User:Higlo

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== 'HOLOGRAMS/HOLORRAPHIC PRODUCTS FOR SECURITY AGAINST DUPLICATION' ==

1. PURPOSE: - a) To provide for easy visual identification by the end buyers/users of genuine products/documents from fakes. b) To improve the aesthetics and visibility of the products at POS. Whilest ensuring security against duplication. c) To deter the counterfeiters from making duplicates, by making the cost and effort to duplicate the Holograms very high. d) To deter the counterfeiters from tampering with the original Holograms/Holographic security solutions because of the quality of showing Tamper Evidence by the Holograms / Holographic products.

2. HOW HOLOGRAMS ARE USED : - Holograms can be used as sticker labels / as hot stamp labels / continous strips or in combination with other materials e.g. paper or shrink PVC etc. to meet the requirements of individual manufacturers depending upon their products, nature of packaging and volumes etc.

3. LEVELS OF ASSURANCE AGAINST COUNTERFEITING OF HOLOGRAMS THEMSELVES: -

As stated by Wing Commander AK Gupta (Retd.), an erstwhile counter intelligence officer of Indian Air Force & now the Managing Director of Hi-Glo Holo Images Pvt. Ltd. Patiala, INDIA, Various studies carried out by Hologram manufacturers association of India & IHMA have revealed that the level of assurance against counterfeiting of Holograms is more THAN 99.9%. After investigations in most cases of counterfeit Holograms reported,it was established that there were leakages of the original Holograms / Hologram shims from either the users premises or the Hologram vendors premises, which were used by the duplications on fake products. In some cases some counterfeiters have tried to obtain look alike Holograms from some unscrupulous stamping units on generic labels such look alike labels can be very easily identified, only by visual inspection. If need be help of the hologram manufacturers / associations can be obtained. The users also need to understand that the Hologram manufacturers can provide additional security features within their Holograms at the designing and developing stage for somewhat additional mastering costs. Case studies show that, even with the simplest of Holograms the level of duplication of the products / documents of the Hologram users have come down to less than 5% of what it used to be. Besides, because of the eye catching property of the holograms and the increased customer confidence in the products with them, the Hologram users on an average have reported more than 15% growth in their sales over and above the market average increment.

Besides, the level of assurance that the Holograms become even more safe against counterfeiting, the users can ask for holograms with (Though, they may have to spend a little extra, but, these can multiply the security rating of the the holograms or holographic ant- piracy measures that they wish to have):

a). serial numbers Inkjet printed or laser demetalisation print depending upon the degree of higher security needed.
(Besides, the additinal security, the serail numbers provide a very strong tool for production & supply chain control & monitoring)
b). Other speciality ink printing eg invisible UV printed code.
c). Special cut shapes.
d). Holograms on diffrent colour films for different batches of production. The colours could be changed randomly at the users demand at regular intervals.
e). Holograms on films that leave a specific pattern.

4. RESPONSIBILITY OF HOLOGRAM USERS / HOLOGRAM MANUFACTURERS: - a) The responsibility for keeping an audit of the Holograms procured by the user lies on them. The responsibility of ensuring that the Holograms / Hologram shims produced for a particular client are under total control & audit lie with the Hologram manufacturer. b) To keep track of efforts by counterfeiters to use look alike labels / counterfeit Holograms on products lie with the concerned Hologram users marketing and sales staff. In case of any such cases coming to their notice the help of the hologram supplier and also the Hologram Manufacturers Association can be obtained to identify or educate the users feeld staff to identify their own holograms from look alikes. Also holo users can seek the help of the Hologram supplier / HOMAI to find suitable agencies that can track the look alikes / fake products right upto their roots. Of course the Hologram users have to bear the cost of such agencies (Though they are likely to get substantial discounts if they go to them through HOMAI / IHMA or Their Hologram supplier.

5. WHAT HOLOGRAM USERS NEED TO VERIFY ABOUT THEIR HOLOGRAM VENDORS: - a) Of course the production capacity / capability. b) Experience in the field. c) Financial stability. d) Quality control procedures in place e) However, since Holograms are not just labels but security guards for their products, the most important factor that they need to verify about a Holograms vendor are the security procedures in place. More than the visible physical security measures of the vendors, their real security practices & psychological security measures & security due to location/ locale need to be appraised.

A fat security guard who goes behind the employer when under attack is of no value.