THE OVERVIEW OF RUSSIAN RFID MARKET: SITUATION, MAIN PLAYERS, PROJECTS AND PERSPECTIVES

Tuesday, February 16, 2021. 12:30PM – 2:00PM

Description:

A few words about how RFID market changed during last 6 years. As some experts told, market increased twice, and the current volume of the Russian market of RFID solutions is estimated at approximately $250 -300 million.

The time for pilot projects is over. At the moment, large-scale projects are being implemented, I am talking about introducing RFID to ensure traceability of the full life cycle of a product. So, in the last 6 years the situation has changed, first of all price of the tag (inlay) decreased from 20 Cents to 4-5 cents, if we speak about ten million volumes.

Secondly, we can observe some changes in market players, especially, if we speak about SAW markets. In semiconductor RFID market we can only see a couple of new companies. The percentage of frequency bands are used in the market has not changed a lot. Currently, approximately 60% of the used labels are UHF, 25% – HF and 15% – LF. Near 98% of tags are passive. The number of requests, on average, has remained at the same level as 6 years ago. But the quality of requests has changed a lot. With Russian experts – CEO’s of two main Russian companies in the sphere of producing RFID:

RST-Invent and Siltech, we will discuss some questions.

• What is the current situation on the Russian RFID market?

• Why RFID on the Russian market develops not so active as in Europe and America?

• In which areas is RFID most actively implemented in Russia?

• What are the most interesting projects that have been implemented over the past 2 years?

• What is government support and in which directions?

• How Russian companies cooperate with foreign?

• and other questions about development of the Russian RFID market.

Now RFID technologies in Russia start to develop faster than 5 years ago. And all of the players wait an active market growth in the next 2-3 years.

Biography:

Grigoryeva Anastasia:

SAW Components (Electronics)

Guest Researcher

Fellow of Chancellor Fellowship for

Prospective Leaders (Humboldt Foundation)

Maxim Selivanov: Director of the Department of Preservation Technologies

for Siltech Group of Companies. Since 1998 Mr. Selivanov has been working in the field of automatic identification systems. From 2010 to 2014 he worked for JSC Angstrem and JSC Angstrem-T as Deputy Director for Projects, Head of Electronic Identification Department. Maxim was responsible for development and production of microcircuits for electronic identification documents, RFID microcircuits and RFID systems for the automation of management processes

in industry, logistics and trade. Implemented the required for the projects processes: design in

Europe, production in China and testing in Russia. Carries out the development and implementation of RFID systems for retail, logistics and industry spheres. Joined the Siltech company in 2019.

Alexander Grebennik, CEO of RST-Invent, started working with RFID technology

in 2008, at Systematica, as a project manager of the RFID Department.

With the increase in the number of projects and with the aim of opening the production of RFID

tags and equipment, in 2010 it was decided to separate the department into an independent

company “RST-Invent”, in which Alexander took the position of head of the department of projects and production.

In 2013, Alexander was appointed CEO of RST-Invent. RST-Invent is a Russian manufacturer of RFID tags, hardware and software, a joint venture between JSC Rusnano and GKS (JSC Systematika Group). The company specializes in the implementation of integrated RFID solutions for medium and large businesses using equipment and RFID tags of its own production.

Transcript:

All yellow highlighted text is virtually inaudible and cannot be transcribed

Michelle: Hello everyone welcome to today’s webinar thank you all for joining us today my name is Michelle and I will be your host if you have any questions for a speaker during the presentation please use the Q&A function throughout the webinar in our speaker will do their best to answer them as much as possible after the presentation with this being said please allow me to introduce to you today’s panelists Anastasia, Maxim and Alexandra. Anastasia is the guest researcher working for a as well as a fellow chancellors fellowship for prospective leaders or the Humboldt font foundation Maxim is a director of the Department of preservation technology for cell tech group of companies and has been working in the fields of automatic identification systems since 1998 and Alexandra is the RFID senior project manager of cell tech limited and today they will be presenting the topic of the Russian RFID market without further ado I will now pass it on to Anastasia who will start her presentation.

Anastasia: Yeah, thank you very much and hello to everyone so I don’t need to reintroduce myself and my colleagues and that’s why we will start with a short overview of the Russian RFID market and update to go have a discussion with Maxim and Alexander about their view on our markets. Unfortunately, Alexander Grebennik had sudden circumstances one hour go and so he cannot participate in our presentation. Our presentation but I am sure that we will have a nice discussion with Maxim and Alexandra.

RFID in Russia: Today vs. six years ago

Anastasia: First of all, I would like to give you as he was about the changes in their RFID market as of last six years. As some experts say and as you can see on the slide, the Russian RFID market doubled over the last six years. Current market formula for RFID solutions in Russia estimates that approximately 250 to 300 (5:10)-Inaudible- and it is near to 50% of the world’s total market. Pilot projects are a thing of the past and now it’s time for large scale projects. You can verify this application to ensure traceability of a full lifecycle of a product. So, in the last six years, the situation has changed as you can see on this slide, and first of all is about the tag price in ways. The tag price has decreased from 20 cents to four or five cents. I mentioned this if we take the volume of 10 million tech, we can observe some changes in this market players and especially if we speak about some market surface, acoustic wave market and the semiconductor RFID market has welcomed only a couple of new companies. So and we’ve one of them we will fix a day with them. Market breakdown by frequency bands has not changed the world. And currently approximately 60% of the US sell labels are UHF, 25% Hf and 15% Ls. About 98% of techs are 30  [6:50). So the number of requests on average has rem  ained stable. But the quality of the requests has changed dramatically. Many company companies viewed RFID technology as a curiosity and wanted to give it a try to see if it fits their needs or not. But now they have a clear understanding of what exactly they need and why. Along the [7:24 – 7:26: inaudible] and seriousness of tasks that enterprises are trying to sell. Few using RFID are completely different.

RFID market development in Russia: Overview (7:35)

And now I would like to give you an overview of milestones in the development of RFID. markets in Russia. So from 2005 to 2010, nobody had an idea of what RFID is and stuff that RFID integrated SEO. From 2010 to 2015 they’re very honest about how RFID is growing.

Companies implemented large scale commercial projects. However, only 20% of customers contact producers in this place. And many producers act as a missionaries [8:18 – 8:20 – inaudible] burden there was about RFID market. And from 2015 and to now, customers contact the companies to commission a project. So now because the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries have seen a decline in the number of projects and Russia is not an exception. And so mostly projects financed by Governmental Organization innovation are now in the pipeline. So their main players in production that are these are just like the market, the same as everybody else, producers, integrators, and distributors.

Russian RFID Market Today [9:17]

Russian enterprising market cannot boost many producers of equipment and only two companies produce enterprise which is InCom and Karakas non-electronic, InCom produces their own HF chips and uses them in the [9:38 – inaudible]. Besides, they have launched pilots for production of UHF chips, yet the level of technology is similar to that of Monza too. It’s only reasonable that current stagnation of RFID market hinders further development. The second company [10:02 – inaudible] non-electronics focuses on pilots with your VHF chip. So we were waiting results of their pilot projects. There is only one company that makes inlays and send them and from two to three companies that they could verify the tag and we found with a one of them with representatives of one of them, we will speak today. Russia has virtually no producers of RFID readers and according to production integrators, no company in Russia can make Elda. We do have some pilot projects, and this is it. So some integrators just use imported components to design their own results. From 20 to 30 set to medium scale projects are launched on them market annually. And as you can see on this slide, average volume of text projects is 15,000 to 20,000 items. If we speak about industry projects, this number is smaller 5,000 to 10,000 items.

RFID Implementation: Challenges [11:23]

So Russian RFID market is slow paced compared to Europe and USA. And why is that? First, because of the high cost of the equipment, high price, no orders, no orders high price. And unfortunately, it is still very difficult to break this cycle and government programs may help with that. But I will cover the governmental programs in more detail later in my presentation. The challenges number two, three and four are interrelated. Number two, low consumer awareness about sort of RFID possibilities leads to a lack of understanding. So potential customers know something about RFID technology. But we don’t know all about its advantages. And the only way to solve this problem is to launch awareness and market initiative. But here we get challenge number three. RFID consumers are not so willing to share information. And they think that by these there’s huge competitive advantage and that’s why they want to sign NDA with the integrator or producer of job ID. So finally, the fourth challenge is low quality of the customers business processes and the benefits of RFID technology is the wide range of possible applications. So in most cases, medium sized Russian enterprises have outdated systems for conducting the business’s processes, which doesn’t sell well to use RFID system and enjoy all of its advantages. So, another issue I cannot but I mentioned is unwillingness and it may affect all possible levels within the company’s signature including IT department which is usually responsible for RFID development and implementation. So, despite all the challenges, I have outlined, RFID technologies are gaining momentum in Russia and producers are trying to find new spheres for the application. So the majority of RFID providers carry out projects to form some spheres.

Spheres if RFID Application [14:23]

And first of all, it’s production. Here I mean identification of components in production process as well as the end product as such. For example, automated railroad oil and gas industries, metal structures and so on. The second sphere is animal tagging. And nowadays very popular theme in Russia. This is excellence in huge growth since the January of this year, the new Russian legislation Will require to tag all domestic and agricultural animals. So to is the direction of logistics and this direction started to develop a few years with the Russian project known as the pool code project. And from almost 2017, producers have to tag all the filler items. It only took three months for the states’ investment into the full project for it to resume, so it’s very fast. Now tech costs for a wholesaler, of course, near 27 cents for a direct seller near 80 cents. This case made because companies think more seriously about RFID instance implementation. So oil and gas industry is a very popular theme in Russian RFID market, oil and gas companies are trying to take whatever comes their way from personnel to [16:12 – inaudible], and the orders from them are many and continue to grow. Banking. This is a new field for RFID in Russia. Some state-owned banks use identification of ATM test cases as well as cash and census identification. But it’s not so popular. One more this is medicine, the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to this priority of RFID applications in the medical field. RFID is useful for the identification of medical tools and equipment as well as to determine that I can stand by personnel in high-risk red zones. Another theme of the last but not least, Special protective equipment, here RFID development is associated with such spheres as the industry and medicine. So today, according to the experts, here are the drivers of the markets in the next slide.

Drivers for RFID Development [17:29]

So first of all, foreign retail companies which penetrate the Russian market with RFID technology such as data-flow and other does that [17:42 – 17:44 – inaudible] and so on. Some of them use their own technologies and equipment but others buy with Russian tag through the Russian retail market so thanks to them for this.  Government-run projects and here I would like to mention fur and library projects. The fur project was supported by the state not only for checking bad text, but also for the development of RFID. The implementation of this project was a success. So, it was planned to introduce RFID to identify shoes, covers, jewelry… [18:31 – 18:33 – inaudible] However, these projects were not implemented. And in the first place due to the high cost of equipment, as a number of manufacturers says do we actually take tags back with labels or do we take the labels with paper? So Secondly, the initiative of Znak is a symbol of honesty, it deals with the market and advocates for taking all that progress to the court that matters. And the initiative is supported by a number of influential Russian business tycoons. So this was the final point in the large scale government supported introduction of RFID in the Russian market. So yes, that’s how the stuff was made. And, of course, they help to promote the culture among big companies.

So more than now, producers already understand how they may benefit from RFID for example, so cost reduction and logistics and reduce possibility of [20:01 – inaudible]. So today tags are common in oil and gas industry in verification of beer kegs, reinforced structures and metal structures and so on. What I was actually going to share with you was a pool of projects implemented in the Russian market; however, when I contacted RFID integrators for information they said they’re sorry, “we signed NDA and we cannot share with you any data.” But I hope today Maxim and Alexandra will tell us a little bit about the project. As I said before the Russian market can boost many players and this slide will show the major producers of chip and tech. In the next slide we can see the main integrators of all RFID providers in Russia but it’s not all of them. And usually they specialize in some spheres like libraries, industry, oil and gas or logistics and it depends on their software.

So, Detem is the main distributor in Russia however now more and more integrators buy equipment to setup. Maybe you heard about the extent of so called input substitution and companies get some government aid if they use Russian equipment. And of course, it will help Russian RFID companies to promote our equipment on the best market because our customers have to use this possibility. Because of the difference in the exchange rates companies have started to equal production and to open offices in our Russian RFID companies. So finally, I would like to give you a short overview about SAW RFID market such as Acoustic waves. I can tell you why because nowadays more and more companies in Russia they would like to find replacements to accept tags and some of them would like to buy some tags but unfortunately in Russia we don’t have producers of SAW tags and only three companies in Russia produce them. One of them in Omsk, another in Moscow and the third one in [23:44 – 23:49 – inaudible] delay lines and resonators on this [23:54 – 23:57 – inaudible]. To conclude I will say that our RFID technologies in Russia develop faster now than five or six years ago, and the market has new players. Companies that have started to produce their own equipment and this is wonderful however many business processes are ineffective and there is not enough governmental support. This is a set of teams to verify the adjustments in Russia (SAW Components, RST Invent, SilTech and Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung/Foundation) and all the market players are sure that in the next two to three years the market will be much more dynamic. So, this is the end of my presentation and I would like to give possibility to Alexandra will tell a few words to show you about the Russian RFID market and maybe tell us about their company and what they do.

[25:12]

Alexandra: Thank you very much Anastasia well as far as the RFID market in Russia is concerned, we’re now currently witnessing a huge boost and a lot of projects upcoming and that are already in process. So right now, we can say that the market is developing and getting bigger and bigger and thanks to, well sadly, but thanks to COVID-19 situation we have enlarged our sales and right now we can say that the outcome is even more well looking than we thought it would be.

Anastasia: [25:57] 

it’s nice to hear about this yes and I hope that service the future of the development will be wonderful so can you introduce your company maybe you have a presentation and you can.

Alexandra: 26:16 

Yeah, surely, we will do that. Right now, by the way I’m here with… just a second we need to share the screen.

Anastasia: 26:33 

because of course I can tell lots of good things about SilTech but I think it’s better if they tell you themselves.

Alexandra: 26:50 

My name is Alexandra Ivanova, good day to everybody. I’m RFID senior project manager in SilTech and we’re going to talk about multivariate engineering solution to RFID hard tags production here in Russia. Let me speak about our group of company first, we have a network. Our headquarters is in Moscow, but we also have a European office in Germany and three manufacturing plants. One is in Tallin Estonia, another is in Astana Kazakhstan and the main one is in Dimitrov which is in the outskirts of Moscow. Our history lasts for more than 25 years now and it all started with selling safety seals and in 2002 we launched manufacturing plant in Dimitrov and then 16 years later we were the first to launch the serial production of RFID hard tags in Russia and RFID seals. Moving on we have expanded and even exported our RFID safety to eastern-Europe and we’re moving on and enlarging our product family from project to project by customer requests.

So speaking of what does RFID hard tags manufacturing plan need to perform. Of course, it’s all about equipment. We have robotic system that was originally used for manufacturing and designing plastic sealing devices but now we also use these robotic systems for manufacturing our RFID tags. Here you can see sets of equipment by Wittmann and Battenfeld and it’s not only imported equipment that we use. We also design and manufacture equipment for our needs; for example, in this picture you can see the machinery for pressurizing, and this is how we make the body of the RFID tag. We literally get it by welding it together. This is another photo of our machinery [29:48]. Another stop that we take to make the body of the RFID tag complete. This Battenfeld machinery is usually used for designing animal ear RFID tags. We also have ultrasonic welding stations to the laser marking.

And here is the example of what it looks like. We use Atlantic Zeiser, a mega product family. And as you can see the picture and these are the results, especially on the right picture. But it’s not only about machinery and equipment to get this production work, it’s also a lab work that you have to establish, because you have to make sure that all the tags you proceeded can work properly for customers. For example, we use a climate chamber to make sure that our hard tags can go through high temperatures and cold temperatures. We also use a self-designed quiet chamber to make sure that the tag works on the right frequency and the distance is as we state in standards. When the RFID tag is marked, we use linear and 2-D code verifier to make sure that while scanning the device, the mobile computer can receive the information correctly. We also use these applications and tools to check RFID tag’s quality, we also use Voyantic Tagformance Pro by Voyantic. This is how we control the effect of the hull material on range sensitivity etc. And in the middle, you can see this quiet chamber photos. So, the RFID tag is put in the very middle and then the chamber is closed, and all the tests are being undertaken. And this is an example of the charts that are made after the quality control process. Which is whether the tag actually responds on the right frequency because here Russia we have a range that we us and we have to make sure that the tag will respond properly.

[32:47]

So, a little bit about our RFID hard tags. As you said and mentioned before there are plenty of companies worldwide and some of them are here in Russia who produce and manufacture inlay label. We are focused on the tag body. It’s variable and we use various raw materials but we will talk about this later. Types of bodies for RFID tags, it’s either inlay and plastic body, inlay and indicators sticker, inlay and safety seal, inlay in safe package or inlay and metal body. And this is one of our latest know-how and we widely use it in the rail industry. And if we want to divide our hard tags into groups, there will be for metal objects for non-metal objects and for objects made of uneven surfaces such as big backs for example. This is the example of RFID safety seal. You can see that our well RFID label is integrated into the seal and makes the simple seal even more promoted, and lend more variety I would say to work with. As the example, as I said before, there are RFID indicator stickers and RFID safe packages, and if we talk about RFID indicator stickers, then the label is usually placed underneath and if we’re talking about our RFID safe packages the RFID label is put inside.

Here we come to types of RFID hard tags of S-TAG series. There is quite a range of applications. We have universal tag which is best for metal objects like 3D and there’s a huge series on them. The tags for bags as I said, uneven surfaces for woods, for concrete, for pillars and racks, for for mounted wheels, for equipment, for animals and for pallets. And we are very welcoming of customers’ requests especially if they are asking for large parties, we are really willing to design new products for them. Our construction is based on ultrasonic welding mainly, but also can include gluing and pressurization.

Here is the product family of S-TAG ((3D)). I just would like to talk about it briefly. These tags were designed for metal objects and the more time passed, the more modification came because some of customers said that these tags are best but they’re hard to mount. So, we designed slims, flats, minis and other tags that we’re going to cover next. This is our let’s say best in class tag, shockproof, resistant to temperature swings and humidity changes. It has the core inside in the very middle that provides the polarization to be reached from any point and that is why it is called 3D. And this is the modification, the technology used here is a Neodymium magnet mount. So instead of mounting by screw clamp or strap, you can mount it with magnets.

Next one is pretty much the same 3D but the smaller compact body and multivariate in terms of mounting options. S-TAG 3D Slims have different kinds of modifications. It’s pretty much the same as 3D functionally and technologically, but of different shape. And it also has a core and the reading distance is still the same. But for some projects, these kinds of tags are more applicable than our 3D tags, simple tags. This one is JD-MINI and it was originally designed to mark and identify the pallets in warehousing complexes. But then it turned out that it can be applied even for accounting office equipment or any other non-metal object. But last year, we also launched this universal RFID tag for metal surfaces and we’re still working on its reading distance. Next one is our, let’s say know-how, and kind of a best seller in the industry if we’re talking about big bags and uneven surfaces. You can see this elastic RFID UHF hard tag which is made of elastomer, and due to its flexibility, it can be used in various environmental conditions and still respond to mobile computers and stationary readers. These are modifications of elastic for big bags, they are also made of elastomer and due to their size, the reading distance is bigger and longer because inside of them a bigger antenna is implemented.

[40:02]

This hard tag was originally designed to mark woods, but due to its unique construction you can mark anything with this tag. The label, the RFID tag itself, is hidden here, and for example, if you want to mount it on metal objects its reading distance will remain the same as if it were placed on a nonmetal object. Here we have a multivariate mounting. It can be mounted by nail, magnet, screwed or strapped. S-TAG ((QUEST)) is widely used for labeling pillars, arches, advertising stands etc., and here in Moscow we have a huge circle road that circles around the whole town which has a lot of lighting pillars on it. The problem we solve with our S-TAG ((QUESTs)) is how to identify which pillar needs to be renovated, changed or needs some service. We equip every lighting pillar with S-TAG which makes it easier for workers to find the exact lighting pillar that needs servicing.

[42:11]

This tag is called a S-TAG ((MMD-1)). It was designed for marking and identifying woods, then we discovered that it has another application. It turns out this tag can be applied to concrete bricks. The reading distance for this tag is up to 1.5 meters for handheld mobile computers under a layer of concrete.

[42:47

This next one is S-TAG ((SKAT)). It’s not a tag itself but rather an RFID label. It is reusable and is widely used in warehousing where you have to mark pallets and in case your pallet is gone and not coming back, you can take it off and reuse to tag on something else. The huge benefit of this tag is the long reading distance, about 5 meters.  

[43:20

So now we come to COMBINED RFID TAGS. This one we call the “Tender hug” tag because we were asked to design a tag for hooks used in meat processing plants. It turned out that the only option to make the tag last and operate as it passes through the opal chamber at 220 Celsius was to have the tag hug the hook. So now have widely used this kind of hook in various projects and it seems that we are going to enlarge our product family with such a tag.

[44:14]

The other COMBINED RFID TAG is the S-TAG ((MULTILOCK)). It’s both a seal and a tag and you can see that. With a special key you can lock the tag itself, but you can still read the code inside because the chip is hidden right here (past the seal inside of the tag) and right here in another modification. It has two various locks which you can see in the picture, here and here. We use this tag for marking heavy metal production components.

[44:56]

The next one is ((KORDON)). It is also a combined RFID UHF SEAL. It’s used mostly for gas cylinders because we faced a problem that these kinds of products these kinds of items need to be locked but they are also round. This is why it is essential for the tag to be readable and well fastened. And here we use a cable and triple lock for it.

[45:42]

And I think this is one is the last COMBINED RFID tag we have. We call it S-TAG ((BUR)). It was also designed for heavy metal production components and for oil tubes, and it is essential that this tag was designed for resistance welding. You can see in the picture with this steel cover, the tube can be transported easily with the tag still in place and readable. It can go through high or low temperatures and still respond perfectly.

[46:41]

And the last one. Our top of the line of last year. One that we used for rail and logistics is the S-TAG ((STEEL)). This tag is super resistant to high temperatures, long-term exposure from -60 Celsius up to 220 Celsius and short-term, for up to 20 minutes, up to +300 Celsius. You can see in the bottom-right picture, the welding process in the photo is deliberately lengthy and even in these conditions the tag was still responsive and the reading distance wasn’t damaged.

[47:44]

Q&A

Still Alexandra:

This the end of my presentation. We are welcoming to your questions and thank you for your attention. In case you are interested, please contact us, me and my supervisor here.

• Maxim Selivanov
  • Tel./WhatsApp: +7(916) 624 42 62
  • smv@siltech.ru
  • rfid.siltech.ru
• Alexandra Ivanova
  • Tel./WhatsApp: +7 (985) 540 04 01
  • iam@siltech.ru
  • rfid.siltech.ru

Anastasia: Thank you Alexandra for a wonderful presentation and maybe for the questions of our guests who can speak a little bit about the market. So, you mentioned about the pillars project and I know you have a lot of projects so maybe you can tell us more about some of them.

Alexandra: Well as you mentioned before a lot of projects are under an NDA, but I think we can name the industries. These are rail, office equipment, logistics, warehousing, gas and oil and liquid transportation.

Anastasia: Okay, and maybe not about the projects but maybe about the problems which you met that you make this project.

Alexandra: Well, as far as issues are concerned, of course the RFID system is an expensive solution which customers do not rapidly understand why they need it. Still, when it comes to improving their inventory system and counting the cost they’re facing now 75 to 90 percent understand that this system is something they need. And the only problem right now, I think, is the cost of the equipment and tags because not everybody understands why the tag can be that expensive, especially, the hard tags. We need to remember that these tags last for ages and the costs they help to cut down will pay for itself in a few years, maybe less depending on the project.

Anastasia: Yes. I think it depends on the project and the year of implementation effects the cost. Before I ask you the next question I would like to say to our guests, please ask questions that you are interested in. At the bottom you have questions and answers in the chat so you can write your questions there and we will answer them. So, Alexandra, can you please tell us how Covid-19 impacted the growth rate of the Russian RFID industry and how it impacted your company (SilTech)?

Alexandra: As we said before, sadly but true, Covid-19 played a huge role in developing our RFID business in Russia. Mainly because the question was how to speed up inventory and delivery process and how to make sure what is located in your warehouse or office is still there. Maybe it was moved or forgotten somewhere? In order to speed up these processes a lot of business industries and companies realized the importance and urgency of introducing RFID systems into their businesses. In terms of our corporation and our work. Our manufacturing plant in Dimitrov worked nonstop and last year was kind of profitable for us. We gained big projects that are still lasting and up to come.

Anastasia: Okay. Wonderful. As you mentioned you have an office in Europe and I know a lot of companies, a lot of Russian RFID companies are thinking about opening offices in Europe. Can you share your experience?

Alexandra: I’d say we are now really working hard on developing the exporting of our RFID hard tags to European countries via our European office. They have demand and demand is huge there, but once again, as we understood, is kind of sudden about high pricing which can be a questionable moment. It all depends on how many tags and projects are going to be involved. Of course, as manufacturers we can play with pricing and we’re hoping for the best and doing our upmost to bring our tags to the European market as well.

Anastasia: Thank you. And if we start to speak about the equipment. You are producer of the tag and as I understand you buy readers as I mentioned in my review that nowadays we don’t have a good producer of readers in the Russian market. Do you think the same? And do you think that they have maybe soon we will have one or not?

Alexandra: As far as we know. There are some ideas and there are some projects on developing our let’s say Russian readers. But of course, right now this is the very beginning the very start we’re sure that the more time we devoted to engineering readers of the good quality and high quality. The bigger is the challenge that when we can eventually see this product. But of course nowadays, well, today the most I think well-known RFID equipment supplier is Zebra. There are some additional suppliers for example Chinese. For our projects, we recommend Chainway which showed good performance and they’re kind of enlarging their product line and I think that well its questionable whether they can compete with Zebra but they are still holding their market share. And I suppose again the more time passes the more products we can see and we’ll see how it will work here in Russia. And maybe it will be not only a competition between importers I mean imported equipment but also between our equipment produced and designed here and the one that is imported. We’re hoping at least for that.

Anastasia: Yes, yes so only to what we’re headed and to hope that in someday we will have it. But I hope too. So you have a huge diversity of tags and I’m not a specialist in the tags. Maybe you can say which of them is really competitive on the international market that one.

Alexandra: Well in terms of the international market as I said before we’re right now working on introducing our hard tag to the international RFID market but what is already working is our safety seals with our RFID tag. Which we are exporting to our Germany office and as far as I know it has its demand it has its popularity there. And once again we are now trying to enlarge our capacity. And try to make the market share bigger.

Anastasia: Wonderful and can you say also a few words about import substitution. Is it to help you?

Alexandra: Well in our production process we do not use any other import tags. As an example, or as let’s say additional part what we use is only raw materials and of course imported inays or bought here by Mikron for example the tag that you saw that I called top of the line 3D S-TAG 3D. It has Mikrons inlays so it’s a 100 hundred percent Russian product.

Anastasia: Well cool and yeah it’s from your side but if we speak about your customers do the government help them give them aid if they buy the Russian product. If it is this can help you to grow of them.

Alexandra: If we’re talking about let’s say state purchases then of course Russian origin well let’s say privileged. In comparison to imported tags but for regular customers of course the main question is how much does the tag cost? But I think we’re quite competitive here because once again we do everything by ourselves in terms of hard tags and we can state that we are certainly not less competitive than imported hard tags.

Anastasia: Thank you very much. And my last question can you give for us a vision of a future development of RFID of Russia and international?

Alexandra: Here at SilTech we suppose that even bigger growth is estimated and we are hoping that more and more companies will understand the importance and the urgency and all the benefits that our RFID system gives. But as far as we can chart by this point there is a huge boost as we said before and the market is quite mature and more and more projects are up to come. And we are just trying to persuade our customers that it’s not about costs it’s about benefits you can get. And once it counts good decisions are made.

Anastasia: Thank you, thank you very much for your answers. And I hope that the Russian market will develop and so do you have some questions for us. We are open to you we’re here and waiting. All everyone knows very good about the Russian market. So, okay, I think I’ll get to understand everything it’s mean that people usually say that they understand everything or they understand is nothing. So, I hope that this is not the case.

Alexandra: Just to reiterate again if you have any questions we are ready to answer you can email us and we will give you a consultation. So, we’re very welcoming for you to cooperate with us.

Steven: Thank you, Anastasia, for a very beautiful presentation. I hope that our audience has learned a lot and they will contact you if they have any questions. If nobody has any questions we can just wrap this conversation up. Thank you very much for coming and joining us and we hope to see you again. Also, just want to tell you that our forthcoming global virtual summits will be starting from May so if you are interested to present again you are more than welcome and for all those presentations as well by going online and checking out. Thank you all thank you for coming and have a nice day.

Both Anastasia and Alexandra: Thank you very much. Bye, bye. Bye.