Security at its Best
March 2003
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Using a combination of security strategies, suppliers, converters, and retailers are working together to decrease theft.
ACCORDING TO THE 2001 National Retail Security Study, total inventory shrinkage cost U.S. retailers $32.2 billion, up from $29 billion the year before. In a trend driven largely by merchants and brand owners, today's industry suppliers are working hand-in-hand with converters to develop the most secure packaging.
Depending on the application, there are many options available. Ink suppliers are steadily pumping out new types of specialty formulations, many of which showed improved usage rates in this year's packagePRINTING Annual Ink Usage Survey. (See the January 2003 issue for more details.) Substrate suppliers have expanded their product lines to include more polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene films, which offer high tear resistance, with additional security/anti-counterfeiting possibilities. Finally, there is the span of foils, holograms, and lenticulars, which not only double as anti-counterfeiting devices, but can greatly brighten a package's shelf appeal.
An unquestionable need
There's no doubt that security packaging is vital to today's retail market. Brand owners are working hard ensure that their products are not only effective, but that they are safe from counterfeiting. And as the daunting shoplifting numbers continue to grow, retail chains are forced to find alternate methods of curbing theft. "One line of security is no longer enough," says James Kipp, Crown Roll Leaf's security products manager. "The risk of exposure is too great, every industry is going to multiple methods of security."
Kipp believes the most effective packages combine a number of security features into their design. "The hologram's popularity has sky-rocketed over the last several years, and since they require very specialized equipment to manufacture, they are difficult to repeat. However, when used in conjunction with features such as microprinting, image customization, or specialty inks, the amount of security provided just continues to multiply."
Protecting the brand
In addition to Flint Ink's focus on growing its already-wide selection of specialty inks, the company is honing in on the brand-protection market. Flint's Director of New Business Development Leonard Walle stresses the importance of brand protection, citing the current global economy and the emergence of the World Wide Web as main driving forces in the importance of protecting brands. "Internet sales have really brought the magnitude of brand protection to a new high," begins Walle. "With Internet purchases of products such as pharmaceuticals, where the consumer must simply trust that they are buying the real thing, product identification and verification are of utmost—sometimes life and death—importance."
ACCORDING TO THE 2001 National Retail Security Study, total inventory shrinkage cost U.S. retailers $32.2 billion, up from $29 billion the year before. In a trend driven largely by merchants and brand owners, today's industry suppliers are working hand-in-hand with converters to develop the most secure packaging.
Depending on the application, there are many options available. Ink suppliers are steadily pumping out new types of specialty formulations, many of which showed improved usage rates in this year's packagePRINTING Annual Ink Usage Survey. (See the January 2003 issue for more details.) Substrate suppliers have expanded their product lines to include more polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene films, which offer high tear resistance, with additional security/anti-counterfeiting possibilities. Finally, there is the span of foils, holograms, and lenticulars, which not only double as anti-counterfeiting devices, but can greatly brighten a package's shelf appeal.
An unquestionable need
There's no doubt that security packaging is vital to today's retail market. Brand owners are working hard ensure that their products are not only effective, but that they are safe from counterfeiting. And as the daunting shoplifting numbers continue to grow, retail chains are forced to find alternate methods of curbing theft. "One line of security is no longer enough," says James Kipp, Crown Roll Leaf's security products manager. "The risk of exposure is too great, every industry is going to multiple methods of security."
Kipp believes the most effective packages combine a number of security features into their design. "The hologram's popularity has sky-rocketed over the last several years, and since they require very specialized equipment to manufacture, they are difficult to repeat. However, when used in conjunction with features such as microprinting, image customization, or specialty inks, the amount of security provided just continues to multiply."
Protecting the brand
In addition to Flint Ink's focus on growing its already-wide selection of specialty inks, the company is honing in on the brand-protection market. Flint's Director of New Business Development Leonard Walle stresses the importance of brand protection, citing the current global economy and the emergence of the World Wide Web as main driving forces in the importance of protecting brands. "Internet sales have really brought the magnitude of brand protection to a new high," begins Walle. "With Internet purchases of products such as pharmaceuticals, where the consumer must simply trust that they are buying the real thing, product identification and verification are of utmost—sometimes life and death—importance."
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