This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Security & Monitoring


How to stop the fuel of the counterfeiting fire?


Tim Congdon, European business development manager at CCL Design UK, talks about how to avoid counterfeit products in the fire and security market


C


ounterfeiting fire and security products is growing worldwide at an alarming rate – with sales into the billions of dollars per year. In particular, counterfeiting of fire safety and prevention products can harm or kill, and at the same time, inflict serious damage on the brand names and bottom lines of major manufacturers. For instance, lifesaving products such as automatic fire sprinklers have been discovered to be bearing a counterfeit FM approvals mark and VIKING brand name. In short, these automatic sprinklers, found in Malaysia, could not be relied upon to react to, or control, a fire. The electronics industry in general (including fire and security manufacturers) has started to recognise the importance of protecting customers, intellectual property, and brands. One way in which counterfeiting can be reduced is by using brand protection and authentication and this is leading to a significant demand. For instance, this month, it was reported that the global market for anti-counterfeiting, brand protection and security packaging technology is forecast to grow strongly over the next four years to $3.65 billion in 2022. There are other things that manufacturers can do to limit their exposure. For instance, for those that are exporting out of the UK, you may want to


consider working with Customs and Border Protection to register Intellectual Property Rights with them. Also, if you’re exporting to the US, it is vitally important that the Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) mark is achieved. This is because the UL mark is the most widely recognised safety certification mark in the world, and it has been a product safety leader for over 100 years – widely acknowledged for its safety standards, integrity, and independence. The UL mark is also particularly


recognised in the US by consumers, regulatory authorities and the insurance industry and UL can enforce standards on behalf of manufacturers.


Using anti-counterfeiting solutions (as explained below) will certainly make it much harder for counterfeiters to reproduce your products, but it is also worth providing guidelines to customers on how to detect counterfeit products. These guidelines could include a list of authorised resellers, and details around the security aspects of the product. You could also supply some examples of ways in which counterfeit products can be discovered. For instance, this can include misspellings on the product or its packaging, codes that don’t match (i.e. between the component and the assembly


Security label: Utilising CCL’s Invisible Fluorescence technology


code), and finally part-specific requirements such as humidity may be missing on a counterfeit item. The problem is that you can take all the above precautions, but without using anti- counterfeiting solutions, you still leave yourself open to potential abuse. This threat has led to the development of a range of options for manufacturers. Brand owners can now work with specialist manufacturers to develop innovative ways to design labels, ranging from tamper evident box seals to highly complex multi-layer authentication labels. Decorative brand labels can also double as both identifiers and functional anti- counterfeit solutions – by including both overt and covert security features built into


the design. In short, products must remain easy to authenticate, but almost impossible to copy.


Some examples of these products include Videomark, Security Labels (Overt/Covert) and Track & Trace. Videomark - is a highly overt security


feature that has several covert layers built in. To achieve this unique overt feature a photopolymer film is utilised in our bespoke manufacturing process, which allows us to create 3D images and depth that cannot be achieved with traditional Holographic techniques. As such there has been no successful attempts at copying the Videomark product by counterfeiters. Security Labels (Overt/Covert) – these


range from a box seal to a label with up to 20 different overt and covert security features. We use customised manufacturing equipment to produce complex products in volume. Track & Trace - Secure Track is a


proprietary track and trace intelligent printing solution. Secure Track was designed specifically for the printing of code management solutions, including serialisation, encrypted security codes and customised coding algorithms. It also provides complete traceability through the supply chain process and offers anti- counterfeit, brand protection and product verification capabilities. When searching for a manufacturer to


provide an anti-counterfeiting solution you need to ensure that all their products are designed, developed, and manufactured within a secure facility, ensuring all materials are closely controlled. The actions we have taken to comply to this level of security has ensured that there have been no successful attempts at copying our more advance products on the black market.


Videomark: CCL’s highly overt security feature to fight counterfeiting 20 March 2018 Components in Electronics www.ccldesignelectronics.com www.cieonline.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48