Author: authentix

What Defines a Successful Fuel Authentication Solution

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Author: authentix

By Kristi Browne, Senior Vice President, Services, Oil & Gas, Authentix

Certain operational functions and services are essential for an end-to-end fuel authentication solution that helps you mitigate risks to maximize revenue and gain a competitive advantage.

Protecting your brand is critical to thriving in today’s complex supply and distribution chain. When your branded fuel leaves the terminal, you expect it to be of the highest quality and purity. You also expect the same of the fuel that is provided to your customers at the pump. But in the downstream fuel supply chain, there are many variables that can negatively impact fuel integrity – putting both your revenue and brand’s reputation at risk. Without the right tools and technology to detect manipulation, you can never really be sure if what you’re delivering to your consumers are what they are expecting.

Unfortunately, fuel manipulation is not uncommon as the oil and gas industry operates with increasingly complex supply chains. And it’s easy to lose control of complex systems. When fuel enters your supply chain, it moves through fuel terminals to wholesalers and retailers that may include franchisees, oil marketing companies, sub-distributors, carriers, open dealers, and independent store owners. Fuel manipulation can occur at any stage of that journey.

Fuel marking is a very effective way to protect your brand from manipulation. A successful fuel authentication solution identifies both intended manipulation and inadvertent quality problems at distribution terminals with the use of advanced fuel markers and analyzers. But taking a proactive approach and determining the right authentication solution to fit your specific organization’s needs can seem daunting. Where do you begin? Developing an in-house solution is likely not feasible due to the lack of necessary tools and expertise. So how do you find the right partner to help you defend your supply chain from fuel manipulation? The key is choosing a partner that intimately understands your industry and your challenges and can provide comprehensive services and support – from strategy to implementation and beyond.

Get advice from a pro

Because the downstream supply chain is so complex, a fuel authentication solution is not going to come “off the shelf.” That means you’re going to want to partner with an organization that listens to and understands your specific needs and can draw from experience in solving all fuel manipulation problems, even the most complex. This knowledge will allow them to define your problem, then establish goals for the best solution to solve it.

Choose some design wizards

When designing your fuel authentication solution, the partner you choose should have a large “toolkit” so that they can pick and choose which tools and technologies should be included in your solution. When they have a breadth of advanced options in both overt and covert marking and analyzer systems, a range of technology (without being “married” to any specific one), and the flexibility to make changes as circumstances change, odds are they will develop and implement a solution that works for you. Of course, needs differ from company to company. You may have an urgent need for a legally-defensible, lab-authentication-based fuel marker. Or you may need instantaneous field authentication. You might even need both. A good fuel authentication partner will provide you all the options that lead to a successful outcome.

Follow great planning with great implementation

It’s not unheard of for fuel authentication programs to look good on paper but fall well short in the real world so it’s vitally important that your authentication partner has a great track record in implementation. This includes executing the solution as designed, deploying the right technology and tools, training your field personnel as needed, and managing the implementation process from beginning to end.

Choose a partner that stays with you for the long haul

A great authentication partner is never going to put your solution in place, brush their hands off, and walk away. They’re going to stay by your side to provide operational support, measure results, perform periodic auditing, and assign a dedicated resource to oversee the program. They should be unequivocally invested in your success.

Expect data that you can act on

Your authentication partner should provide a robust information system that uses sophisticated data analytics and intelligent reporting capabilities to enable you to make informed decisions and take the proper corrective action to best address the fuel manipulation problem over time. Advanced technology and a sound strategy are essential to shutting out fuel manipulation. With the right fuel authentication partner, you can confidently protect your brand and product from the terminal to the pump.

Kristi Browne is Senior Vice President, Services, Oil & Gas, at Authentix, the authority in authentication solutions. Authentix helps you thrive in supply and distribution chain complexity by providing advanced authentication solutions for governments, central banks and commercial products. These solutions ensure that local economies grow, banknote security remains intact, and commercial products have robust market opportunities. Our partnership approach and proven sector expertise inspires proactive innovation, helping you mitigate risks to promote revenue growth and gain competitive advantage.

Is it Worth the Risk?

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Author: authentix

As long as you know the risks and can bridge the gaps…

Whether you’re a superhero or a pharmaceutical manufacturer, risk is unavoidable. It can’t be ignored, but it can be managed. One of the biggest risks you face involves counterfeit medicines. They are a $200 billion annual business—that means they are the largest segment of fraudulent goods sold worldwide every year.

One of the major reasons for counterfeit medicines is the complexity of the pharmaceutical supply chain, which can have multiple tiers of suppliers and several geographic destinations. That’s why it is becoming increasing important to ensure the integrity of your pharmaceutical supply chain to close the gap on counterfeit medicines.

It’s true that effective, FDA-accepted technologies exist for both packaging and the pharmaceutical products themselves. But technology by itself is not enough. You also need a comprehensive risk assessment strategy to make the successful leap to prevention, early detection, and effective prosecution.

Proactively identifying which medicines are “at risk” of being counterfeited is the first step in understanding potential threats, and where the gaps are in your supply chain. First understand which of your high-value medicines are at risk, and then rank them according to their risk level. This will provide you the data needed to allocate the proper resources to eliminate those risks.

Authentix can help you manage counterfeit risks with our proven expertise and innovative authentication solutions. We’ve helped our customers mitigate risks to maximize revenues and build a competitive advantage.

Take our Risk Assessment Survey and find out which of your high-value drugs are at risk, and how we can help you protect them.

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Downstream Fuel Manipulation: Protecting Your Brand

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Author: authentix

By Chad Crouch, Vice President, Authentix.

Fuel manipulation can have a major impact on your revenue and brand reputation (and you might not even know it’s occurring).

Fuel integrity is a key component of brand protection for oil and gas companies distributing fuel to its consumers. Unfortunately, fuel manipulation is a widespread problem that can severely undermine your brand. How big is the fuel manipulation problem? Ernst and Young estimates that stolen, adulterated and defrauded fuel contributes to $133 billion of losses each year.

Fuel manipulation can be notoriously difficult to detect in the supply chain, but when discovered, the magnitude of the problem can be enormous. In a U.S. court case, for example, a petroleum wholesaler was found guilty of diluting medium and premium grades of gasoline with regular unleaded fuel. The company also represented and sold non-branded, low-grade fuels as branded fuels. Executives at the wholesaler were found criminally guilty and the firm was fined 30 million USD.

Sometimes fuel manipulation is a criminal act, sometimes it’s accidental. Improper dosing or blending of additives into fuels at terminal and retail sites can be caused by equipment failure, human error, or negligence. When that happens, oil companies lose revenue and suffer brand erosion.

Do you feel confident that your branded fuel that leaves the terminal is the same quality as what reaches the retail site and is ultimately sold to consumers? Without the right tools and technology to detect manipulation, you can’t really be sure.

Brand degradation occurs when customers unknowingly purchase adulterated fuels that result in poor engine performance or mechanical problems with their vehicles or other equipment. This will often trigger complaints (directly or on social media) and can result in negative coverage in the news media. Any type of fuel manipulation, irrespective of whether it occurred knowingly or unknowingly, is an exposure that can result in consumer mistrust of your products and cause irreparable damage to your brand.

Environmental damage can be caused by fuels that have been under-additized, leading to greater vehicle emissions, and consequently, more air pollution due to the mixing of waste products or non-petroleum products with your branded fuel.

Damage fuel claims can be devastating for oil and gas companies. If the damage claim stems from a single station operator, damage to the brand can be quickly localized. However, if the source of the problem is broader in scope (i.e., a large retail chain, a route operator, or fuel distribution terminal), the effects of complaints and damage claims can quickly gain momentum, harming the brand’s reputation and running up significant operating costs.

You must defend your downstream supply chain.
The supply chain for an oil and gas company is becoming increasingly complex. The more complex, decentralized and variable the supply chain, the greater the risk of manipulation. When fuel enters your supply chain, it moves through fuel terminals to wholesalers and retailers that may include franchisees, oil marketing companies, sub-distributors, carriers, open dealers, and independent store owners. Fuel integrity can be compromised at any “link” in this complex supply and distribution chain.

The disparity in price between a differentiated or branded fuel and a lower-grade or non-branded fuel creates an enticing arbitrage opportunity that can result in fraud and illicit gain. For example, unethical operators can illegally dilute a high-price and high-value product with low-cost and lower-grade fuel and pocket the difference. Diluting premium fuels with regular fuels of the same brand can place an additional 10% of income in a perpetrator’s wallet, more if the diluent is an unbranded fuel. If the diluent is not fuel but is instead water or a waste product (i.e., used motor oil), the return could be as much as 100 percent.

You can be sure of fuel integrity with an advanced fuel authentication solution.
An effective fuel authentication solution illuminates the supply chain to identify the opportunistic, fraudulent or accidental manipulation of differentiated and branded fuels. This can be accomplished by incorporating covert chemical markers into refined petroleum products and utilizing analyzers to validate the authenticity.

Fuel marking is an extremely effective solution to enable your organization to defend against manipulation and achieve revenue targets for your branded and differentiated fuels. By understanding where you have been compromised in the supply chain, your organization can then take corrective action to prevent future manipulation and ensure your fuel’s authenticity in the long term.

Another benefit of a well-designed fuel authentication solution is its powerful deterrent effect. When fuel retailers know their stations are being randomly audited, and they know the range of penalties that other operators have incurred for diluting fuel, they tend to be much more resistant to temptation and the level of contract compliance increases dramatically. After all, no one wants to be the next case study for the effectiveness of the fuel authentication solution.

You can be your company’s brand protector.
If your company was a football/soccer team, you’d be the goalkeeper. Your team depends on you to protect what matters most. Every day you are protecting your downstream supply chain from unpredictable threats that range from terminal issues to intentional acts of fuel manipulation. If even one ball gets past you into the net, it can have devastating consequences—lost revenue, harm to the environment, and damage to your brand reputation.

Your customers trust you to deliver a quality product, and it is your job to deliver on that promise. With the right fuel authentication solution, you can confidently assure the integrity of your supply chain—from the terminal to the pump.

Chad Crouch is Vice President at Authentix, the authority in authentication solutions. Authentix helps you thrive in supply and distribution chain complexity by providing advanced authentication solutions for governments, central banks and commercial products. These solutions ensure that local economies grow, banknote security remains intact, and commercial products have robust market opportunities. Our partnership approach and proven sector expertise inspires proactive innovation, helping you mitigate risks to promote revenue growth and gain competitive advantage.

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Life is better with the Right Authentication Strategy

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Author: authentix

Establish “authentication empowerment” with an end-to-end, customized program that instantly authenticates suspicious medicines, when and where it matters most.

By: Chad Crouch, Vice President of Sales, Authentix, Inc.

If you doubt that the counterfeiting of pharmaceutical medicines is a monumental problem, take a look at these statistics: counterfeit pharmaceuticals are now a $200 billion annual business, and about one million people die each year after taking counterfeit pharmaceuticals.1 It’s a big problem and isn’t going away anytime soon. It’s extremely profitable—that means it has attracted some pretty sharp individuals who can match your product packaging in a blink of an eye. So, if they haven’t hit your company yet, chances are they will try real soon. Be prepared for when that happens.

Without an authentication solution in place, you’ll find that the costs of resolving such an incident are unpredictable and unbudgeted. You won’t have processes in place to deal with counterfeit products that weaken your supply chain and have unclear consequences for your distribution chain. And the various departments within your company will not know how to coordinate efforts to combat the counterfeiters. In a word, you’ll have no checks and balances in place.

The good news is, you and your company don’t have to live that way. If you find the right authentication partner, and together plan and implement an end-to-end, customized solution to deal with counterfeiting, it can be a productive relationship. Instead of reacting to incidents, you’ll be proactive, with a wealth of tools already in place to take on the bad guys:

  • Financial resources will already be allocated
  • Authentication processes will instantly act on suspicious medicines
  • Supply chain will be stronger
  • Distribution chain more transparent
  • Internal departments will be empowered to act in concert and get a handle on the problem

If you make the right move and choose the right authentication partner, then work together to develop and implement the right authentication solution for your company, here’s what you can expect to see moving forward:

  • Improved analysis of suspicious medicines and packaging
  • Rapid matching of samples against your predetermined standard
  • More secure supply chain with process improvements/improved visibility in upstream and downstream directions
  • Internal processes understood and monitored
  • New sources of data developed that fuel ongoing process improvements

Don’t let the pharmaceutical counterfeiters make your company their next victim. By acting instead of reacting, you can stay one step ahead of the bad guys. The best way to act is to implement an end-to-end authentication solution that’s customized to meet the unique demands of your organization. Contact us to become your company’s authentication hero today.

 

  1. Fighting counterfeit pharmaceuticals: New defenses for an underestimated – and growing – menace, Peter Behner, Dr. Marie-Lyn Hecht, Dr. Fabian Wahl, 201

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Case Study: Coral Gas Combats Illicit LPG Dilution

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Author: authentix

Authentix developed a fuel marking system that is the first of its kind to be adopted by an EU-member state.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a Greek success story. In recent years, Greek consumers have increasingly switched to LPG, using it both as an automotive fuel and a heating fuel, due to its lower price compared to gasoline or oil. In fact, official Greek sales of LPG reached 215,000 metric tons last year, up from just 4,200 tons in 2009.

Coral Gas has played a major part in that success. Formerly known as Shell Gas S.A., Coral Gas S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Motor Oil Hellas Corinth Refineries SA. Through its four plants in Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Crete, Coral Gas has helped make LPG a big part of everyday life in Greece.

The Attack

With success came a significant problem. Coral Gas was experiencing product quality problems due to dilution. It appeared that LPG that did not originate from the fuel retailer’s depots was being diluted and sold through its network of retail stations. This illicit activity had a negative effect on the Coral Gas brand, as consumers were no longer able to depend on the integrity of the LPG fuel they were purchasing. Manipulated fuel like this can lead to premature engine wear and tear, leading to costly repairs. Of course, it also leads to erosion of consumer trust in the brand creating significant revenue loss.

Defense

To defeat the LPG dilution problem, Coral Gas has introduced a powerful new weapon—a molecular marker, that is added to its automotive LPG products. This advanced authentication solution was developed by Authentix, the sole global provider of quantitative LPG marking technology.

To deter illicit fuel manipulation and protect Coral Gas’ brand integrity, Authentix’s team of subject matter experts in technology, program design and fuel authentication program management, collaborated with Coral Gas to support their business goals. Authentix developed a proactive, innovative solution that utilizes chemical markers built to withstand adulteration and illicit filtering methods. Authentix also provides in-house services and support (advisory, design, implementation and operations).

In the advisory phase, vulnerabilities in Coral Gas’s supply chain were identified. Using this information, the Authentix team provided a design template using its covert markers and analyzers to customize the program to Coral Gas’ needs.

The Pilot Program

Launched at one retail location in 2017, the pilot phase included the addition of a proprietary Authentix covert marker to Coral Gas’ automotive LPG. Using patented technology validated in both the field and laboratory, the Authentix team added quantitative fluorescent markers to legitimate fuel and measured for dilution. These markers are detected using special, intrinsically-safe readers.

The marker creates a unique fingerprint to identify legitimate fuel at retail sites, and is only visible with a highly-sensitive field detection device. Quantitative measurements of the marked LPG were taken using an Authentix LPX 1000 device reader. The device uses a monochromator principle to detect the presence of the optical marker in the fuel.

The Full Roll-Out

On October 8, 2018, Coral Gas began using LPG markers to protect their branded automotive LPG at approximately 350 retail sites, 100 of which are company owned/operated, and 250 that are dealer owned/operated.

As part of the program, Coral Gas is performing unannounced checks at service stations to ensure the quality and quantity of LPG. In addition, a state-of-the-art electronic system ensures the quality of the gas, accuracy of the mass meter controls, and that the program is being operated correctly by each Coral Gas distributor.

The program is designed to further advance the already-stringent quality controls that Coral Gas has in place. “The application of this molecular tracer system is part of the ongoing commitment to our customers to deliver quality fuels with excellent specifications,” said Coral Gas CEO Panagiotis Charitopoulos. “At Coral Gas, there are no compromises on quality issues and very high standards are maintained throughout our fuel management process.”

This is the first LPG marking system implemented in Europe. Working with Authentix, Coral Gas has implemented an effective solution to ensure that, every day, Coral Gas customers receive the precise, high-quality LPG that their brand promises.

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Authentix Inc. Selected as 2018 Global Energy Awards Finalist

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Author: authentix

 

Winners to be Recognized at December 6 New York Gala

NEW YORK (October 29, 2018) – Energy companies from 37 countries have been selected as finalists for the S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards. The 2018 finalists were announced by program host S&P Global Platts, the leading global provider of energy and commodities information and spot market benchmarks.

Authentix®, Inc., the authority in Authentication Solutions, is the sole provider of quantitative LPG marking technology in the world. Authentix partnered with Coral Gas Greece, to promise ensure brand protection of its Automotive Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) using an the Authentix Assure™ Fuel Authentication and Product Quality Assurance Solution. The solution was nominated under two categories, the Award of Excellence – Downstream and the Commercial Technology of the Year Award. Authentix has been named a finalist in both categories.

Established in 1999 and often described as “the Oscars of the energy industry,” Global Energy Awards highlight corporate and individual innovation, leadership and superior performance in 19 categories that span the entire energy complex.

Coral Gas wished to ensure a complete quality and quantity control of its product at retail stations. wThrough aith the collaboration collaborative partnershipand support of Authentix, we proceeded to bring this to the market- which is a European first and a significant innovation. Authentix Inc. has enabled Coral Gas Greece, to be the only company in the European Union which canto offer this level of assurity to its customers.

Hundreds of energy industry representatives are expected to attend the 2018 Global Energy Awards black-tie dinner gala in New York City on December 6. The awards program will be emceed by CNBC Reporter Jackie DeAngelis.

About Authentix Inc.: As the authority in authentication solutions, Authentix helps customers thrive in supply and distribution chain complexity. We provide advanced authentication solutions for governments, central banks and commercial products, ensuring local economies grow, banknote security remains intact and commercial products have robust market opportunities. Our partnership approach and proven sector expertise inspires proactive innovation, helping customers mitigate risks to promote revenue growth and gain competitive advantage.

Headquartered in Addison, Texas USA, Authentix, Inc. has offices in the US, UK, UAE, and Africa serving clients worldwide. For more information, email: info@authentix.com or visit our website: www.authentix.com

About S&P Global Platts: At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We’re the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

Media Contact:
Sonyett Bailey
Corporate Marketing Director, Authentix
Sonyett.Bailey@Authentix.com

Get Instant Authentication of your Pharmaceutical Products

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Author: authentix

With the right partner, you can design and implement an end-to-end, customized authentication program and put it to work quickly. Go from zero to hero in weeks. 

By Andrzej Hornostaj, VP Brand Solutions, Authentix, Inc.

If you were part of the pharmaceutical industry in 2002, you will remember the Procrit® counterfeiting case. If you weren’t, here’s a brief recap: Procrit, a clear liquid that at the time cost about $500 an injection, was used to treat severe anemia (often in very sick patients with cancer or AIDS). Its manufacturer was alerted to a suspicious product in the field. While the suspicious product could not be instantly identified in the field, investigation confirmed fairly quickly that it was counterfeit—and much more was to be found in the supply chain.

In one instance, counterfeiters had copied Procrit labels and packaging and had filled vials with water. Some of the vials comprised genuine Procrit containers scavenged from bags of medical waste. In another case, the counterfeiters had relabeled bottles to substitute a weak dosage for a much more expensive, concentrated one. A prosecutor estimated that the switch might have made the counterfeiters a tidy $46 million in profit. Unfortunately, only about 10 percent of the counterfeit medication was ever recovered.1

The Procrit manufacturer responded to the crisis as quickly and efficiently as they could. In 23 days, they were able to authenticate the suspicious medicine in their lab, repackage it with security features and ship. Here’s the timeline for their response:

  • Day 1: Suspicious medicine reported
  • Day 2: Package confirmed as counterfeit
  • Day 3: All Procrit shipments halted, sent back and new security features authorized
  • Day 9: New labels received
  • Day 11: Equipment procured and set up in warehouse
  • Day 23: Procrit with new packaging shipped out

This reaction was considered “world class” at the time—but it still caused massive disruption to the Procrit supply chain and effected over 200 employees. Why? Because the company’s response was reactive, not proactive. The critical factor was this: when the suspicious product was initially discovered, it could not be instantly authenticated in the field.

In the years since the Procrit case, the problem of counterfeit pharmaceuticals has grown exponentially as the “bad guys” devise increasingly sophisticated and hard-to-detect counterfeiting schemes. A proactive solution and instant authentication have to be the goals for any pharmaceutical company that doesn’t want to be at the complete mercy of the counterfeiters in 2018 and beyond.

How close is your company to taking a proactive approach to identifying suspicious medicines in the field?

To answer that question, you must first ask:

  • What do we have in place to authenticate a suspicious medicine when it’s reported in the field?
  • How quick and supply-chain-wide is our response?
  • How much time does it take to authenticate?
  • What security features do we currently lack that would help us authenticate instantly?
  • How complex would such a system need to be?
  • Have the stakeholders in our company bought into the concept of instant authentication?
  • What is the ROI outlook?

It might seem it would take you forever just to answer these questions, much less develop an authentication strategy and implement it. Your options are to find a partner to help you develop the right authentication strategy and implement it or hope that the counterfeiters don’t get around to counterfeiting your products. The only problem is, they will. And when they do, it will be disruptive.

In reality, answering all those questions and developing an instant authentication solution isn’t as difficult as it may seem—if you’re working with the right partner. The right partner will devise an effective strategy and guide you along the way to implementation and beyond. The key point is finding the partner willing to work with you and your third-party vendors to establish a customized program that will make instant authentication a standard operating procedure. To accomplish this, the program must include design, seamless implementation, and operational and ongoing support.

Your ideal partner will have a complete understanding of the pharmaceutical industry in general and your business in particular. They will become an integrated part of your team and extend that support to your third-party vendors. They’ll be agile enough to adapt to your culture, your unique challenges, and your particular processes.

Here’s what the authentication planning/implementation process should look like:

  • Your partner will work with you to create an end-to-end, customized plan and budget.
  • They will demonstrate the ability to print security feature samples for internal demonstration and buy-in.
  • They will be completely independent so they can work with all of your third-party vendors without interruption.
  • They will help you seamlessly implement your authentication plan, which will include:
          • Execution across your entire global supply chain
          • Training and enablement for everyone involved
          • The flexibility to expand and grow with your changing needs

With the right authentication partner by your side, and with the right authentication solution in place, you can make instant authentication a reality. Instead of reacting to incidents, you’ll be in proactive mode. You can go from zero to authentication hero, staying one step ahead of the counterfeiters and thwarting their most villainous schemes.

Contact us today to go from zero to authentication hero in weeks.

Download PDF Here

Andrzej Hornostaj is VP Brand Solutions at Authentix, a leading global authentication and information services company. Authentix assists its customers in many industries, including pharmaceuticals, by combating illicit trade and managing the integrity of their global supply chains. Using comprehensive end-to-end authentication solutions, Authentix safeguards industry leaders worldwide from counterfeiting, product theft, product diversion, and adulteration.

 

1 Dangerous Doses: How Counterfeiters are Contaminating America’s Drug Supply, Katherine Eban, 2005

Blockchain in the Oil Industry: Insights shared at the UEIL Annual Congress

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Author: authentix

By Dr. Phil Forshee, Senior Principal Scientist, Authentix.

Speaking at the UEIL Annual Congress in Budapest, Hungary on October 25, 2018, I was honored to share my insights in “Building Trust in the Supply Chain – An Introduction to Blockchain.”

Since its introduction in 2008, blockchain has taken the world by storm as the underlying technology for Bitcoin and the exploding cryptocurrency industry. At its core, blockchain is an information technology innovation that will likely change how many systems of record are designed and implemented. By offering immutability and transparency, blockchain can offer significant benefits to enhancing trust across complex business networks.

An application for which blockchain is particularly well suited is supply chain management. Blockchain provides two supply chain elements that are critically important – reliability and integrity. Everyone on the blockchain can see the complete chain of ownership for an asset because all the entities on the chain have the same version of the ledger, providing consensus. Once a record is on the chain it cannot be erased or modified, thereby adding further transparency to the supply chain.

Securing the supply chains of bulk products such as lubricants and refined fuels has its own unique challenges, as bulk products do not lend themselves to using conventional packaging-based security technologies such as 2D barcodes or NFC chips. However, the creation of spectral fingerprints for products (based on molecular spectroscopy) or results from chemical marker analysis can be uploaded to the ledger along with other transactional elements to authenticate the physical product throughout the supply chain.

While blockchain technology by itself does little to address the physical authentication of products, it does create demand for secure technologies to enable authentic physical to digital transformation of a transaction. Verifying the physical end of transactions going into a ledger provides the trusted inputs required to exploit the promise blockchains can provide to a multi-stakeholder supply chain.

Superhero Plan

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Author: authentix

They might not want to admit it, but even superheroes need a plan. And let’s face it—they’re people of action, not necessarily the best planners. If they’re lucky, they have a sidekick who can take care of the planning and preparation of things, so their mission is a success.

Think about Green Hornet for a minute. You remember how he was always ready to jump into the thick of it, tangle with the bad guys, and not hesitate for a second? Good thing he had his trusty sidekick, Kato, to come up with an effective plan. It wasn’t always a complex plan—just the right plan for the situation.

If you want to be your company’s authentication superhero, maybe you need a sidekick—with the right plan.

The clock is ticking.

Picture this: a distress signal comes in about a suspicious medicine in the field. You need to know what’s real…and what isn’t. And the clock is ticking. There isn’t enough time for a labor-intensive authentication method. But when is there? Time isn’t on your side and you need a plan to instantly authenticate that product in lightning speed.

Who can be your trusted sidekick? Your planning and preparation expert? Your authentication partner?

So many questions. But just one answer: Authentix!

Authentix can help you customize a plan to start battling the villains and initiate your superhero powers.

Up and running in a month.

Think such as plan would be too hard to implement? Think again. With Authentix as your partner, we can have your empowerment solution up and running within 30 days.

We thrive in complexity.

We know you operate in a very complex environment of global suppliers and distributors. That doesn’t scare us. We’ll tailor your solution and perform a print trial to make sure it works perfectly in your complex world of suppliers and systems.

And 90 percent of the time, jobs are ready to go immediately after the print trial.


Global implementation across the supply chain is followed by training, enablement, ongoing support and the monitoring and interpretation of results. Being the perfect partner, we’ll make it easier than you ever thought possible. (Right, Green Hornet?)

In true superhero style, Authentix is the partner with the right plan to boost your authentication powers!

Watch our video and discover how Authentix can work with you to develop the right plan.

Contact us today to collaborate on the right plan.

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Discover the Right Authentication Solution that will Save Time, Millions and Lives.

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Author: authentix

Time is never on your side when your pharmaceutical product is counterfeited and your brand reputation is at stake.

By: Cheryl Smith-Johnson, Brand Marketing Manager, Authentix, Inc.

The World Health Organization recently passed along some pretty alarming news: it cited statistics claiming that global sales of counterfeit pharmaceutical products could top $75 billion this year. That’s a 90% increase over the last five years! More than likely, your pharmaceutical company is in the process of addressing this growing problem. It’s critical that you adopt effective measures that prevent counterfeiting (below you’ll find a guide to some of the best tools available). The counterfeiters plaguing the pharmaceutical world are resourceful and relentless. Chances are, a counterfeit version of one of your products will eventually make its way into the marketplace. That’s when the ability to react swiftly becomes paramount—to beat the bad guys, you must have the right tools in place to instantly authenticate suspicious packages in the field, where and when it matters most.

You’ve heard the cliché, “Timing is everything”. That certainly holds true in the pharmaceutical world. When the authentication of your product takes too long, it can be extremely damaging to the patients who depend on your products for their health, to your revenue stream, and to your brand reputation. So, what’s the best route to being able to instantly authenticate your products in the field? By choosing the right authentication solution for your company. You have many options—here’s a look at the different tool sets that can assist you in authenticating suspicious packages reported in the field:

Authentication technologies that work

Overt security features are visible to the naked eye, allowing health professionals and patients to easily identify the authenticity of the package. For overt features to be effective in identifying a counterfeit product, health professionals and patients must know what they are looking for when they inspect a package. Consequently, public education and awareness are very important elements of any overt security plan. Solutions commonly employed for overt security include:

  • Optically-variable inks
  • Pearlescent inks
  • Gold and silver inks
  • Anti-tampering technologies (tamper-evident closures and labels)
  • Optical security technologies (holographic seals and labels)

Covert security features utilize an image invisible to the naked eye, often printed with security inks on primary and/or secondary packaging. These security inks can only be detected using a device. Examples of security components and inks include:

  • Heat-activated inks
  • Color-revealing inks
  • Light-activated inks
  • Fugitive inks
  • UV-activated inks

Forensic markers, being covert organic compounds, are not readily recognizable and require special tools for detection and validation. Whereas machine-readable taggants can be detected in the field, forensic markers must often be taken to a laboratory with specialized equipment. The use of forensic markers allow companies like yours to pursue legal actions against counterfeiters, conduct private investigations and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.

Serialization Track and Trace and Anti-Diversion solutions use two-dimensional data matrix codes and radio-frequency identity tagging. Each product is assigned a unique identifying code during the manufacturing process that allows it to be tracked, traced, verified, and recalled if necessary. Serialization “track and trace” methodology provides a basic security coverage, but it is likely to fall short of the overall goal of keeping the pharmaceutical supply chain free and clear of counterfeit drugs. Counterfeiters have access to the best printers and can easily copy unique codes and apply them to their counterfeit products. To combat them and create greater security in your supply chain, you must strengthen your anti-counterfeiting efforts by combining multiple authentication features.

Online monitoring: The Internet is one of the primary avenues counterfeiters use to pass off their counterfeit products to consumers. Keeping ahead of the counterfeiters is becoming more challenging in this space. Implementing a comprehensive online monitoring platform can help you quickly identify sites that are taking advantage of your brand, remove the counterfeit links, provide appropriate enforcement measures and help reduce online abuse.

It’s important to look for an online monitoring system that has internal and external capabilities to monitor dark web and gray web activities related specifically to online pharmacies. A constant review of the data is imperative to understand where breaches are taking place.

Choose an end-to-end authentication platform with “super powers”

Any of the solutions mentioned above will help authenticate a suspicious package reported in the field—but to stay ahead of the bad guys, you’re going to need more. You’re going to need an authentication platform with some serious power.

When you adopt this kind of customized authentication platform, you’re taking a proactive approach that combines the best available technologies—providing you with the “authentication super powers” needed to protect patients and your brand reputation. You’ll have access to an integrated set of software applications designed to enable successful deployment and operation of an authentication program. You’ll be able to act based upon brand insights that are aggregated, analyzed and reported directly to the smartphones, tablets and computers of your team. Best of all, you’ll be able to perform instant, in-field authentication allowing you to take immediate action.

Implementing a multi-layer approach takes you one step closer to successfully combating counterfeit products. This type of approach combines proven authentication tools with accurate data collection and analytics, providing you with authentication empowerment to save the day.

Remember, timing is everything. Having the right customized authentication solution will provide you with a proactive process that will save you time and, quite possibly, lives. When you can identify, and remove counterfeit products quickly, you’re bound to become your company’s authentication hero.

Contact us today and become an authentication hero.

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