Protect Your Brand with Simple Security Features

Protect Your Brand with Simple Security Features

Counterfeited products are a big problem – estimated to be worth £2 trillion worldwide.

Whilst there are obvious targets for counterfeiting – like sports apparel and luxury goods – there are some less likely but more potentially damaging counterfeit goods.

Automotive and aerospace spare parts, electronic components and of course pharmaceuticals are perhaps the most potentially damaging and easily counterfeited.

Potential risks for Spare Parts, Electronic Components and Pharmaceuticals

Sub standard automotive and aerospace spare parts are easy to inject into a complex and wide supply chain and have obvious fatal consequences if they fail.

In June 2020, a US Air Force pilot died when his ejection seat malfunctioned. After the subsequent investigation, the US Airforce Research Lab had suspicions about 10 potentially counterfeit and faulty electronic chips. Quality standards were substandard and the workmanship shoddy, which may have lead to the ejector seat’s parachute failing to deploy.

In military applications – there are strategic consequences if counterfeit parts make their way into a supply chain – as Hezbollah found when their radios and pagers were compromised in 2024.

With defence systems needing to last decades, much longer than cars or consumer electronics, the need for good quality components is all the more critical. Combine that with military applications being used in life or death situations – the use of low quality fake components could be fatal.

How Can We Prevent Counterfeit Products?

Genuine products need to be protected by:

a hard-to-copy means of identification – obvious and ‘covert’ features to prove authenticity,
a way of preventing identification being transferred from one item to another and
inspection to ensure the items are genuine.

This needs to be maintained throughout the supply-chain.

Holographic Security Labels

Holographic labels are difficult to copy and expensive to make. They give your products authenticity at a glance and fake products can be seen easily.

Holographic labels have high set up costs which discourages counterfeiters, but if you’re producing tens of thousands of items, the cost per item becomes an acceptable investment.

Holographic labels tend to be made by genuine manufacturers who have bought expensive equipment to make the holograms.

You can buy designs from a range of ready made images or add your logo or a custom design to make them unique to your brand.

These labels don’t just provide security—they also make your product look high-quality and professional.

Holographic labels take several weeks to make and come on sheets, with a minimum order quantity of several thousand labels – depending on label size.

Verify Genuine Products with QR Code Labels

QR codes enable traceability throughout the supply chain. They are easy to create and print. They’re also easy to scan so it’s easy for the supply chain to track items along the chain.

An example could be aerospace parts. The engineer fitting the part can scan the code with their phone and check it’s genuine. That scan also records that it’s been fitted, taking the part out of the supply chain.

End users can scan the code with their phone to check if the product is genuine.

You can also use QR codes to share extra details, such as where the product was made or special care instructions. This builds trust with your customers.

Tamper-Evident Labels and Tape

Tamper-evident labels and tapes show if a product has been opened or tampered with.

This is a critical part in maintaining integrity with your supply chain.

In an industrial supply chain, checking the security tape or labels are a way of confirming the box hasn’t been opened and the contents changed. It can form part of compliance testing in the manufacturing process.

Tamper-evident labels mean that labels can’t be transferred from one item to a counterfeit item.

Tapes and seals can be custom branded so they show your own logo when you peel off the tape or simply use standard text and design.

Whilst using tamper-evident tapes and labels is common place for medicines and pharmaceuticals, it’s very effective in automotive and aerospace, where counterfeit products can also cost lives.

Hidden (Covert) Security Label Features

There are dozens of security features you can use to prove your labels (and products) are authentic.

You can add covert, hidden security features, like:

UV ink – print that is invisible until an ultra-violet light is shined on them. A quick, easy and non-destructive way to prove authenticity.

Motion Rastering – This feature is a simple, inexpensive way to authenticate your items. The label is read by a reader that you wave over the label in order to read the hidden text. No fancy electronics needed.

Add nano and micro-print, to your products. These features can’t be seen easily by counterfeiters and can’t be printed by them either but can be checked by experts to prove the product is authentic and see if the supply chain has been compromised.

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is a modern way to track your products. It creates a secure digital record that can’t be changed. It records of every step, from the factory to the end user. They can be public or private.

This is particularly useful for safety critical items like aircraft parts and automotive where trust is very important and consequences quite high.

A block chain register for your supply chain would cost tens or thousands of pounds to create but would provide trust and safety to customers.

Where the set-up costs can be shared over large numbers of supply chain participants, the investment could work out quite low compared to the benefits.

Why Supply Chain Security Is Important

Different industries have different priorities in terms of supply chain security.

High value branded products need counterfeit protection to prevent financial losses.

Pharmaceuticals need to protect against reputation damage from counterfeit drugs potentially killing people. The same motives apply to aviation and automotive – counterfeit components could be catastrophic.

Defence industries need to know that components aren’t supplied by hostile countries, who can sabotage military efforts or gather sensitive intelligence. Additionally, maintaining sanctions means material traceability is important.

Ready to Protect Your Brand?

We can help you with holographic labels, QR codes, and other security solutions to keep your brand safe. Use our expertise to protect your products, build trust with your customers, and stay ahead of counterfeiters.