UPM Raflatac, based in Tampere, Finland, celebrates the opening of its new RFID manufacturing site in Guangzhou, China, this week. Initial annual production capacity will be 100 million pieces, including high-frequency and ultra-high frequency passive RFID tags and inlays. The factory’s capacity is scalable to hundreds of millions of pieces annually, according to market demand.

“The opportunity to operate locally gives us a solid base for growth in the Asian market and at the same time validates our position as the globally leading manufacturer of RFID tags and inlays,” says Christer Härkönen, senior vice president of UPM Raflatac’s RFID business.

In the Asian market, UPM Raflatac serves several RFID end-use areas, including apparel, ticketing, supply chain management, pharmaceutical, media management, transportation and industrial. The company also will manufacture tags and inlays in Guangzhou for export.

“The opening of the Guangzhou facility is a great achievement for UPM Raflatac, establishing the company as a truly global inlay manufacturer,” says Michael Liard, research director for RFID & Contactless from market research company ABI Research. “The application mix in Asia continues to diversify as more customers across multiple vertical markets evaluate and adopt RFID. UPM Raflatac’s local presence and increased manufacturing capacity positions the company to meet growing demand in China as well as abroad.”