Product falsification has become a serious problem. Whether it is a branded goods manufacturer or a security packaging producer in the printing industry, they have not yet fully understood the numerous counterfeit methods that flood the market. Users and technical consultants in the printing industry need to provide their customers with a large number of anti-counterfeiting methods, but they often feel powerless. Because this is not only to weigh technical standards, but also to consider the economic costs.
The complexity of anti-counterfeiting technology
Anti-counterfeit signs must constantly combine new content in order to always beat counterfeiters. But this means not only the development of anti-counterfeiting technology, but also the difficulty of decoding. For this reason, very special instruments are often required to decipher the anti-counterfeit signs: for example, a magnifying glass or a laser pointer with a well-defined wavelength. People are constantly improving the technical complexity of this combination of anti-counterfeit signs. At the same time, they must also enable local detectors to be used in the field. However, how can this be done for customs officers who have only a short time and limited means to inspect the goods? Many security signs are very visually appealing; but they must also be easy to sell and apply.
Cost problem
The second problem faced by many folding carton printing plants is the high cost pressure: Some anti-counterfeiting measures for high-end products have been gradually replaced by other measures due to the use of expensive special inks or costly surface finishes. Of course, this not only takes into account the cost of special materials but also the cost of the process involved: additional printing units, purchase detectors, costs for verification and contact of counterfeit signs, and more. However, more and more low-value items are being counterfeited, thus causing huge losses: For example, a fake small bearing is much less precise than the genuine one, and it can make a large-scale production machine useless.
Protected by design
The directional design of anti-counterfeit signs is of increasing importance: the anti-counterfeit signs are integrated in the print data before printing, and then printed together with the color print. For this reason Manroland Press Manufacturing Company has plans to cooperate with different companies and will introduce exemplary solutions in practical applications. The benefit of the directional design approach is that no additional process costs will be incurred once the encoded data is produced.
In addition to verification methods, it is also often necessary to track products as they reach customers. For example, it is tracked by a corresponding identification mark or a continuous code, and a folding paper box made for a brand-name product needs to be individually coded. However, such identification marks do not achieve acceptable print quality during high-speed printing. Coding and other identification marks also have drawbacks and cost issues. So how can we ensure tracking and re-tracking in order to counterfeiting and buying in the grey market?
A new anti-counterfeiting strategy that is currently being vigorously promoted is the use of random marks on substrates to identify printed products in terms of “paper fingerprintsâ€: in the papermaking process, individual paper fibers are randomly distributed to each other, and thus a profile is formed by overlapping fibers. This profile is absolutely different in a certain area due to a large number of fibers and a cluttered process on the microscopic plane with a very high probability. As long as there is a separate fine structure on each sheet, optical detection, encoding, and preservation can be performed. Therefore, the paper structure can be used as a mark for identifying substrates, which can effectively prevent counterfeiting.
"Paper fingerprints"
This method of identifying printed products is not new: it was patented in the 1980s and 1990s. However, this technique has not been properly applied. Since the paper structure is susceptible to dirt and abrasion, the paper fingerprinting method is often stigmatized in practice compared to other methods; similarly, there is almost no corresponding inexpensive reader available, which is a defect in its reliability identification. . As to how the scanner or scanning laser can be reliably identified, is the paper structure damaged? The inventors are still studying this issue and the solution.
S2i technology
At the Hannover Messe 2004, the research team at Mannheim University used its s2i (security2image) demonstration structure as a pioneer to continue the development of paper fingerprinting. The basic innovation of the s2i technology is the reinforcement of paper fingerprints by means of a printing process: the unique changes in the structure of the printing ink can serve as symbols. Because the ink acts as a catalyst for the paper fingerprint, it establishes a basis for an inexpensive method of indirect detection of paper fingerprints. The current s2i technology is undergoing different field trials and trial applications, which can be identified using a platform scanner that is available in every office.
Cheap and safe
Making s2i identification marks is very cheap - small codes can be printed on the printing press and can be decoded using common scanners in the market. In addition, this method provides a high degree of security against counterfeiting because the s2i data is stored digitally in the identification flags, so the digital password can be used in accordance with the public key system (pks). Compared with the simulation method, pks is considered more safe and reliable.
Pks (Public Key System) specifies the use of a pair of passwords: one of two passwords is used to compile password data, and only the other password can be used for decoding. Although in principle it is possible to decipher the password, for counterfeiters it is not only necessary to know the password, but also to know the secret location of the paper structure. This is practically impossible, because it is not worth the effort. Go for fraud.
S2i-fingerprint printing
In addition, the s2i method has a strong ability to prevent fingerprint wear and paper dust: the printing-based coding has a higher data density, and the data can be stored repeatedly. Defects can be safely identified during decoding and the areas involved in the analysis of paper and printed structures are eliminated. This high degree of reliability is a major advantage compared to methods based on simple analysis of paper structures. It is well-known that folding cartons are subjected to various loads during loading, transport and storage, and that s2i methods are used to ensure that they are identified. For this reason, the expert committee of the German Ministry of Education and Research (bmbf) gave a high evaluation of the new generation of s2i technology for paper fingerprinting, and accepted a draft project proposal under a large number of innovative proposals. In 2008, it plans to launch a project with the name "o-pur".
"o-pur" project
The research of new detection instruments and the identification of products using the existing possibilities of new technologies and software is still the content of the German Education and Research Department. The use of mobile phones in the installation of digital cameras is currently being examined. With 100% market coverage in Germany and the number of mobile phones with camera functions still increasing, people can easily use mobile phones as identification media.
Manroland also belongs to the temporary organization member of the German Ministry of Education and Research (bmbf) planning project. In order to quickly detect images and code on production machines, in printing and finishing, they are currently working on another project for this project. They test paper fingerprints on their own presses and code them: first on offset printing, but also on all other printing methods. Faced with high-speed production, this is undoubtedly a challenge for image analysis. However, there has been a theoretical model for engineering projects, which should be implemented and tested later in the scope of the project of the Ministry of Education and Research. In addition, s2i coding should also be tested on other materials. In this regard, the inks and the personalities of the substrates cooperate to provide personalized graphics that can be identified.
The cost-effective anti-counterfeiting single-item cost is now lower than 1 euro cent, which can be applied to the bulk market. The goal of this plan is to apply as widely as possible in many aspects. Although the s2i technology has not yet been integrated into high-speed production machines, it is already available to interested parties: for example, document security and anti-counterfeiting in digital printing.