehouse or production location. This new integration allows the physical printed item to be connected to the digital ledger creating a digital twin for online authentication, adding another level of security for industries including transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, shipping and distribution centers, industrial manufacturing, automotive parts suppliers and applications that are regulated and require high precision and error-free printing.

“The use of blockchain offers businesses many opportunities to ensure supply chains of all complexities reduce fraud and increase trust with consumers and suppliers,” said Kevin Dehoff, president of Honeywell’s Productivity Products business. “This simple to use and easy to deploy secure implementation of an anti-counterfeit technology used with our industrial printers will have a huge impact in the manufacturing and distribution industry where it has often been difficult to deploy these kinds of advanced track-and-trace and authentication solutions.”

Industry studies show the business value added from blockchain technology will grow to more than $3.1 trillion by 2030. Blockchain technologies provide new ways for value exchange, represent assets and implement trust mechanisms. These technologies, working in conjunction, can serve as the foundation for new business and economic models impacting major swaths of business and society.

“The PX940v’s ability to capture the printed image, inline while printing, made it the ideal platform to print and register 2DMI Marks to a database or blockchain digital ledger,” said iTRACE Founder and CEO Mark Manning. “This printing, verification and registration of the printed label creates a complete chain of custody for the label from the moment it is created, this information can then be used to authenticate the product or label anywhere in the supply chain using the iTRACE mobile apps.”

Once the secure label is applied to the product it can be tracked and authenticated on the blockchain ledger at every stop on its journey, creating a provenance for the item and confidence in its authenticity.

iTRACE has previously helped Honeywell’s GoDirect Trade fight counterfeiting in the Aerospace industry with blockchain technology. GoDirect Trade is an online marketplace that bring together buyers and sellers of aerospace parts from around the world in an intuitive and easy way. The supply chain security company is now a part of Honeywell’s Independent Software Vendor Partner Program, and its software is now available in the Honeywell Marketplace, an enterprise app store that enables customers to discover, evaluate and download business-critical software for a wide range of industries.