With its new Safe Guard paint system, WB coatings offers industrial and trade customers two precise methods to enable them to identify a product as their own manufacture independent of its location and for the entire duration of its service lifetime. This protects end users against fakes, suppliers against inappropriate defect liability claims and manufacturers against low-quality copies of their products and parts. The two versions differ in the processes used to apply and check the marker. The marker is invisible to the naked eye, and is simply sprayed onto an inconspicuous part of the product or mixed into the topcoat as a concentrate and applied with it. The marker can then be identified using a special mobile scanner. Supported by the well established paint & lacquer capabilities of WB coatings, these safeguards can usually be easily incorporated into existing manufacturing processes relating to surface finishing. It does not matter whether the paint finish is to be as inconspicuous as possible or rather achieve an obviously noticeable effect employing colour and texture.
Tablet PCs, sunglasses, hearing aids, vacuum cleaner bags, car mirrors, oil strainers and washbasin fittings – it may sound incredible to the layman, but for these trades it is a worrying truth: there is almost no product family that is safe from illegal, unwanted brand piracy and copying. Even the industrial property rights of complete machines, motors, dial indicators and control units, be it patents, brand names, utility models or industrial designs, are frequently pirated. According to a study by Ernst & Young auditors in 2015, the annual harm done to German companies alone amounts to around 56 billion euros. The damage to a company's reputation is generally considered far more severe than the actual financial losses.
With its new Safe Guard paint system, WB coatings offers industrial and trade customers two precise methods to enable them to identify a product as their own manufacture independent of its location and for the entire duration of its service lifetime. This protects end users against fakes, suppliers against inappropriate defect liability claims and manufacturers against low-quality copies of their products and parts. The two versions differ in the processes used to apply and check the marker. The marker is invisible to the naked eye, and is simply sprayed onto an inconspicuous part of the product or mixed into the topcoat as a concentrate and applied with it. The marker can then be identified using a special mobile scanner. Supported by the well established paint & lacquer capabilities of WB coatings, these safeguards can usually be easily incorporated into existing manufacturing processes relating to surface finishing. It does not matter whether the paint finish is to be as inconspicuous as possible or rather achieve an obviously noticeable effect employing colour and texture.
Tablet PCs, sunglasses, hearing aids, vacuum cleaner bags, car mirrors, oil strainers and washbasin fittings – it may sound incredible to the layman, but for these trades it is a worrying truth: there is almost no product family that is safe from illegal, unwanted brand piracy and copying. Even the industrial property rights of complete machines, motors, dial indicators and control units, be it patents, brand names, utility models or industrial designs, are frequently pirated. According to a study by Ernst & Young auditors in 2015, the annual harm done to German companies alone amounts to around 56 billion euros. The damage to a company's reputation is generally considered far more severe than the actual financial losses.
"Original or fake?" WB coatings has now produced a market-ready system solution that provides an unambiguous, effortless response to this question. Safe Guard is suitable for all those product families that are due to be paint finished anyway or that can be painted at little additional cost. In the process, the manufacturer adds carefully enriched concentrates to the product and this makes them irrefutable witnesses to a product's authenticity. Thanks to sophisticated testing technology, these markers can be verified over an unlimited time period and independent of the location using the lock & key principle. "Safe Guard is of particular interest in the case of product groups that do not permit the visual appearance to be modified. This includes such motor vehicle components as door mirrors, dashboard units and headlights", explains Thomas Bitzer, Sales Manager at WB coatings.
"Original or fake?" WB coatings has now produced a market-ready system solution that provides an unambiguous, effortless response to this question. Safe Guard is suitable for all those product families that are due to be paint finished anyway or that can be painted at little additional cost. In the process, the manufacturer adds carefully enriched concentrates to the product and this makes them irrefutable witnesses to a product's authenticity. Thanks to sophisticated testing technology, these markers can be verified over an unlimited time period and independent of the location using the lock & key principle. "Safe Guard is of particular interest in the case of product groups that do not permit the visual appearance to be modified. This includes such motor vehicle components as door mirrors, dashboard units and headlights", explains Thomas Bitzer, Sales Manager at WB coatings.
WB coatings is currently the only paint & lacquer manufacturer on the German-speaking market that can supply requirements-driven project consulting, development, manufacturing and application expertise from a single source. Inconspicuous marking of the product surface with Safe Guard has many advantages: for example it requires a far smaller quantity of the marking ingredient and much more simple processes than marking the substrate. The financial benefits of this are considerable. For one, it enables suppliers to protect themselves against unjustified warranty claims by their clients. "If manufacturers purchase components of identical design from more than one supplier at the same time, it is advantageous for all parties to be able to assign non-conforming batches to their actual source and the exact delivery period", Bitzer emphasises.
WB coatings is currently the only paint & lacquer manufacturer on the German-speaking market that can supply requirements-driven project consulting, development, manufacturing and application expertise from a single source. Inconspicuous marking of the product surface with Safe Guard has many advantages: for example it requires a far smaller quantity of the marking ingredient and much more simple processes than marking the substrate. The financial benefits of this are considerable. For one, it enables suppliers to protect themselves against unjustified warranty claims by their clients. "If manufacturers purchase components of identical design from more than one supplier at the same time, it is advantageous for all parties to be able to assign non-conforming batches to their actual source and the exact delivery period", Bitzer emphasises.
Whether in the final analysis a ready-mixed marker paint is required or simply a concentrate that can be added to an existing system is agreed during the comprehensive advisory meetings with WB coatings. During these meetings, we also define weak points and clarify the security needs. Classic proprietary rights may also be a focus of distributors and end customers in the same way that invisible product identification is. Within the context of Industry 4.0, the latter can be used for tracking batches, delivery dates, production sources, workshops and production chains.
For manufacturers of smaller batches, with a broad spectrum of different products or with spontaneous marking needs, markers integrated in the paint are frequently too complex in view of the necessary documentation and later authentication. For these target groups, WB coatings has specifically developed a marking system based on a spray technique that offers more flexible applications. In that system, concealed spray marks can be applied at the end of the manufacturing, packaging or transport process in an inconspicuous place. The fluorescent marker particles can later be made visible independent of the location using simple means like a UV lamp or laser diode. This easily implemented individual solution may well be a practicable option for companies that are intending to introduce counterfeit protection gradually in existing processes.
Whether in the final analysis a ready-mixed marker paint is required or simply a concentrate that can be added to an existing system is agreed during the comprehensive advisory meetings with WB coatings. During these meetings, we also define weak points and clarify the security needs. Classic proprietary rights may also be a focus of distributors and end customers in the same way that invisible product identification is. Within the context of Industry 4.0, the latter can be used for tracking batches, delivery dates, production sources, workshops and production chains.
For manufacturers of smaller batches, with a broad spectrum of different products or with spontaneous marking needs, markers integrated in the paint are frequently too complex in view of the necessary documentation and later authentication. For these target groups, WB coatings has specifically developed a marking system based on a spray technique that offers more flexible applications. In that system, concealed spray marks can be applied at the end of the manufacturing, packaging or transport process in an inconspicuous place. The fluorescent marker particles can later be made visible independent of the location using simple means like a UV lamp or laser diode. This easily implemented individual solution may well be a practicable option for companies that are intending to introduce counterfeit protection gradually in existing processes.