Watching For Threats

Digital printing is one process that can play a vital role in brand protection and track-and-trace applications.

March 2009 by Bob Neagle, Videojet Technologies Inc.

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As the new millennium unfolds, it’s becoming more apparent that one of a consumer goods manufacturer’s most important assets is its brand. Consumers are willing to pay a premium price for their favorite brands, which translates into both profit and marketplace power.

But, brands face many threats and need to be protected. There are criminal enterprises that can steal a portion of the investment in a brand for themselves by counterfeiting or unlawfully distributing a product (called diversion), or worse, damage a brand’s equity and the manufacturer by hurting consumers who purchase a product (termed product terrorism).

One of the most important methods of protection is through digital variable data marking and coding technologies on primary packaging. Technologies can include inkjet printers, laser coders, thermal transfer overprinters, binary array printers, or a combination of technologies that provide multiple layers of protection, thus making it more difficult to counterfeit or divert products. Combining these technologies with software that creates unique, random codes that are placed directly on a package will go a long way in protecting the brand, the manufacturer, and ultimately the consumer.

Counterfeiting, diversion abound

The challenges and importance of ensuring product integrity today are magnified by the flood of counterfeit products and diversionary activity in the marketplace. The actual financial impact of counterfeiting and diversion is believed to be in the billions of dollars annually. Increasingly, governing bodies have placed the responsibility to ensure product and supply chain integrity on manufacturers.

As effective as a package’s structure and graphic design are in demonstrating a brand’s attributes, they provide limited protection from counterfeiting, diversion, and even product terrorism. The repetitive and commonplace nature of packaging and labeling make a product vulnerable to duplication and fraud, and also do not prevent unlawful distribution. As a result, manufacturers are being forced to add multiple layers of protection against these threats. These layers of protection have various goals in mind, the most important of which is verifying the authenticity of a product and tracing its pedigree from authorized start to end.

Fortunately, there are cost-effective approaches manufacturers can use to achieve these goals. Once a product’s primary and secondary protection measures are in place, variable data marking and coding technologies can play a key role in providing those added layers of protection that help ensure the authenticity of a brand and reduce potential product liabilities.

Managing products at the item level

Before 2000, companies that manufactured variable data marking and coding equipment essentially provided the ability to manage products by lots or batches, resulting in significant costs to perform a recall (the entire batch would be recalled), not to mention the damage sustained by the brand and the manufacturer due to negative publicity.

But, today marking and coding technologies can manage the product at the item level. This means individual items can be tracked from the plant to the distribution center to the store. So, if a product was possibly tampered with, a manufacturer can inform specific stores directly about the recalled product. In this way, the problematic product can be targeted and removed from the supply chain, reducing cost and negative publicity, while also possibly saving the life of a consumer.

Conversely, through random checks of the supply chain and retail locations, product manufacturers can quickly identify counterfeits or items that have been obtained through diversionary means. Examining the different types of overt and covert codes on a package and the data contained within them can quickly determine whether the products on a distributor or retailer shelf are authentic and belong there.

Technological advances

Recent technological advances in digital variable data printing have made managing the product at the item level a reality. But brand managers need to have a comprehensive understanding of the technologies at their disposal to facilitate that level of product management. The following is basic background on several methods of variable data marking and coding, the substrates for which they are most appropriate, and other advantages for product manufacturers.

Small character inkjet

Perhaps the best known method of non-contact digital marking and coding is small character inkjet, which can be used on most consumer packaging substrates, from paper stocks to plastics to foil. Inkjet has become one of the most versatile and durable coding options for product manufacturers. Inkjet printers create lot codes, expiration dates, bar codes, and graphics on packaging using a variety of inks, including inks visible and invisible to the human eye (i.e., UV and infrared inks).

For example, consumer packaging requires readable, high-quality codes to ensure accuracy in the tracking and tracing of those products. Inkjet delivers these types of codes by applying a stream of ink drops to the package via a printhead, allowing multiple lines of codes to be applied in a variety of fonts and alignments. Inkjet users can also enjoy reduced downtime thanks to new software that monitors and controls ink viscosity, and automatic flush systems that eliminate daily printhead cleaning.

Laser coding

Industrial laser marking started in the early 1970s and has developed into a well-established technology. It can be used for marking numerical codes, 2D-matrix and bar codes, logos, and symbols onto a wide range of substrates, including coated paper stocks, glass, plastic, and metals. Key markets for laser coding include food, pharmaceutical, electronics, plastics, and automotive.

Lasers do not require inks, stamps, or ribbons to generate a code. In modern sealed-off CO2 laser coders, the infrared laser light is generated via radio-frequency discharge in a carbon dioxide gas mixture. The CO2 laser systems code thermally by changing the surface color (e.g., PVC packages), melting, foaming (e.g., PET bottles), or removing the material surface (e.g., printed labels, cardboards, cans, tubes). The advantages of laser coding include speed, versatility, code permanence, noncontact operation, clean and dry process, maintenance-free operation over thousands of hours, extremely low operating costs, and adaptability to a fully automated line. 

Thermal transfer overprinting

The thermal transfer overprinting method uses a thermal transfer printhead and ribbon that make contact with flexible substrates, such as synthetic films and labels. Miniature print elements under a glass coating heat small areas of the ribbon and transfer ink to the target substrate. Print elements are program-controlled to create real-time images, including clean, high-resolution bar codes, text, and graphics.

Typical applications include the snack, bakery, meat, and frozen food industries, where flexible packaging is common. There are also special applications, such as in the coffee and confectionery industries, where generic packaging is used across a wide product range and all product branding and specifications are added. This saves companies substantial costs through reduced ribbon waste and inventory.

Binary array

This technology is a form of noncontact continuous inkjet printing that uses 100 or 200 nozzles to generate more than 15 million droplets of ink per second, creating a “curtain” of ink. The printed image is controlled electronically by on/off (or binary) charge of pressurized droplets of ink, which allows for ink reuse. 

Binary array technology prints high-resolution bar codes, text, and graphics up to 2˝ high on primarily paper stocks. Binary array is also cost-effective when printing variable information in high volume or reducing inventory of preprinted package variation.

Maximizing success

Brand protection solutions must be tailored to the unique needs of a product manufacturer’s brands to maximize their success. Components of a brand protection solution can include the following:

Digital “fingerprint”: This validates manufacturing origin and product quality by integrating item-specific data into a unique code format such as a pseudo-random code. The carrier for these license plates can range from human-readable characters to a 2D bar code. The actual mark can meet permanence standards in a covert or overt fashion.

Proprietary algorithms: Proprietary algorithms enable manufacturers to create “intelligent” codes embedded with unique item-level properties, simplifying data mining downstream.

Branding: A growing trend today is creating code images with the look and feel of the brand, designed to meet its unique requirements. Techniques include unique fonts and graphics, colors, and special additives for laser marking, along with a mix of overt and covert marking.

In-line verification and compliance: The need to verify code accuracy and repeatability is vitally important in brand protection efforts, so a manufacturer knows (and can verify) what codes have entered the supply chain. Often this requires high-quality results printed at high production line speeds, a difficult feat for inkjet printers 10 years ago. 

Production line controls: These are often required to create “parent-child” relationships by tracking items into shipping cartons and then the shipping cartons into cases. Production line controls actually monitor each item as part of the production flow and keep accurate counts, while assigning unique product identifiers in the process. If required, the controls can interface with in-line vision systems to validate code accuracy or to read and print downstream. 

All of these technologies also can play a major role in gathering information about customers. There has been tremendous growth in online promotions in the last decade, and consumer product manufacturers are investing heavily in this trend. Plus, online promotions can offer digital methods of authenticating product sales. The process is simple:

• Random codes are created separately before the manufacturing process begins and are digitally printed (via small character inkjet, laser, or binary array printers) on the product packaging. 

• Security controllers ensure the data is managed properly (i.e., preventing code duplication). 

• A consumer purchases the product and goes to the manufacturer’s promotion Web site to validate the “digital proof of purchase,” and in the process provides demographic information.

The manufacturer measures actual sales that resulted from its promotional investment.

Implications for the future

As the power of brands increases, criminal enterprises will continue to create ways to steal or damage a brand’s equity. Variable data marking and coding technologies make up one part of the brand protection landscape, but a crucial one nonetheless. A brand manager who is intimately familiar with options in this area can confidently steer brands past a growing number of obstacles. pP

Bob Neagle is business unit manager of Videojet’s brand protection solutions group, based in Duluth, Ga. He has worked for Videojet for four years.

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