| |
 | |
 article from Packaging Plus News issue 13 2006 In the world fight against counterfeiting, illegally making copies of valuable cans, Protact® Holographic has proven to be a new important weapon.
Technologically advanced greases are essential for the lubrication of high performance machinery and vehicles. SKF lubricants have special formulations and specific qualities for their intended purposes and many of them are valuable products that contribute to optimum efficiency. “SKF is very thorough when it comes to recommending bearing grease and we take great care to ensure the correct grease is used for efficient and correct lubrication practices.” explains Robert McConnachie, Global Sales and Marketing Manager for SKF’s Maintenance Products Division. “The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, is a very important and valuable market for one of our types of grease in particular. It is used in the axles and wheel bearings of the big trucks that travel long distances in tough conditions across the desert. We are talking large amounts of grease.”
Counterfeit cans “Late in 2004 and early 2005 we started to see counterfeit cans appearing. An exact copy had been made of our can – but we realised one or two things were not just right about it. We did an analysis of the grease and found it wasn’t our grease inside.” “We discovered our distributors had been approached by very clever counterfeiters. They started by offering samples which were in fact bona fide cans of our product! Then after the distributors had placed an order, they eventually realised they were being supplied with fake grease.” “The counterfeiters had devised a scam to sell low grade, inferior grease not suitable for the stringent demands that would be placed upon it. With grease it is often difficult to know that there is an issue, not until there are early failures does it become apparent that there is a real problem.”
Dangerous “Of course, this is also very hazardous. If one of these big trucks had a wheel bearing seize, it would be extremely dangerous. And what the truck operators don’t want is a breakdown half-way across the desert!” “The difficulty we faced was the attractiveness of the cheap grease. The price difference was so great. They were offering their cans for a significantly lower price than SKF. That created a big problem in the market for us.” “That’s when we thought about doing something on the packaging that would be very difficult to counterfeit. The counterfeiters had made a really good job with the can – they made a couple of spelling errors in foreign languages and even copied the same mis-spelling as us! Even for us it was very difficult to spot the difference between the fake can and the real can. It was really high quality.”
Corus presentation The solution to the counterfeiting problem developed from a presentation about Corus products, including Protact® Holographic, which had been made to Omer De Belie, Sales Development Manager of Crown Speciality Packaging, Antwerp, who has been involved in the supply of cans to SKF for more than 20 years. “Until then we had considered various potential options like embossing on the bottom of the can or putting special texts on the lid but even these were not considered effective enough, and we even considered alternative, more complex designs of cans to put a stop to the forgers,” says Omer De Belie. “Last year I was at the Corus presentation about its products and applications including holographic material. When I heard this was very special for tinplate and material in the near future, I took up the idea with SKF,” he adds.
Hologram design with SKF company logo “We liked that idea from our supplier that through Corus we could put a hologram on the bottom of the can,” says Robert McConnachie, “And we worked with Crown and Corus to create a hologram design with our SKF company logo on it.” “When we realised it would be very difficult for a counterfeiter to create the same hologram security, the concept was even more attractive. There aren’t that many companies around the world who can do what Corus has done by putting this hologram on the bottom of the can. There was of course a cost to us – the can is more expensive but it was well worth the additional cost to protect our sales.”
Overnight effect “Virtually overnight it killed the sales of the counterfeit grease. We went out with a marketing campaign which said if the hologram wasn’t on the bottom of the can, then it wasn’t SKF grease. And that’s when the problem started for the counterfeiters,” says Robert McConnachie. “In our product range this is the only area of counterfeiting we’ve come across and it’s a high volume product. Using Protact® Holographic has certainly worked this time around and if something happened again in the future then I’m sure we’d look at it again.
Protact® Holographic Protact® Holographic is a combination of high quality PET film that is heat sealed to an ECCS substrate. The film layer carries a technically advanced micro-embossed aluminised resin that captures the holographic images. Corus Packaging Plus can offer over 50 standard patterns, plus technical design support to help create a personalised pattern, incorporating text, logos, pictures and short animations. In the production of Protact® Holographic cans for SKF, Corus worked closely with CFC International, a worldwide specialty coated film company that designs, manufactures and markets chemically complex, multi-layer, transferable coatings, laminates and sophisticated holographic technologies. These innovative coatings and holographic products are not only decorative in nature, but also provide invisible, value-added functionality such as industry-leading abrasion and chemical resistance, as well as offering new levels of product identification. | |
|
