M-real IBP ensures Thinsulate is the genuine article in China

M-real’s IBP Packaging Services has helped 3M China resolve a major counterfeiting operation, targeted at 3M’s insulated garment and accessories Thinsulate brand.  Drawing from its database of over 200 proven security technologies developed for carton applications, M-real was able to extend its expertise into the labeling sector for the first time.

Producing millions of different clothing items a year under the Thinsulate label, 3M China was suffering from steady erosion of both sales and consumer confidence in the brand’s integrity as a result of lower-cost manufactured and fraudulently packaged products flooding onto the market.

IBP’s solution was to replace the existing Thinsulate labeling with a custom-made design, based upon a covert optical watermark integrated into the digital artwork before the labels are printed.  This is impossible for counterfeiters to replicate, but by using appropriate checking equipment it is correspondingly easy for customers’ in-house inspectors to distinguish between the fake and genuine article.

The new label format comprises several layers for optimum security and can only be authenticated by a secure lens key. Distribution of artwork and control of printing plates all conform to tight security procedures implemented by IBP. Adding only minimal extra cost to existing production budgets, the entire project was designed, tested and implemented within just 12 weeks.

IBP first audited and then secured the label print and production supply chain, increasing production levels to millions of labels in 2005. The opportunity for further counterfeiting has been eliminated, and the strategy has re-established sales revenue in line with manufacturing output.

Established in 2001, IBP Packaging Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of M-real Corporation.  IBP China employs over 30 staff and has an annual turnover of 12.6 million US dollars.