Michael Ford, European Marketing Director, Aegis Software

Abstract: There is an imminent, critical challenge facing every manufacturer in the industry. The rise in the ingress of counterfeit materials into the supply-chain has made them prolific, though as yet, the extent is understated. The mention of counterfeit causes one to immediately think about potential epidemic quality and safety issues that may arise in the market, as well as tools and processes to be put into place in manufacturing to detect and avoid counterfeits, a problem which is just as serious, as this severely impacts on the cost of doing business within manufacturing. The renewed need for rigorous incoming inspection and endless checking throughout production cannot be sustained economically.

The solution is to create an avenue of responsibility, with exact material traceability throughout a digitally controlled supply-chain, starting in the factory, and going right back to the manufacturer. Everyone gains from this, from reduced assembly manufacturing costs through to reduced risk of issues impacting on supplier relations, and reduced issues for component manufacturers.

If such a digital anti-counterfeit plan could be achieved in a way that does not incur cost to anyone in the industry, but is actually a benefit to all of those involved, then a sustainable policing of the supply chain will be established, meaning the business case of the counterfeiters is destroyed as responsibility is established together with a strong likelihood of prosecution. The requirement to do this is based on application of best-practice standards, for both digital data collection and the definition of traceability information, as well as a secure material transaction mechanism, based for example on block chain.

This presentation outlines such a solution, which when applied to manufacturing in conjunction with the latest counterfeit detection techniques, has the potential to reverse or even eradicate the counterfeit material issue.