TRACK AND TRACE SOLUTIONS MARKET ANALYSIS

The global track and trace solutions market size was valued at US$ 3,056.4 million in 2022 and is anticipated to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.79% from 2023 to 2030. The growth of the market is largely driven by the increasing focus of manufacturers on brand protection and stringent regulations imposed by the government for the implementation of serialization. The market also benefits from the increase in packaging-related product recalls and counterfeit drug cases, which have contributed to the growing need for tracking and tracing solutions. The rise in the number of manufacturing companies that are investing heavily in these technologies is anticipated to create new business opportunities for vendors. 

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market: Regional Insights

North America is anticipated to show promising growth in the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period. This can be attributed to presence of major market players such as METTLER TOLEDO International Inc., rfxcel Corporation, and others in the region. Moreover, availability of advanced healthcare infrastructure, and widespread adoption of track and trace solutions in the region are the factors supporting growth of the market in North America. Moreover, increasing development of advanced track and trace technology is driving the adoption of barcode systems in the region, as it offers efficient inventory management and ease of operation. Thus, the region is likely to show strong growth in the near future.

Moreover, Europe is also projected to exhibit major growth in the global track and trace solutions market during the forecast period, owing to presence of developed countries in the region such as the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Turkey. Moreover, the E.U. is aiming progressive implementation of track and trace solutions in the healthcare supply chain for dealing with drug counterfeiting and theft in the region. Thus, the adoption of track and trace solutions is growing in the region, which is likely to augment growth of the market.

Figure 1: Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Share (%), By Region, 2022

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Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Drivers:

Increasing adoption of advanced track and trace solutions to fuel the market growth

The use of advanced track and trace solutions allows manufacturers tracking of the real time progress of products in transit across the supply chain. The development of new and advanced tracking technologies such as barcode and radio-frequency identification (RFID) continues to increase by these companies. For instance, in November 2020, AstraZeneca announced adoption of RFID into the supply chain of the company. The supply chain dispenses over 30 million RFID enabled Diprivan syringes. Thus, adoption of such advanced solutions is expected to propel growth of the global track and trace solutions market during the forecast period.

Supportive initiatives by government to augment the market pace

Governments of several countries around the world are focusing in regulating and controlling counterfeit activities and are offering legislative support to organizations dealing with such activities. Governments in developed countries have established various regulatory policies to control counterfeit practices. For instance, in Germany government authority have implemented rules and regulations for distributors/manufactures/affected parties, to take counter action against counterfeiters. Thus, such supportive initiatives by governments is likely to boost growth of the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Opportunities:

Increasing technological developments is anticipated to bring multiple growth opportunities in the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period. Due to the high cost structure, the practical implementation of these solutions is disrupted. However, companies are constantly involved in development of new cost-effective tracking solutions. This can create major opportunities in medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and others. Due to technological development in sleeve labels, several packaging industry applications are emerging and it is also improving the shelf life of pharmaceutical product.

Remote product authentication feature is expected to generate business opportunities in the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period. Conventional brand protection technologies such as authentication and anti-theft are designed for protecting each item separately instead of protecting to whole supply chain together. Thus, false products can be introduced to the supply chain at any time. To overcome this, solutions that have non-line-of-sight or automatic capabilities are needed. The demand for such technologies having modular designs is increasing and it will bring lucrative opportunities in the global track and trace solutions market in the coming future.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Trends:

RFID technology is gaining traction in the market

The role of radio-frequency identification technology plays a significant role in inventory management and supply-chain operations, as well as in product handling and improvement of security. Due to its major benefits in tracking and tracing, the demand for RFID technology is increasing across several industries. With increasing counterfeiting activities, the demand for these solutions is expected to continue in the market, which in turn will support growth of the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period.

Increase in adoption in pharmaceutical industry

The use of track and trace solution has increased in the pharmaceutical industry for verification of product ID, management of logistics and packaging. Government regulations across the globe need pharmaceutical companies to serialize their products. Moreover, advanced solutions of track and tracing are increasingly being adopted across pharmaceutical industry. Thus, this trend is expected to continue in the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Restraints:

High initial cost required for setup of infrastructure to hamper the market pace

To implement product identification setups, it requires a high capital investment. Such high cost of setups cannot be always feasible for low cost products. These factors are not in the scenario in developed countries, as government of these countries offer support for ground infrastructure. However, in emerging countries, such as India, there is lack of government support for such infrastructure. Thus, high cost of track and trace solution infrastructure is likely to hinder growth of the global market in such countries. However, increasing number of market players are focusing on development of cost-effective solutions, which is likely to support growth of the market in the near future.

Availability of alternative technologies to prevent counterfeiters to limit the market growth

Some of the track and trace technologies have their shortcomings. For instance, RFID has shortcomings in terms of orientation, obscuration, and multiple tracking. Conventional methods of anti-counterfeiting involving special hologram labels and tamper-resistant packaging can be inadequate, as duplicating labels is easy for counterfeiters. Thus, this factor is expected to hamper growth of the global track and trace solutions market over the forecast period.

Figure 2. Global Track and Trace Solutions Market, By Technology

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Global Track and Trace Solutions Market Segmentation:

The global track and trace solutions market report is segmented into Product Type, Technology, Application, and End User.

Based on Product Type, the market is segmented into Hardware Systems (Printing and Marking Solutions, Monitoring and Verification Solutions, Labeling Solutions, Others), Software Solutions (Plant Manager Software, Line Controller Software, Bundle Tracking Software, Others). Out of which, Hardware Systems is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the growing demand for printing and marketing solutions that assist in the supply chain and production ensuring quality and authenticity of products. The hardware systems of track and trace solutions include monitoring and verification solutions, printing and marketing solutions, and others. The demand for these solutions is growing across several industries, which is driving growth of this segment.

Software Solutions segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the increasing adoption in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies for constantly managing manufacturing plants, bundle, case, and product line tracking, and shipping and warehousing. Software solutions help serialize and aggregate with focus on the preservation of performance of packaging lines and effectiveness of other equipment. The growing demand for these solutions is likely to drive growth of the segment in the coming year.

Based on Technology, the market is segmented into Barcode, RFID. Out of which, Barcode is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to rise in demand for barcodes due to its benefits across various industries. A barcode is used to track inventory or assets in various industries such as healthcare. They are an efficient measure to identify inventory. The use of barcodes in pharmaceutical industry offers traceability for eliminating counterfeits, and ensuring safety of patients, and other benefits.

RFID segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the increase in application in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. These applications are for tracking equipment, inventory control, preventing distribution of counterfeit drugs and devices, and personal tracking among others.

Based on Application, the market is segmented into Serialization Solutions, (Bottle Serialization, Label Serialization, Carton Serialization, Data Matrix Serialization), Aggregation Solutions, (Bundle Aggregation, Case Aggregation, Pallet Aggregation). Out of which, Serialization Solution is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the increasing focus of manufacturers on safety of their patients and protecting brand image. Serialization is a key step for complying with electronic pedigree law that is needed for product traceability in a supply chain. Thus, demand for track and trace solutions is increasing in serialization applications, which is further likely to boost growth of this segment in the global market.

Bottle Serialization segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the growing demand bottle serialization software. The use of labels facilitates track and trace solution for the serialization of each pharmaceutical bottle. The bottle serialization software manages the verification of serial numbers and it facilitates bottle aggregation into secondary packages with no impact on the production flow. Thus, demand for this solution is growing, which in turn is boosting growth of this segment.

Based on End User, the market is segmented into Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies, Medical Device Companies, Others. Out of which, Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies is expected to dominate the global market over the forecast period and this is attributed to the rise in focus of these companies on ensuring protection of brand from counterfeit drugs. The demand for track and trace solutions is increase across this sector to track counterfeit products or drugs and theft, which is accelerating growth of the segment.

Medical Device Segment is also expected to witness significant growth in the near future and this is owing to the various advantages of track and trace solutions in medical sectors. These solutions help companies in medical device sector in inspection and serialization of production and packaging lines of medical devices. Each device gets a unique serial number, through which it is tracked to know its selling cost for specific device. Thus, widespread adoption of track and trace solutions in medical device industry is driving growth of the market.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market: Key Developments

In February 2021, Antares announced the acquisition of Adents traceability assets, with which the company will increase its portfolio of cloud service and software solutions for end-to-end traceability.

In January 2021, OPTEL entered into partnership with Bureau Veritas for the launch of V-TRACE, an assured and complete traceability solution designed for management of logistics of COVID-19 vaccine supply chain.

In September 2021, Rfxcel, entered into a five-year cooperative agreement with Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon Republic to provide a GS1-compliant traceability hub to secure the whole pharmaceutical supply chain of Lebanon.

 In December 2020, Domino and Gallarus and SeaVision collaborated to develop K600G, a web digital printing and blister foil solution for pharmaceutical sector. The new product comes with various solutions offering different types of installation and additional features that allow direct printing on the foil packs.

Global Track and Trace Solutions Market: Key Companies Insights

The global track and trace solutions market is highly competitive. This is attributed to continuous launch of new technologies due to ongoing R &D and efforts by value chain participants. Moreover, key players are adopting various business growth strategies in order to expand their presence on regional as well as global basis. Some of the key players in the global track and trace solutions market are Tracelink Inc., Adents International, Seidenader Maschinenbau Gmbh., Axway Software SA, Siemens Ag, Mettler Toledo International Inc., Robert Bosch Gmbh, and Optel Group.

*Definition: Track and Trace Solutions enable businesses to take a holistic view of their operations and monitor the entire supply chain with complete visibility. This empowers them to minimize risk, protect their relationships with suppliers and drive accountability across their production processes.