Conti Introduces Security Features to Prevent Counterfeiting

In future, ATE branded aftermarket automotive products from Continental will be absolutely identifiable as ATE original replacement parts, the manufacturer promises. To ensure workshops and retailers know that they are using original ATE replacement parts, and passing these on to end customers, the products now feature a two-stage security concept that enables their unique identification. The TecIdentify security code gives products on the open replacement part market a worldwide unique and piece-individual identification number, and the tesa Holospot security technology protects this code from being reproduced or imitated.

Christoph Stegemann, head of product management for brakes, explains the new technology: “TecIdentify is a self-contained security system which generates piece-individual and heavily encrypted sequences of numbers. This means that all product packaging receives an individual security code which contains, among other things, the barcode and the series number, and is also represented as a 2D barcode. Thus the code can be checked using an ordinary 2D barcode scanner or over the Internet by entering it via the keyboard. This makes it an especially efficient system when it comes to tracing goods within the logistics chain.”

The properties of the tesa Holospots from tesa scribos also guarantee counterfeiting and copy protection. The last four numbers of the TecIdentify can be verified with the naked eye in the shimmering Holospot lithogram. Additional features can be checked with the aid of a simple magnifying glass. In addition to these visible features, the tesa Holospot also contains hidden information. To read the saved hidden data in an uncomplicated manner, ATE uses a new generation of laser magnifying glasses. The tesa Holospot has been combined with the product label in such a way that it cannot be manipulated and has been integrated perfectly into the design of the packaging. It is not possible to make any changes or attempt to create a copy, as the technology for this is only available at tesa scribos. This increases the protective effect and the scope of use of the security labelling.

The validity of the TecIdentify security code can be checked on the Internet under www.ate.de. The authenticity of the security label and thus, the authenticity of the product, can however also be easily verified without Internet access by using the tesa Holospot features.

What is important, says Conti, is that this new security concept incurs no additional costs for ATE customers. The new security features will help to prevent the risks caused by the use of lower quality copies in place of high quality ATE original replacement parts. And this will considerably reduce the not inconsiderable economic damages caused by product piracy and counterfeiting. According to Stegemann, “the combined use of tesa Holospot and TecIdentify will allow ATE to put paid to low quality counterfeit products in which no development work has been invested and which have usually not been subjected to the appropriate testing and approval procedures, to the benefit of the end customer.”