Label Academy launches RFID Fundamentals for converters

05 September 2026: The Label Academy has published RFID Fundamentals, a technical guide aimed at label and package printing converters that want to specify, encode, verify and sell RFID labels. Trade reports dated 3 September 2026 say the volume is already listed on Amazon and will also be sold at LOUPE Americas 2026 in Rosemont, Illinois, from 15 to 17 September.

The Label Academy sits with Labels & Labeling, the magazine Mike Fairley launched in London in 1978; the first issue appeared in January 1979. Andy Thomas-Emans, strategic director at LOUPE Global after the series was rebranded as LOUPE, wrote the book. Chelsea McDougall, editor of Labels & Labeling, edited it, according to the announcement carried by Converter Magazine.

That timing lines up with converters who already source or print RFID work, including RFID production in India.

What RFID Fundamentals covers

Amazon lists the paperback as RFID Fundamentals: A technical guide for label and package printing converters and brands, ISBN 978-1910507230, published on 26 August 2026 by Tarsus Exhibitions & Publishing Ltd. The US store shows it in stock at USD 99. Amazon also describes a 40-page illustrated guide; that page count is the retailer’s, not a figure from the Label Academy release.

The listing and the trade announcement agree on the ground covered:

• How RFID technology works
• How to specify an RFID label construction
• Manufacturing, encoding and quality control
• Systems integrators and commercial deployment

A converter can print a clean face stock and still fail the job if the inlay, adhesive stack and encoding spec are wrong.

Thomas-Emans puts the money question first. In the release he said RFID can open new revenue for converters, and that the volume should help shops decide whether to spend. He thanked contributors to the Labelexpo Americas 2024 RFID Masterclass, now part of the LOUPE Americas programme, for source material and comments on the finished text.

We are all in agreement that RFID offers enormous opportunities for label and package printing converters to develop profitable new revenue streams, and this volume offers information that will hopefully be useful in making that investment decision.

He also credited Fairley for conceiving the Label Academy as a knowledge source for narrow-web converters, and thanked Finat and TLMI for continued support. Those thanks sit in his statement; they are not independent reviews of the book.

Why converters still stall on RFID

Dr. Vlad Sljapic, strategic partnerships director at Watermill Press and a named contributor, said RFID is often treated as a puzzle of inlays, frequencies and encoding standards. In his view the harder problem for converters is commercial: what different people inside a brand actually need from traceability, and how to talk to each of them.

Andy Thomas-Emans brings a rare combination of technical clarity and industry insight to this subject, distilling a complex and fast-moving field into something genuinely useful for converters at any stage of their RFID journey.

That commercial pressure already shows up in live work such as RFID garment sorting trials in Europe, where encoded labels have to survive process speed and mixed materials, not just look right on press.

Where converters can buy the book

Delta Modtech sponsored the title, the release says. Amazon.com lists the paperback in stock at USD 99; the Amazon.in page was showing as unavailable when checked. Printed copies will also be sold at LOUPE Americas 2026, formerly Labelexpo Americas.

The show runs from 15-17 September 2026 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 5555 N. River Road, Rosemont, Illinois, USA. Organisers place the venue in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb; the official show site also uses Chicago as shorthand. Doors run 9:00am to 5:00pm on 15 and 16 September, and 9:00am to 4:00pm on 17 September.

FAQs

What is RFID Fundamentals ?

RFID Fundamentals is a Label Academy technical guide by Andy Thomas-Emans, edited by Chelsea McDougall. It covers RFID technology, label specification, encoding, quality control and systems integrators for label and package printing converters.

Where can converters buy the book ?

Amazon lists the paperback, ISBN 978-1910507230, at USD99 on the US store. The publisher also says copies will be sold on site at LOUPE Americas 2026 in Rosemont from 15-17 September 2026.