Product and Image Security

If you order your cheap custom paper from our custom writing service you will receive a perfectly written assignment on Product and Image Security. What we need from you is to provide us with your detailed paper instructions for our experienced writers to follow all of your specific writing requirements. Specify your order details, state the exact number of pages required and our custom writing professionals will deliver the best quality Product and Image Security paper right on time.

Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Product and Image Security, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Product and Image Security paper at affordable prices with cheap custom writing service! Product & Image Security The Problem

Product & Image security mainly addresses the problem of product and document related crimes.

During recent years product related crimes have increased at very high rates. Some research indicates an estimated growth rate of such crimes at as high as 60% annually in the 0's, growing from around .5% of world trade to up to 7% today.

The result is great losses to industry and commerce in the form of direct losses from decreased authentic product sales, and losses to governments in the form of lost taxation. There are social costs involved, with an estimated 00,000 jobs lost worldwide per annum as a result of counterfeiting. And finally there are health hazards to the public as a result of counterfeit drugs, auto spare parts, faulty replacement aviation parts (!), unsafe toys, etc.

Custom Essays on Product and Image Security

The legal systems in the world have not kept up with the pace of product related crimes, and the punishment imposed on such crimes are often ridiculously low compared to the damage imposed. It is widely believed that because of the low risks and the extraordinary potential gains, organized crime is getting increasingly involved in this kind of crime. The National Crime Intelligence Service (NCIS) reports that 6 percent of organized crime groups are involved in product counterfeiting.

There is a slowly evolving awareness of the problem among authorities, but little has been done so far in the field of legislation in general, and in the field of sanctions in particular. As a result most of the burden of prevention falls on the industry itself!

Product related crimes include

1. Counterfeiting. The copying and marketing of branded products normally including packaging and product configuration.

The counterfeiters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, resulting often in difficulties to differentiate between the original product and the counterfeit. As a result the brand owner loses twice once by the loss of the sales and secondly by the erosion of the value of the brand (brand erosion).

Counterfeiting is a $00 billion industry in the US alone according to the IACC (International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition). Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau estimated the worldwide counterfeit market at $ 600 Billion in 18.

Other forms of counterfeit includes

· Warranty frauds, which means removing warranty markings and replacing them with counterfeit markings. The automotive industry reported an estimate of an annual loss of $750 million/year due to this type of fraud.

· Receipt and return frauds, which means taking copies of valid receipts, then taking goods from the shop shelves which are then "returned" for refunds which take the form of cash or credit notes. Credit notes are also increasingly counterfeited.

The problem of counterfeiting is in particular damaging to the following industries, according to a recent "Labels & Labeling Consulting" report

The market in Counterfeit Products

Value of Counterfeit goods as % of legitimate market in 18

Video Tapes 50%

Computer Software 4%

Music Tapes & CD's %

Toys 1%

Aircraft Spare Parts 10%

Medicines 6%

Watches 5%

Perfumes 5%

Medicines emphasize maybe more than any other sector the severity of counterfeiting. In economic terms the counterfeit market of drugs is $15 billion dollars. Not only does this constitute a heavy loss to the Pharmaceutical companies, but also endangers public health. One example being the fake gentamicin responsible for at least 17 deaths in the US between May 1, 1 and January 11, 000.

. Gray Market Diversion. The shifting/reselling of branded products from authorized distribution channels to unauthorized channels, in order for third parties to profit from brand owners pricing policies.

Gray market diversion is often referred to as parallel trading.

. Unauthorized Distribution. The distribution of branded products "from the back door" of manufacturers producing on behalf of the brand owner.

This kind of distribution may be of goods not meeting the quality requirements of the brand owner, or may be produced in "an extra shift" on behalf of the manufacturer. A major problem to the brand owner is that products which are distributed are indistinguishable from the original product.

With the increasing trend of outsourcing manufacturing this is becoming an major problem to many brand owners.

4. Retail Theft or Shop lifting. Thefts of products from the shelves or from the storage space in stores.

Retail theft include theft committed by shoppers as well as staff. The increasing size of stores, a relaxed attitude towards shoplifting from authorities, increased drug abuse, night opening, etc. has lead to retail theft become an ever increasing problem.

According to an IACC research, the estimated value of retail theft added up to $10 Billion worldwide in 18.

5. Product Tampering.

Product tampering includes the deliberate contamination of food,

beverage, health care, toiletries and cosmetics, etc.

Other forms of product tampering include grazing i.e. the sampling of products without purchasing, and pilfering i.e. the removal of some of a product from its container.

Tampering also occurs to facilitate fraudulent refunds, when the package is opened and its contents are exchanged for a counterfeit product, whereupon a the package is returned to the manufacturer for a refund.Product & Image Security Technological Solutions

In order to tackle the problems posed by counterfeiters, unauthorized distributors, shoplifters, etc. technologies have been developed to allow authentication, track and trace capabilities, EAS systems (Electronic Article Surveillance), and more.

There are levels of security systems protecting against product related crimes; Overt, covert, and forensic.

Level 1 Overt Security.

Overt security features, such as watermarks in legal tender, or holograms on credit cards, allow end users to make a fair evaluation of the authenticity of the product. However, most overt solutions may be counterfeited at very low costs. It is estimated that the cost of counterfeiting a hologram may be as low as a few thousand dollars.

Level Covert Security

The definition of covert security is that a machine of some kind is required to read the security mark which is embedded. There are various types of covert security Micro text, digital systems such as barcodes, and security ink machine readable ink, magnetic systems, novel methods for altering the molecular structure of materials such as polymers which allows embedding invisible markers, etc.

Level Covert Forensic Security

Forensic, i.e. biochemical substances, may be used for fingerprinting products, such as drugs, spirits, etc. with a unique chemical marker.

There are approximately 00 companies and 500 technologies worldwide offering security solutions. However, most of these technologies are outdated, and the counterfeiters are today capable of making counterfeits which include many traditional security features.

There is a relatively small number of companies offering unique and difficult to counterfeit security solutions.

Moreover, many companies offering security solutions do not have the capabilities to offer end to end solutions.Product & Image Security The Market

A research published in 000 by Labels & Labeling Consultancy estimated that the total market for Product & Image Security technologies was at $ 1 Billion in 18, divided into the following categories

Global Demand for Product & Image Security 18

Product / System $ Mn

Traditional Security Printing 7,00

Holograms 808

Security / Intelligent Labels 50

Tamper Proof Closures 1,58

Tamper Proof Cartons ,65

Electronic Article Surveillance - Tags 780

Electronic Article Surveillance - Systems 845

Total 1,005

The global demand for product & image security was expected to grow at an annual rate of 7% between the years 18-00. The various products systems in the following table

Global Demand for Product & Image Security

$ Mn

Product / System 18 000 00 CAGR (%)

Traditional Security Printing 7,00 7,0 7,740

Holograms 808 1,4 ,00

Security / Intelligent Labels 50 1,855 ,05 7

Tamper Proof Closures 1,58 1, 1,656 6

Tamper Proof Cartons ,65 ,740 10,40

Electronic Article Surveillance - Tags 780 1,086 1,877 1

Electronic Article Surveillance Systems 845 1,10 1,660 15

Total 1,005 ,817 ,78 7

Security labels is the fastest growing segment. Adding more intelligence to a label is becoming a key priority for many manufacturers who suffer losses because of infringements on their brands, etc. Source tagging, i.e. incorporating the security label at the production site, is a major driving force for this market because of cost benefits as well as higher level of security. These intelligent labels include special inks, holograms, special construction with RFID capability, anti-scan and anti-copy capabilities.

The holograms market is also expected to show rapid growth. The slowness of adoption of holograms by the security print industry as an anti-counterfeit measure has to do with historically high costs. Another explanation is a conservative approach by the industry. Now holograms appear on banknotes (new Euro), and passports, after being adopted early by the credit card industry. There are hundreds of holograms producers worldwide, but only a dozen active in security holograms.

Growth drivers of this industry, apart from the rapid growth of the counterfeiting industry, is the increasing awareness among end users (brand owners, manufacturers), and their increasing willingness to dedicate resources to protecting against counterfeits, prevent gray market distribution, etc. Please note that this sample paper on Product and Image Security is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Product and Image Security, we are here to assist you. Your cheap college papers on Product and Image Security will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.

Order your authentic assignment from cheap custom writing service and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!