Anti Counterfeiting
Embedding Security Features to Protect Products and Brands
Holographic, Ink & Pattern Labels
Anti-counterfeiting labels can be discerned by an average person or not immediately discernible with while only being visible with additional tools/training. Labels of the former include hidden indicia, colour shift ink, thermochromic ink and tamper seals. The latter can come in different ways and forms such as micro print, serialization, 2D codes and luminescent ink. QR codes, bitmapping and barcodes can have varying degrees of security based on the required market and the threat it faces. Security substrates also offer secondary features such as physical/chemical sensitivity, unique fibres, threads and watermarks. Printing techniques can include images, texts or designs that are extremely difficult to reproduce without prior knowledge of material composition or location of marker.
RFID & NFC Tagging
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC) are two form of contactless communications that do not require line of sight to be read. RFID uses electromagnetic waves to identify products and can be updated in real time. Moreover, RFID can be used for tracking, inventory management, vehicle tracking and supply chain logistics. It is a powerful alternative to barcodes as thousands of RFID items can be scanned from distances between few inches to few meters. NFC enabled smart phones to tap NFC enabled packages/labels and verify the authenticity of the product. NFC can also be used as a tamper evident label. Such solutions are prevalent among industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and retail.
Chemical Tagging
Specific chemicals and/or taggants can be added to a medium (ink, substrate varnish) that exhibit a noticeable response or are not naturally occurring in nature. The taggant is detected by a digital reader or through an imaging, non-destructive testing (NDT) method like X-ray and spectroscopy. Perfumes, agrochemicals and cosmetics can also be tagged with a manufacturer's chemical signature. In the battle against counterfeit medicines, micrometer-size particles, or microtags, contain information to identify and track drugs along the supply chain. Microtags are uniquely encoded with multiple levels of security information within a space of 50–110 µm—the size of a dust speck and thinner than a strand of human hair. As such, anti-counterfeit methods will help with the elimination of product fraud to safeguard the rights of both consumers and industry.
Critical Brand Protection Throughout the Global Supply Chain
Anti-Counterfeit technology can be classified into 3 primary categories: Overt, Covert and Forensics. Within these three primary categories, package component modifications can be customized, helping producers of fast-moving consumer goods by taking a different approach towards supply chain management. At MetaMetry, we provide security tags with traceability features that allow the supply chain to verify the product authenticity. Labels with anti-counterfeiting features are difficult to reproduce. They incorporate one or more elements in order to allow for product authentication and support brand identity such as watermarks, invisible inks, thermochromatic ink, fluorescent ink and QR codes.
MetaMetry allows you to make the most of your resources. We offer flexible services that are tailor-fit to the requirements of your specific project. Hire the talent you need for the tasks you need completed — no more, and no less. Whether you need an engineer to help design your system and/or part, a 3D modeler to hash out your ideas, or a product designer to help you with the design process throughout, we'll work with you to pair you with the services you need.