News in Brief

Label System Offers Brand Protection with Sustainability

Australian plastic packaging manufacturer Caps & Closures has launched the ID- Shield holographic labelling and decoration system, which it says prevents the copying of a brand’s product labelling, while adding a unique look to guarantee that consumers will recognise the product as genuine.

The labelling solution is fully integrated into the packaging as it is manufactured, with no added materials, adhesives, inks, or printing processes. According to Caps & Closures, this means ID-Shield offers all manufacturers of food and beverage, health and wellness, and household products a cost-effective, integrated, secure feature that is suitable for small production runs, or scalable up to the largest of volumes.

It integrates on a nanoscale directly onto the surface of a product while retaining 100% material purity. Like the structure of a complex computer chip, ID-Shield’s processed surface reflects light at different angles, resulting in a colour changing image. This process does not compromise the product’s integrity or affect the food contact certification of the material.

ID-Shield (© Caps & Closures).

The technology supports the sustainability objectives of the 2025 Australian National Packaging Targets. It eliminates potential label contamination in the recycling stream because it is moulded into the surface of the packaging without the addition of any material in the process.

Systech and Spherity Partner for Pharma Supply Chain Security

Systech, part of Markem-Imaje and a pharmaceutical traceability specialist, has partnered with software provider Spherity to offer a solution to facilitate compliance with the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA), part of which requires the verification of trading partners.

Both organisations are members of the Open Credentialing Initiative (OCI), a non- profit initiative formed by a group of trading partners, solution providers and standard organisations to support the pharmaceutical industry in adopting credentialing and digital wallet technologies to enhance supply chain security. Integrating an electronic system to trace prescription drug products is the final phase in the DSCSA programme, with compliance mandatory by November 2023.

Together with Spherity, Systech is introducing an Authorised Trading Partner (ATP) solution which provides error-free accreditation of partners within the pharmaceutical supply chain, following manufacture. Verifying supply chain partners between the point of creation and point of dispensation is an additional layer in protecting the end consumer.

The introduction of an ATP solution provides an additional layer of security in Systech’s traceability portfolio, which includes their Verification Router Service (VRS). The solution was launched in partnership with Chronicled in 2019, to meet the saleable returns requirements of the DSCSA, which mandates that wholesalers must verify returned products before they can be redistributed.

Authentix Pilots Fuel Marker Programme in Southern Africa

Authentix and FAS Authentication have been awarded a contract for pilot marking and securing fuel being delivered through Transnet Pipelines (TPL), the largest multi-product operator in Southern Africa. The technology will allow TPL to mark and trace petroleum products in their custody and support authorities in taking enforcement action if product is stolen or diverted.

Transnet Pipelines transports approximately 17 billion litres of hydrocarbons and methane-rich gas through a network of over 3,000 km of petroleum and gas pipeline infrastructure.

The scope of the programme includes supplying proprietary covert chemical markers to differentiate fuel streams under TPL’s custody, from intake to delivery point. Transnet will test the performance of the tracing technology during this contract period and decide if further expansion of the programme is warranted.

As part of the pilot, the Authentix/FAS consortium will manage all in-country logistics for the programme, including security, warehousing, personnel, and infrastructure, as well as the application of the core technology, enabling hardware, and custom analysers.

The solution will include the Authentix Information System (AXIS®), a cloud- based data information platform, to enable tracking, compliance, and enforcement when illicit or stolen fuel products are found in the supply chain.

Digimarc Moves into Brand Integrity

Digimarc, best known for its covert watermarks for securing digital assets, has announced the launch of its Digimarc® Brand Integrity digital solution, which, it says, gives brands and their customers more sophisticated and flexible ways to verify the authenticity of products.

Digimarc’s data-driven approach involves assigning each product unit a serialised digital identity that can be tracked in the cloud and accessed through a variety of on-package digital triggers, including the Digimarc digital watermark.

The combination makes the process of authenticating items more accurate and scalable than traditional physical authentication measures, says the company.

Specifically, by giving every product a digital presence connected to a cloud- based record of its journey and interactions, the Digimarc Brand Integrity solution can prove a product’s authenticity, uncovering counterfeits and their origin, and providing insight into a products’ supply chain so that brands can anticipate issues and act fast.

Furthermore, according to the company, its support of dual-factor authentication, such as scanning both QR codes and digital watermarks on a single package, provides a strong defence against bad actors accustomed to easily circumventing lesser brand protection measures.

In addition to brands and digital assets, Digimarc’s digital watermarks are also used in banknotes as an anti-scan device and, as explained in the March 2022 issue of Authentication & Brand News™, are finding new applications in traceability for the waste and recycling industry.

MagVision and MMD

MagVision, the magnetic innovation start-up, has announced a merger with Macon Management and Design (MMD), a UK- based engineering design company.

MMD brings 30 years of experience in secure printing, packaging and automation, with particular expertise in Magnetic Ink Character Reading (MICR) and the handling of cheques and banknotes.

MagVision was formerly part of Inspectron. It is a developer of platforms for track and trace, brand protection, identification, and authentication. Solutions include MagID, a patented marking technology which provides a low-cost, environmentally friendly way to track and trace products, through the application of magnetic ink codes on or inside brand packaging.