According to a new market research report "Track and Trace Solutions Market by Product (Plant Manager, Checkweigher, Barcode Scanner, Monitoring), Technology (2D Barcode, RFID), Application (Serialization, Aggregation, Reporting), End User (Pharma, Food, Medical Devices) - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Track and Trace Solutions Market is projected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2026 from USD 4.1 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period. The implementation of track and trace solutions and technologies is a strategy adopted by many manufacturing companies and regulatory bodies in recent years.

According to the report, the growth in track and trace solutions market is largely driven by stringent regulations & standards for the implementation of serialization, increasing focus of manufacturers on brand protection, growth in the number of packaging-related product recalls, high growth in the generic and OTC markets and growth in the medical device industry.

The high costs and long implementation timeframe associated with serialization and aggregation and the huge setup costs are expected to limit market growth to a certain extent.

Based on products, the market is segmented into software, hardware components and standalone platforms based on product. The software segment accounted for the largest share — 60.1% — of the track and trace solutions market in 2020. Market growth is largely driven by the increasing awareness about secure packaging, the rising number of counterfeit drugs and related products and growing awareness of brand protection. In addition, regulatory compliance is further supporting the growth of this market.

The standalone platforms segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 15.9% during the forecast period. The growth in this market is mainly attributed to the stringent government regulations for implementing serialization and UDI codes in the pharma and medical device industry, increasing pressure on pharmaceutical companies to adopt serialization and increasing demand for standalone platforms to reduce the serialization implementation timeframe.

Based on application, the track and trace solutions market is segmented into serialization solutions; aggregation solutions; and tracking, tracing, and reporting. The serialization solutions segment accounted for the largest share —62.3%— of the applications market. This segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.0% during the forecast period to reach USD 2,560.9 million by 2026. Stringent regulations for the implementation of serialization solutions in packaging and supply chain applications drive this segments growth.

The tracking, tracing and reporting segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 16.1% during the forecast period owing to the increasing number of regulations such as DSCSA, UDI and Medical Device Reporting (MDR) for medical devices and pharmaceutical products.

Based on technology, the track and trace solutions market is segmented into linear barcodes, 2D barcodes and radiofrequency identification (RFID). The 2D barcodes segment accounted for the largest share of 76.2% of the technology market in 2020. This segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.4% to reach USD 5,641.3 million by 2026. The large share of the 2D barcodes technology segment can be attributed to the increasing use of 2D barcodes in the packaging industry. They have higher data storage capacities than linear barcodes and contain larger amounts of data with fewer variations in image size.

The RFID segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 13.7% during the forecast period due to the growing demand for these systems in automated pharmaceutical distribution and medical devices due to low labor costs and improved visibility & planning.

The track and trace solutions market studied in this report is divided into five major regions, namely, North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2020, North America accounted for the largest share of 42.9% of the global market, followed by Europe (33.5%). The presence of developed healthcare systems in the US & Canada; the presence of many pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies and medical device manufacturers; stringent regulations regarding serialization; and the growing medical devices market are major factors driving market growth in North America.

Asia Pacific (APAC) is the fastest-growing market and is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 13.8% for track and trace solutions. Growing regulatory requirements in the healthcare industry to comply with manufacturing and distribution practices, the rising number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and the significant economic development in emerging Asia Pacific countries such as China and India are the major factors driving the demand for track and trace solutions in the APAC region.

Some of the prominent players in the track and trace solutions market are OPTEL GROUP (Canada), Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (U.S.), Systech International Inc. (US.), TraceLink Inc. (U.S.), Antares Vision (Italy), SAP (U.S.), Xyntek Inc. (U.S.), SEA Vision Srl (Italy), Syntegon (Germany), Körber Medipak Systems AG (Switzerland), Siemens AG (Germany), Uhlmann Group (Germany), JEKSON VISION (India), Videojet Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Zebra Technologies Corporation (U.S.), Axway Inc. (U.S.), ACG Worldwide (India), Laetus GmbH (Germany), and WIPOTEC-OCS (Germany).

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