Markem-Imaje launches GS1 connected packaging platform

Markem-Imaje has launched CoLOS 2D Activate and CoLOS 2D Engage alongside a factory-readiness consulting service, giving manufacturers a new platform for managing GS1 Digital Link QR codes from product data and production-line coding through to the digital content reached after a pack is scanned.

The two Software-as-a-Service products are aimed at consumer-goods manufacturers preparing for wider adoption of two-dimensional barcodes at retail point of sale. They support the creation and management of static and dynamic GS1 Digital Link QR codes while connecting those identities with enterprise data, analytics, and web-based product experiences.

CoLOS 2D Activate is focused on the product identity and code-management layer. Manufacturers can use existing GS1 Global Trade Item Numbers to create compliant QR codes, manage destinations, monitor scanning activity, and organise data associated with products already moving through production and distribution.

CoLOS 2D Engage provides a no-code environment for creating the digital content reached through those codes. Page content can be varied according to factors including product, location, language, time, and other parameters without requiring the physical QR code on the package to be reprinted.

The distinction is important because the data required to manufacture and identify a product is not the same as the content a consumer may eventually see. Production systems need controlled GTIN, lot, date, facility, and coding information, while marketing or regulatory teams may need to change web content throughout a product’s life.

Markem-Imaje is attempting to keep those functions connected without allowing post-print changes to break the identity applied on the production line. The physical code remains the reference point while the digital destination can evolve separately.

Viktor Hermansson, Global Marketing Director at Markem-Imaje, said: “With GS1 Digital Link, a single QR code can support retail checkout, supply chain visibility, regulatory transparency and personalised consumer engagement.”

The company is pairing the software with an implementation service that begins with a structured assessment of a manufacturer’s existing production environment. The supplied programme includes a full-day on-site review followed by recommendations covering production equipment, software infrastructure, data management, and coding processes.

That assessment addresses one of the less glamorous problems behind the move towards connected packaging: a technically valid QR code still has to be printed reliably at production speed.

Factories may have older coding equipment, inconsistent product master data, different software at individual sites, or vision systems that were configured around conventional linear barcodes. A packaging design may also leave limited space for a new symbol or place it on material that is difficult to print and scan consistently.

GS1’s current ambition is for retail point-of-sale systems globally to be capable of reading and processing a defined set of 2D barcodes using GS1 standards by the end of 2027, alongside the existing linear codes used today.

The transition does not mean conventional EAN/UPC barcodes disappear overnight. During migration, packs may carry both current linear symbols and a GS1-compatible 2D barcode while retailers update scanners, software, and back-end systems at different speeds.

Two-dimensional formats allow more data to be carried or connected than conventional retail barcodes. Information can include an expiry date, batch or lot number, or serial number, while GS1 Digital Link can also direct the scanner towards online information associated with the identified product.

For food and beverage manufacturers, that creates useful links between packaging and traceability. A digital identity can connect a pack with batch-specific information or provide access to ingredients, allergens, sustainability data, recall information, and other product records where the supporting data systems are configured appropriately.

The extra capability also increases the risk of poor data discipline. A code that contains the wrong GTIN, lot number, or date can create problems at checkout or elsewhere in the supply chain, while a correctly printed symbol connected to an inaccurate database simply digitises the error.

CoLOS is designed to integrate with enterprise systems so product and production information can move into coding operations without being re-entered manually. Markem-Imaje also includes vision and verification capability within the wider software environment, allowing manufacturers to check that codes applied on the line meet the required quality and content rules.

The Engage element extends the same package into consumer-facing applications. Manufacturers can build mobile landing pages, forms, multilingual content, promotions, and other digital experiences, then alter that material without changing the code already printed on the product.

That separation is useful for products with long commercial lives. Packaging artwork may remain unchanged for months, while recycling advice, regulatory information, promotions, or other online content may need to be updated more frequently.

The system also produces scan analytics, giving brands information about where and when products are being scanned. Those data have obvious marketing uses, but they can also help businesses understand whether connected packaging is actually being used once products leave the factory.

For production teams, however, the immediate work is more basic. Plants need to determine whether existing printers can generate the required symbols at line speed, whether substrates and artwork provide adequate contrast, whether cameras can verify code quality, and whether data move correctly between ERP, product-information, and coding systems.

That makes Markem-Imaje’s readiness assessment potentially as important as the consumer-facing software. The 2027 timetable concerns scanning capability at retail, but manufacturers have to prepare earlier because packaging specifications, equipment upgrades, artwork changes, and multi-site software projects rarely fit comfortably into the final months before a customer requirement takes effect.

CoLOS 2D Activate and Engage give Markem-Imaje a way to extend its coding role beyond the moment ink reaches a package. The platform now follows the identifier upstream into product data and downstream into traceability and digital content, leaving manufacturers with a larger question than which QR code to print: whether the information behind it is controlled well enough to support everything the code is being asked to do.