In India, markets are flooded with different kinds of fake electronic products. You can easily find cheap grade counterfeit electronics items in famous markets like Nehru Place, Ghaffar Market in Delhi or Linking road in Mumbai. Besides these, there are numerous small shops and online portals which have become ideal for selling fake electronic products.

According to market reports published in the year, 2014 the counterfeit electronic market is growing twice as fast as general goods. With the deep penetration of the internet among the Indian consumer base, the largest share of fake products sold online is of electronics.

Counterfeit electronic products bring along a lot of problems like a risk to consumer’s life, tarnished brand image of the manufacturer, loss of taxes and much more. For example, a fake USB can lead to data loss and fake mobile batteries can explode without any sign.

Fake electronics also pose a risk to national security and defence establishments. Poor quality electronics used by the military can lead to lapses in national security and disastrous accidents.

There are two different types of counterfeit electronics products available in the Indian market. The first type includes the completely fake product (not manufactured by the original component manufacturer but have laser markings).

The second type is known as partial fake products (manufactured by the original component manufacturer but are remarked to show different functions). In this type, the counterfeiters use fake packaging instead of remarking the product.

Counterfeiting is a global problem which is growing on a rapid scale devouring economic growth and affecting the society badly. According to a report by the OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office, “The value of imported fake goods rose to $509 billion in 2016, up from $461 billion three years ago.”

The report also states, “Global sales of counterfeit and pirated goods have soared to $522 billion a year, amounting to a whopping 3.3 per cent of world trade.” Different experts cite different reasons behind the growth and expansion of counterfeiting but there are a few main reasons which are responsible for its monstrous growth.

The trend of knowingly buying fakes: One of the biggest reason behind the rise of fakes is that there is a big market for it. The rise of luxury brand value has deeply steeped in the heart of millions and the only possible way to afford it is to buy a fake luxury product which satisfies one’s obsession for costly goods and is affordable at the same time. There are a large number of people buying fakes compared to the ones who unknowingly fall victim to counterfeit products. Moreover, counterfeits offer a high-profit margin for distributors and retailers compared to genuine products.

Poor IP laws and weak monitoring of supply chains: The governments in different countries need to make stringent intellectual property laws and should equip authorities with advance mechanisms to monitor supply chains. Perhaps one of the reasons behind the flourishing counterfeit business is due to the absence of these two steps. In the presence of strict IP laws, the chances of copyright violations come down drastically and curb the practice of counterfeiting. Besides, government authorities should also be equipped with advanced monitoring technologies to look out for any loopholes.

The rise of counterfeit business on the web: Nowadays, counterfeiting has intruded the online marketplace. We regularly encounter spurious websites and social media links on the web which showcase alluring deals on different kinds of products. But do we really know how the product actually looks like? According to the International Trademark Association, “Criminals prefer to sell counterfeits on the Internet for many reasons. They can hide behind the anonymity of the Internet with the Dark Web even their IP addresses can be hidden. The Internet gives them the reach to sell to consumers globally-outside of the national limits of law enforcement.”

The growth of free trade zones: Another factor behind the growth of counterfeiting worldwide is the rise of free trade zones in different parts of the world. Free trade zones provide tax advantages and other exemptions which helps to boost the economy of the host country. However, it also leads to a rise in counterfeiting and piracy as there are little checks and easy transport facilities available in these zones.

Lack of use of anti-counterfeiting technologies: Many organisations do not take counterfeiting seriously and they ridicule the use of anti-counterfeiting technologies. However, the fact is that duplication eats their business from within like cancer and at times the financial damage is huge. It is high time that organisations utilise the power of anti-counterfeiting technologies to deter counterfeiters from sneaking into their profits.

Lately, there has been an increase in raids on counterfeit fertilizers across India. Counterfeit and adulterated fertilizers have been detected at different stages of the supply chain. International reports suggest that counterfeit fertilizers are not just a problem limited to India but are prevalent in Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and many countries in Africa.

Fertilizers are often adulterated with fillers which contain harmful chemicals. It has been usually seen that expensive fertilizers are mixed with cheap grade ingredients.

The boom of the green revolution in our country and the resulting increase in demand for fertilizers created a lucrative opportunity for counterfeiters to sell adulterated fertilizers on a large scale.

However, counterfeit fertilizers have led to a lot of negative outcomes. Counterfeit fertilizers damage the crops, makes the fertile land barren and most importantly weakens the country’s economy.

Due to low yields, farmers are not able to repay their debts to the bank which causes an unnecessary financial burden. This forces the banking institutions to further increase the interest on the loans which demotivates the farmers to borrow them. It’s like a vicious cycle which never ends and leads to massive financial losses.

Continuous deterioration of farming output creates a cause of concern for commodity traders and investors. Moreover, legitimate fertilizer manufacturing companies face a massive financial setback due to the sale of counterfeits and suffer from a poor brand image among consumers which takes years to heal.

Anti-counterfeiting solutions can play an important role in curbing counterfeiting in the fertilizer manufacturing industry. Holostik is a name to reckon with the best anti-counterfeiting solutions provider. The company provides customized solutions to deal with the duplication and adulteration of fertilizers. The company’s unique packaging solutions encompass high-end anti-duplication solutions which make it impossible for the forgers to adulterate or copy the product.

An IBEF report states, “Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58 per cent of India’s population. Gross Value Added by agriculture, forestry and fishing is estimated at Rs 17.67 trillion (US$ 274.23 billion) in FY18.” With such a massive contribution to the economy, it is high time that the Indian agro-industry players, authorities and the Government take necessary measures to tackle the menace of duplication.

Labels are packaging products which act as first communicators of the company. Labels are meant to provide first glace information related to the brand and its product. Among the many types of labels, holographic security labels have emerged as an ideal solution for securing the product from counterfeiting. Due to its holographic property, it is difficult to copy or replicate these types of security labels.

Holographic security labels enhance the brand value of the product. These security labels play an important role in creating a visual appeal for the product. Different kind of security features including holography are embedded in these labels which act as a deterrent against duplication.

Holostik is one of the largest manufacturers of security labels in India. The anti-counterfeiting company not just makes different types of security labels but creates an identity that effectively reflects your brand to your customers and protects it from tampering, adulteration and counterfeiting. Holostik not just makes product protection much more secure for its clients but also makes it impossible to copy or replicate the security label.

Different kinds of labels offered by Holostik include FMCG labels, pharmaceutical labels, label on label, automotive labels, high-security labels, in-mould labels, lubricant labels, Tyvek label, beer labels, tags, apparel tags, scratch label, educational certificates, holographic scratch, breakable vinyl, transparent, adhesive side printing, Tyvek (non-tear able), scratch labels, fibre paper labels and in-mould labels.

Authentication technologies play a pivotal role in protecting brand reputation, value, market share and above all trust of customers. As counterfeiters use new methods and technologies for duplication it has become highly critical for legitimate manufacturers to utilize the power of digital authentication.

Digital authentication technologies are being widely used by companies across the globe to tackle the problem of counterfeiting. Some of the widely used digital authentication technologies comprises of bar codes, QR (Quick Response) codes, RFIDs, taggants etc.

Among these authentication technologies bar codes and QR codes are being massively used by organizations to secure their products and safeguard and manage their supply chains.

As per a trade report, “The barcode sector of the technology segment constituted the highest share in the anti-counterfeit packaging market; and is projected to grow at a second-highest rate during the forecast period as it is highly preferred for brand protection in almost all industries but especially in personal care & cosmetics products. This is due to the information and code embossed over the barcode and does not allow the covert data to be displayed on the label, making it difficult for counterfeiters to copy. A barcode helps companies to integrate product lines and reduce the total cost of ownership.”

QR codes or 2D bar codes are not much different from bar codes except that they can store much more information compared to a normal barcode. Both these machine-readable codes can be scanned with handheld devices and mobile phones. Perhaps, one of the biggest advantages of these digital authentication technologies is that they provide quick and convenient authentication in real time.

Here are some benefits of digital authentication technologies:

1.Real-time authentication: Digital technologies like bar-codes and QR codes offer instant authentication of the product in real time. This means that you don’t have to wait much in order to check the genuineness of the product.

2.Stores large amount of information: From the name of the product to manufacturing and expiry date, nutritional value and much more, bar codes and QR codes can store a large amount of information which reflects on the screen once scanned. It helps the consumer and other stakeholders in the supply chain to know about the necessary information related to the product.

3.Unique for every single product: Bar codes and QR codes are unique for every single or individual product manufactured by the company. Thus, these solutions give a unique identity to each product in the supply chain and ensure their comprehensive and detailed monitoring.

4.Can be amalgamated with physical authentication technologies: Holostik which is a pioneer in anti-counterfeiting technologies in India offers a unique smart security hologram which includes a QR code and a hologram for two-phased authentication of the product. Quite evidently, one can’t deny the great quality of digital technologies to easily amalgamate with physical technologies.

Pharmaceutical products are of vital importance to the healthcare system of every country. However, high incidents of counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical business has hampered the growth of the pharma industry and has wreaked havoc on the healthcare systems. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10 to 15% of the global drug supply is counterfeit and Africa accounts for up to 30% of the counterfeit medicine in circulation. A per another statistic it is estimated that 1 in 10 drugs sold worldwide is counterfeit.

One of the worrisome situations created by counterfeit medicines is their threat to human lives. According to a news published in The Guardian, “A surge in counterfeit and poor-quality medicines means that 2,50,000 children a year are thought to die after receiving shoddy or outright fake drugs intended to treat malaria and pneumonia alone.”

Lately, the problem of fake medicines has grown manifolds with the rise of e-commerce platforms. This has led to a growth of illegal online pharmacies as well as online marketplaces distributing them. Amidst this grim scenario, pharmaceutical companies must take product and brand protection seriously due to the following reasons:

To protect their consumers

An estimated 116,000 deaths have occurred in Sub-Sharan Africa due to counterfeit malaria pills. Whether the counterfeit is a placebo containing sugar or has been laced with cheap and dangerous chemicals, it is putting human lives at risk.

To secure their return on investments

The global pharmaceutical industry loses millions due to the sale of fake and sub-standard medicines every year. The EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) estimates that the EU pharmaceutical industry loses the equivalent of nearly 7% in sales per year due to counterfeit drugs which accounted for 26,9 billion Euros annually. No wonder, the pharmaceutical industry invests billions in R&D and counterfeiting badly affects their return on investments.

To safeguard their brand reputation

Counterfeit drugs ruin the image of pharmaceutical brands. Fake medicines also affect the reputation of generic medicines which are meant for the masses. Pharmaceutical companies must strictly ensure that their products are not being counterfeited.

Wads are circular in shape and are made of paper and foil, these unique packaging products are used for covering the openings of bottles, cans, jars etc. Holographic wads are induction sealing wads which prevent leakage, tampering, contamination and illegal dealing of different products. Wads help in closing the mouth of products which keep it safe from spilling and tampering.

For making holographic induction sealing wads a holographic foil is laminated with aluminium foil which is further coated with a layer of wax and LDPE (low-density polyethene) thus making it water resistant. The sealing lids or wads offer extra security for bottle and container packing.

There are many benefits of holographic wads which product safety from pilferage and tampering and providing a unique identity to the product. Holographic security wads are used in different industries like pharmaceutical, agriculture, food, beverages, cosmetics, paints, automobiles, stationary etc.

Let’s discuss the usage of holographic security wads in some industries.

Medicines: Holographic wads are mostly used by medicine companies to seal bottles securely and hygienically by using sealing machines.
Automotive lubricants: Holographic wads prevent lubricants from spilling from the bottle. Moreover, they provide identification and security to lubricant manufacturing companies.
FMCG: A lot of products like hair oils, eatables like sauces, ghee and other such products are secured with holographic wads.

Inventory management is the management of inventory and stock. As an element of supply chain management, inventory management includes aspects such as controlling and overseeing ordering inventory, storage of inventory, and controlling the amount of product for sale. For companies with complex supply chains and manufacturing processes, balancing the risks of inventory gluts and shortages is especially difficult.

Inventory management is crucial to the success of the company. With proper inventory management system in place, a company can effectively manage its cash flows, plan its production, manage its raw materials and determine the quantity of the final product to be supplied for the end-consumer.

Holostik has created a far-fetched legacy over the years in the holographic anti-counterfeiting industry. However, due to constant innovation, the company has ventured into the field of IT technology and is making strides of the success of by catering IT-enabled authentication solutions and other supply chain management processes.

Among the many IT-enabled solutions, Holostik provides customised and high-tech inventory management solutions to the client. Before providing the inventory solution experts from Holostik thoroughly studies different aspects of the company like the type of raw materials used by the company, its products, vendors etc. After many brainstorming sessions, Holostik finally provides the blueprint of the solution along with its delivery date.

The inventory management system starts right from the raw material stage to the final finished product stage. With the help of an inventory management system, a manufacturer in real time can easily know the quantity of raw material converted into the product on the production floor. Similarly, a manufacturer is also aware of the quantity of product which goes from production floor to warehouse and in the distribution channel. The span of the system goes up to the retailer. The system helps the manufacturer in ascertaining the inventory of the system at each stage of the supply chain.

Inventory management system provides better decision-making power to the company owner. He or she can effectively strategize and manage the entire production and distribution process with much ease.

Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has risen steadily in the last few years – even as overall trade volumes stagnated – and now stands at 3.3% of global trade, according to a new report by the OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office. Counterfeit goods have spread across multiple industries including apparel, accessories, automobile, education, government, banks, music, software, medications, liquor, cigarettes, consumer goods, toys, electronics and much more.

Counterfeiters take away the hard-earned money and reputation of legitimate companies by selling the fake and cheap replicas of their original products. With counterfeiting making its footprints deeper and marking its presence everywhere, the solutions to combat it have not only become necessary but mandatory. This is where the role of authentication technologies comes in.

Product authentication’s role is to ensure that a given product is genuine or counterfeit. It can take place at a single piece or at pallet formation or at higher aggregated levels also. As every product has different security requirements, therefore different solutions are needed to secure different products. Holostik is the ultimate leader in providing anti-counterfeiting products and solutions.

Holostik’s authentication technologies are applied in the three main areas of Anti-tampering, Anti-counterfeiting and Track and Trace technologies. These technologies can be categorized into Overt, Covert, Forensic or Digital.

Overt Technologies – These can be viewed through naked eyes and are meant for fast, easy and on the spot visual authentication. These have features built into labels, documents, packaging along with dynamic visual effects.
Covert Technologies – To verify their presence and validity, a special reader or a detector is required. These include ultraviolet and infrared inks, micro text unique synthetic tagging etc.
Forensic Technologies – They are not readily recognizable and require special tools for detection and validation. These are taken to a laboratory with specialized equipment for validation.
Digital Technologies – These require an electronic means for detection and validation. These are mostly associated with RFID tags or with serialized numbers that can be compared to a remote database.

The company uses special features and techniques like security inks, serial numbers, raster films, covert laser readable features, taggants, talking pen, scratches, E-beam and dot matrix origination and dot matrix technology.

These technologies are extremely difficult to copy or imitate and are prepared using expensive and updated machines and soft wares and are operated by experts of this domain. Holostik provides inimitable security solutions and aims to integrate innovation and technology to protect the value of their partners’ brands and in the process, create a more secure world.

Counterfeiting, tampering or adulteration can take place at any part of the supply chain. Counterfeiters can sneak in at any stage and can make counterfeit copies of the genuine product or can tamper with its packaging and contents. A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product, from the delivery of source materials – from the supplier to the manufacturer, and the final product delivery to the end user.

Organisations and company owners can take the necessary measures to secure their supply chains. Different technology tools can be used as effective solutions to secure supply chains. Since the supply chain encompasses different stages, therefore, it is difficult to individually monitor each of them. Moreover, it is manually not feasible to examine loopholes or any errors in the supply chain.

Of late, different kinds of technologies are being used to secure and monitor supply chains. The amalgamation of IT-enabled authentication technology and holographic authentication technology is being used by companies worldwide. A good example is the use of barcode or QR code technology which not just digitally authenticates the products but also links it with different IT-enabled solutions like track and trace.

Track and trace system is one-of-its-kind technology which helps in tracking and tracing the product throughout the supply chain. The technique provides a unique identifying code (bar code/ QR code) onto each product after it has been packaged. This enables individual products to be tracked from production to the end consumer and helps manufacturers significantly reduce counterfeiting by ensuring products can be easily identified.

Digital authentication through a QR code and barcode take place on the individual product, pack, case and pallet level. Variable and unique QR codes are difficult to copy and thus provide security on each level of the supply chain. Holostik is a pioneer of anti-counterfeiting solutions and provides a range of holographic and digital authentication solutions for securing products and supply chains. Its security holograms enabled with digital authentication solutions help in providing a multi-layered security approach to the product and the company’s supply chain.