Introducing Smart Wireless Monitoring Stickers Adaptable to Any Surface And Bending Angle for Food Tracking

Project Information

QStamp

Grant agreement ID: 775292

DOI

10.3030/775292

Project closed

EC signature date 20 April 2017

Start date 1 May 2017

End date 30 September 2017

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Nanotechnologies

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

MATER DYNAMICS LDA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - QStamp (Introducing Smart Wireless Monitoring Stickers Adaptable to Any Surface And Bending Angle for Food Tracking)

Reporting period: 2017-05-01 to 2017-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Food recalls are a major concern for the food industry. In recent years, the number of identified and reported incidents of contaminated food products has dramatically increased, posing serious health and economic consequences.
Based on the latest nanotechnology, we have developed QStamp. QStamp is a flexible, low-cost and wireless sensor that can measure temperature, humidity, pressure and light using nanotechnology.
QStamp runs without battery and can be applied on any material regardless of its shape. The temperature, humidity and pressure data collected by the QStamp® is sent to a database through wireless protocols such as RFID. Our software translates the information into actionable data within the users preferred system (ranging from Excel to complex supply chain management ERP’s) via API’s.
Our overall objective is to see our QStamp on any packaged food item around Europe that can monitor at least six variables. Our dream is for QStamp to become a requirement for food labeling, just as it is a requirement now to disclose the country of origin, for instance. In the long run, we envision our stamp to be used for pharmaceuticals and by the logistics sector as well.
Under European law, traceability means the ability to track any food, feed, food-producing animal or substance that will be used for consumption, through all stages of production, processing and distribution. Its aim is to prevent potential risks that can arise in food and feed, to ensure that all food products in the EU are safe for European citizens to eat. QStamp can significantly contribute to enhanced traceability.
At MaterDynamics, we develop nano-sensors to wirelessly monitor and report the external variables that can act over products and industrial processes. With this Phase I project, our goal is to prepare our QStamp for market launch. This project is of key strategic interest to us as this will allow us to become the global leader in nano-tech-based smart product tracking, by improving our knowledge of the market, confirm Freedom to Operate, prepare a detailed exploitation and commercialization plan, get to know new potential business partners and clients, and overall strenghten our business plan.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have studied our technical feasibility to improve Qstamp. As already validated with clients and potential clients, QStamp® cost is an important threshold for its generic and large-scale adoption. Thus, we aimed to reduce fabrication costs making our solution possible for a wider range of food products. For that matter, we have: (i) studied the use of cheaper starting materials, (ii) optimized our conductive ink formulation and nanosensors, and (iii) explored inkjet printing and roll-up methodologies.
After addressing the above-mentioned goals, and according to our current clients and current pilots, we have also further developed our technology for better user interface. So far, QStamp® deployment has been limited by our ability to compile and store data information for all sensors in use. As a first step, we have tackled down this issue by investing on a versatile database platform, which can handle demanding data needs. Next, we added mathematical models to predict food quality regarding the reported variable information (e.g. Temperature profiles), generating in this way a more accurate and a real-time metric for food quality. Finally, we have improved significantly our reporting platform, which has now a dedicated domain (materdynamics.com/portal) and an optional coordinated mobile app.
We have dedicated resources to promote QStamp® in relevant environments such as conferences, tradeshows and other business oriented initiatives. For example, during the execution of the SME Instrument Phase 1 proposal, we attended Web Summit 2017.
We conducted a market study about food packaging, categorized into cups, cans, sachets, bottles, and tubs, and according to the material involved in food packaging (paper & board, rigid & flexible plastic, glass, and metal). The gathered information highlights three main trends in the food packaging sector: (1) packaging materials that can prevent the contamination of food products, (2) smart packaging that report an item’s quality and enhance the consumer interaction through better communication/interaction, and (3) packaging designs also have a significant influence on the purchase decisions of customers.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We are now expecting the product to burst into the market and after that we intend to keep on creating new ideas since our goal is for the company to be more than Qstamp®.
Considering our current product, QStamp®, as the one that will confirm our health and marketplayer position, we hope and focus on QStamp® to be launched into market, believing on the many purchase intention we do have from key major partners.
Beyond that, MatterDynamics expects to grow as QStamp® evolves as well. After being setted in the market we will start to gather and store big amounts of data on many diffent products, wich we intend to process and analyze as it fits best our clients needs.
Our overall objective is to see our QStamp® on any packaged food item around Europe, making sure we are providing strong enhancement for the food industry on the matter of tracking and assuring quality in food products.

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