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www.aftermarketonline.net NOVEMBER 2021 AFTERMARKET 19 online reference so that anyone potentially purchasing a Xenon bulb could quickly check its authenticity. Other manufacturers such as AC Delco and Hyundai have included holographic technologies as part of their brand authentication strategies to tackle the counterfeiters and help consumers tell apart the real product from the fake ones. GM Europe is also working with OpSec Security on a brand protection programme to cover its parts in the auto- aftermarket, adopting proactive measures to prevent counterfeits from infiltrating its supply chain. OpSec designed a solution to meet three key requirements - parts identification, anti-counterfeiting, and order tracking, while additionally, providing greater visibility for its parts shipments across its supplier network. Protecting brands and profits Most of the world’s leading manufacturers now work hard to protect their brands and profits, believing this will better help protect customers and end-users from the potential safety, quality and reliability issues of many illegally produced counterfeit products. Even in Asia, a nexus for industrial-scale counterfeiting operations, China-based Weichai Power Co., which is a major manufacturer of truck, construction equipment and marine diesel engines, introduced a new oil container featuring a colourful holographic image in successful move to reduce levels of counterfeiting. Elsewhere, SVG Optronics created the holographic origination for Weichai before developing a robust stamping foil suitable for application to the metal from which the cans of oil are made. Unlike previous metal cans featuring holography, the holographic portion is unadorned to provide not only an effective authentication security device but an eye-catching feature to make the can stand out rather than being over-printed. The only printing is on the lid which has no holographic impression. The ability of holograms to incorporate other data forms and product tracking information will only become more important in the battle to thwart the trade in the most common fake vehicle parts such as oils, filters, brake pads, lights, wheel rims and air bags. Supply chains must also be bolstered with manufacturers and countries enhancing their anti-counterfeiting plans, and the use of track and trace programmes featuring security devices for instance could prove especially helpful in proving the authenticity of test documents and Covid passports. This can be very effective, reassuring those in law enforcement as well as consumers that test documents are both genuine and secure. The use of well-designed and properly deployed authentication solutions, as advocated by the ISO12931 standard, enables examiners to verify the authenticity of a legitimate product, differentiating it from fake products coming from counterfeiting hot spots in Asia and eastern Europe. Even those that carry a ‘fake’ authentication feature can be distinguished from the genuine item if that item carries a carefully thought-out authentication solution. www.ihma.org S NOVEMBER 22 Y BLACK FRIDA TH - 29 ND SPECIAL DEAL SCAN THE CODE www.mannol.de +4 O OPEN A TRAD T sales 4 1908 320 458 CCOUNT E A uk @mannol.co .