Covectra launches StellaGuard ‘smart’ label anti-counterfeiting
Track-and-trace solutions provider Covectra has launched a new version of StellaGuard, a ‘smart’ label and mobile authentication technology that enables brand owners, consumers, retailers and other users to identify, authenticate, and track a wide range of products (including pharmaceuticals) in order to maintain safety and combat counterfeiting.
StellaGuard reportedly uses secure, cloud-based mobile authentication technology to protect user safety, guard brand reputation, identify illicit sellers, and strengthen track-and-tracing capabilities across out the supply chain. The updated version of StellaGuard includes various enhancements, including a combination of two methods of authentication at once: serialization, and the use of random numbers and holographic star patterns to create labels that are nearly impossible for counterfeiters to duplicate
Across various industries, fraud and counterfeiting can cost companies and resellers millions of dollars. With pharmaceutical products, lives also can be put in danger—and with the number of online and third-party merchants increasing exponentially, existing security product labels either require specialized reading devices or lack the ability for manufacturers to trace their products throughout the supply chain.
Covectra CEO Steve Wood said companies are finding it difficult to keep up with the activity of counterfeiting and stop the flow of fake products from flooding the market.
"Today's global brands are scrambling to step up their efforts in cracking down on the number of counterfeited products streaming into the supply chain every day," Wood said. "Our StellaGuard smart label and mobile authentication solution provides a new weapon for enhanced counterfeit detection and prevention and, when combined with our AuthentiTrack solution, will provide a comprehensive track and trace program which can be scaled to any operation."
The new StellaGuard label features a dual layer of protection, with a patented, non-reproducible film. The product combines a serialized QR barcode with a 3D image of holographic stars embedded in a random, non-repeatable pattern, distributed at varying depths and positions inside the label.
Scans performed by consumers are captured in a dashboard, enabling brand managers to identify and analyze the scans. Scans can be performed with any smartphone, allowing checks to be performed quickly and easily by consumers, field inspectors, supply chain and customs officers, then stored in the AuthentiTrack Cloud.
