Tis the season—for shoplifting. Add the desperation associated with an economic recession to the busy holiday rush and the end result is probably less than desirable for store owners. Sure, product moves off the shelves, but not through purchase.
Holiday shoplifting is just one example where security features on a tag could have helped. In order to protect the bottom line, it is often necessary to take extra measures.
John Shanley, president of Woodinville, Washington-based Labels West said the major benefit of a security feature is to save money. "An example of a direct cost savings would be a visible RFID label affixed to the outside of a retail package. If the would-be thief sees the tag and knows it will set off an alarm, he won't steal the item. He'll move on to another," he said. "An example of an indirect security feature might be something like adding a custom holograph or micro text to packaging. These are features that are difficult and expensive for a counterfeiter to duplicate. The counterfeiter will probably move on to a product with packaging that is easier to copy. This indirectly saves the brand owner money because cheap knock-offs of [its] product aren't being introduced into the marketplace. This protects the value of the brand."
Labels West offers distributors a variety of security features to choose from including tamper-evident constructions, authentication, tracking and theft deterrents. Shanley noted that tamper-evident labels are the company's most popular request. In layman's terms, these labels get added to a package and should the package be compromised, evidence of that tampering will show. "These can be anything from the peel-off seal on a bottle of vitamins to a destructible label placed on a piece of machinery that would show if someone tried to open up and work on a piece of equipment," he explained.
Neenah, Wisconsin-based Atlas Tag & Label is another company that specializes in producing security features for tags and tickets. Cathy Dougherty, sales manager, pointed out two popular types of requests she receives: a lamflap tag (or label) and ion deposition. "[With the lamflap tag,] the base part of the tag can be protected on the back with a clear lamination. The front of the tag is written on and the clear cop part is applied after writing the information, protecting it from the elements or from any attempted change in the information," she said.
The ion deposition process is used in tracking and control. She continued, "This computer-driven process generates consecutively numbered tags or labels and allows the customer to record and control product by matching each item with a corresponding number." The customer is given the power to decide which group of numbers correlate to his or her process or product. Both security features are relatively inexpensive and easy to implement.
There are times, however, when customers can present a challenging request. But experts such as Labels West and Atlas Tag & Label are here to help. For instance, Dougherty had a client who needed to identify multiple pieces of luggage and to track them back to one person. "We ultimately decided on a tag/label combination. This included long strips of barcoded labels which adhered to the luggage and a tag part with a perforation for filing."
Shanley recalled working with a customer who sold cards that contained a certain amount of dollar credit to be redeemed for rides at a traveling carnival. Each card contained a barcode and a human-readable number. The cards were produced with a consecutive number sequence. "The customer discovered that someone had been counterfeiting these cards and selling them at the carnival. We came up with a system where we produced the cards with a unique random number as well as a consecutive number. We then created a database with all the unique numbers and had the customer upload the random numbers into its database. It was impossible for these thieves to go out ahead of time and have the counterfeit cards produced because they had no idea what the number sequences would be until the evening of the fair," he enthused.
Unfortunately, some companies haven't been convinced to tackle their security issues. Shanley said a common mistake people make is to look only at the cost of deploying a security system rather than focusing on the money saved by a properly designed system. "Understanding the true cost of things like erosion of brand value due to a high frequency of counterfeiting is a common example of this. It is often difficult to put an exact loss amount on something like brand value erosion," he stated. "As a result, it is often very difficult to illustrate an ROI to a customer that is considering some sort of security system."
Dougherty agreed and reminded potential customers that tags and labels are a "manual, easy and inexpensive way" to identify and track processes. "They are handy and can be easily and quickly attached with a string, wire or elastic. They can be kept very near the process and do not require any additional equipment to get the message communicated."
There's no need to get overly complicated with a security system, but start somewhere. And start soon.
Tamper-Evident Label—Label Works, A Navitor Company
• Leaves a void pattern
• Lamination is included on Silver VOID Stock
• Ideal for pharmaceutical products, airplane and auto parts and any security-related application
(800) 522-3558
Tamper-Evident Security Labels—Western States Envelope & Label
• Once printed and applied, the word VOID appears, on both the applied surface and the material
• An overlaminate can be applied to protect the image and text from scuffing and from mild chemicals without negating the security feature of the label
• Permanent pressure-sensitive adhesive provides secure adhesion to most substrates (used typically on metal)
(800) 558-0514
Copy-Resistant Coupon—The Flesh Company
• A human-readable section with text formed by reflective areas and dark-colored areas.
• A machine-readable bar code section composed of reflective bars appearing in a light colored background.
(800) 835-0098
- Companies:
- Label Works
- Labels West
- People:
- Cathy Dougherty
- John Shanley