The Mercian Labels Group Blog – Security Labels International, Mercian Labels and AC Labels

the "security label" in place

We recently bought a Three MIFI unit for remote web access, which came packaged above with a so called “tamper evident” label saying “I’m secure. Check contents if seal broken or VOID displayed”. Ummm.

the seal removed intact

well it took seconds using a simple technique to remove.

and reapplied again

and here is is reapplied.  You’d have to have a very careful eye to see any change.  In fact I rushed this a bit and could have done a better job  if I’d have had my “tools” in the office at the time.

a Label Lock applied

Contrast this product with our stock Label Lock product – OK, its a bit big for this application, but we do customise them on request.

a Label Lock removed leaving a permanent change on the box AND the label

And a Label Lock removed, using the same technique which removed the white “security ” label above.  Notice any difference?  I think I know which one does the job it is supposed to, and which one does not.  If you need to secure a box from pilfering, then we recommend you use a product upto the job – not one that is just “all talk”.

getting ready for the off!

Cpt Ed Pawsey of the 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment recently contacted us in their bid to raise money for Help for Heroes , the charity that helps to support wounded UK service men and women.  Ed and his colleagues are doing the Help for Heroes European Rally and have had some good local publicity.  This is what they say on their website

Team Green Howard has secured a place on the Help for Heroes European Rally 2010.  This rally as you may have read consists of a monster 1650 mile drive starting on Salisbury Plain crossing Normandy and ending at Hitler’s ‘Eagles Nest’ in Berchtesgaden, Austria whilst traversing 6 countries.  This rally follows the route of the well known TV series ‘Band of Brothers’ and is part road/off road competition whilst visiting specific historical locations.  All in order to raise funds for the Help for Heroes charity.

The Team consists of Ed Pawsey, Will Pawsey and James Kelly.  Both Ed and James are Captains in the Army.  Ed’s in the 2nd Battalion the Yorkshire Regiment (the Green Howards).  James is a Captain in the Royal Engineers and is a Bomb Disposal Officer.  Will is a student studying Criminology at Nottingham University and is set to join the Poice Force.  All three of us have close links to friends who have been injured or killed in Afghanistan and make this trip and raise funds in memory of them. Help for Heroes is at the front of our mind for obvious reasons and without this charity and your generous donations our many injured service men and women would not have the lengthy process of rehabilitation your fundraising has begun to provide.  Without this rehabilitation it would be near impossible to give these Heroes the ability to rebuild their lives and face a positive future.

Please give what you can as every little helps.  ALL money raised goes to the charity and not funding the event or team.  It may take 5 minutes to register but 5 minutes now is a future better for all.

Ed is asking for any donations on his Just Giving website, so please contribute anything you can to this very worth cause.

The first job coming off the press at the new AC Labels operation in Derby

I love it when a plan comes together! (No, this is not a message from Hannibal of the A-Team!)

Pictured above are the new Top Team at AC Labels in Derby, a new subsidiary of the Mercian Labels Group with the first high quality variable barcode labels from a new factory, setup and running to produce high quality stock in just 13 days from the deal being closed. From left to right are Karen, Marge, Lee, Jason, David, Marcin, Adrian, Adam, Tim and Thomasz.

It has been a colossal effort from everybody involved, and to have the operation up and running this quickly is just fantastic, and I know has been greatly appreciated by our clients.  More business is already secured, so please keep it coming!

AC Labels specialise in medium to long run variable barcode labels and variable number labels, and are market leaders in this labelling niche with pricing that beats any thermal, xeikon or HP printed variable barcode label pricing “hand down”.  The added twist is that AC Labels can do 100% barcode verification on every label printed, delivering unparalleled quality standards (even Mercian Labels cannt do that!).

100% verified variable barcode labels off to an offshore blue chip client

And away it goes!

Well done to everybody involved in the new team, and as MD , I send my thanks and congratulations to you all!

PRESS RELEASE

2 April 2010

Cannock, Staffordshire, UK

A C Labels bought by the Mercian Labels Group

Barcode labelling specialists A C Labels have been acquired by the Mercian Labels Group in an assets and goodwill deal, securing the long term supply of variable data barcode labels and the highly regarded A C Labels brand.

“A C Labels has a fantastic reputation in the marketplace as a market leader in complex variable information labelling.” said Dr Adrian Steele, Managing Director of Mercian Labels, adding “We are establishing a new operation in Derby specifically to serve this demand, and are delighted with both the support shown from the client base for the acquisition, and also the opportunity to acquire the brand of A C Labels. This new subsidiary of the Mercian Labels Group complements our other speciality companies in manufacturing tamper evident security labels, Label Lock security seals and short run digital, hotfoil and flexographic labelling.”

The new company will continue to manufacture complex constructions of self adhesive labels inlcuding variable data and barcodes, serving the medical, pharma and logistics marketplaces, and is now involved in ensuring a seamless transition for existing customers of AC Labels and to secure and expand the prospects of the business in Derby.

– – NOTES FOR EDITORS – - -

We have completed a trial of linerless labels - is this the future?

One of the really enjoyable parts of running a business with an innovation culture is that we are always experimenting with new products, and here is a preview of the our linerless self wound label stock.  Please forgive the fact that the image is back to front -  it was a proof of concept trial!

The reason why this could be very interesting is that there is no siliconised liner waste, which is a lot more environmentally friendly than normal label stock.  See our previous blogs on this subject .

the finished label reel, without perforations

There are obvious limitations to this concept, notably that you must perforate between labels leaving a ragged edge, and generally you must have a flat bottom to the labels, or be prepared to deal with the waste between labels as you remove them.

we can also make 4 colour process tamper evident linerless labels in the same way

Interestingly, we also found it easy to make a tamper evident CMKY process “thin film” tamper evident security label construction as well.

I’d be interested in any views of this concept.  No doubt its been done elsewhere before somewhere, but its interesting to try these things for ourselves and see what the reaction is.

security labels that leave permanent residue

Yesterday I was down in London and whilst travelling on the underground I took these 2 pictures of the residue left by security seals used to seal cabinets and fire hydrant areas.

at least 5 different seals have been tried here and left residue

Nice.

If you have an issue like this in your workplace, then take a look at our no residue Label Lock product range or watch the YouTube security labels video of them in action.

This security label was used by a cruise liner company to seal passengers luggage, and this is how it arrived with the owner. Its not been tampered with, but the poor quality design gives a very strong impresion its been tampered with

A family member recently returned from a caribbean holiday (lucky them!) and showed me this security label that the holiday company had used to seal their luggage as them returned.  Its a pretty basic seal that just uses security cuts to indicate a tamper.  This is not an easy application to tackle, as the range of different materials, fabrics, plastics and metals that are used in luggage (typically quite dirty too!) makes it a challenge for security labelling.  However, we are working on an improved solution for this, and would welcome contact from any users who want a quality solution to sealing luggage, bags and cases.

box sealing tape marked as "tamper proof"...

Yesterday I received a consignment of low energy GU10  LED light bulbs for home from a supplier sealed with what was labelled as “tamper proof” tape by Haddad Brands.

Oh no it isnt.

removed and reapplied, and you'd never know

I removed it intact in about a minute, and reapplied it the other way around.

Label Lock applied

I then applied a Label Lock security seal  on it

Label Lock removed

and removed it using the same technique I used to defeat the allegedly tamper evident tape.  The result is pretty obvious and the lesson clear.  Dont try and seal your packages and fool people by marking tape as tamper proof when its just not!

I bought a new printer cartridge yesterday and it was delivered with a really neat security label on it that looks great, has some good features, but IMHO entirely misses the point.  As you can see from the photo below, it is a branded security label from Samsung that is applied to seal the box closure by the red tab with security cuts as its only tamper evidence mechanism.

Here is a close up of the label in place sealing the box over the blue printed area (see the carton cut being sealed to the right), showing its 2D QR barcode and the colourshift ink (red and yellow overprint)

and the colourshift looked at from a different angle in blue and purple

the problem is that the tamper has a very low level of tamper evident security, and can be removed with ease (but I’m not telling how!).  Here is a picture of the removed label, reapplied a few cms away on the box… not much a seal then.

I then applied one of our dual layer Label Lock security labels (uncustomised version off the shelf) to the place where the Samsung label was. Ok, its a bit big, but makes the point.

I then attacked it in the same way that I removed the Samsung label and it still indicated the tamper as it should do, leaving a big dry peel OPENED message on the box and in the removed label.

and this is the carton opening that the label was supposed to protect.

The lesson here is that you really have to work out in advance what your “security label” is for – is it to prevent counterfeiting (brand protection), and/or prevent tampering of a closure.  This security label is a good brand protection label that is hard to counterfeit that is used to prevent tampering, but dosnt work as a security seal.

We offer selected brands the opportunity to use our latest Label Lock security label technology to secure their product closures with bespoke security labels inclusing colourshift inks, tactile features etc, as well as deter counterfeiting.  Please contact us if you dont want to fall into the same trap!

new apple tamper evident security label

Apple have applied for a patent for a new tamper evident security label that will detect if a device has been opened, thus voiding the manufacturer’s warranty.  This has attracted much comment from user groups, with a general acceptance that manufacturers need to protect their warranties, but it does stop people tinkering with their devices.

Its an interesting, if not unsophisticated design compared to the technology we use for our Label Lock range of products and it will be interesting to see if Apple start a trend in using hidden tamper evident labels to detect unauthorised access.  After all – who wants to destroy the famous design appeal of a an ipod !

Watch this space.

YouTube Video of Label Lock Security seals

Label Lock security seals are our flagship product, and we are delighted to lauch this video on YouTube today to showcase the many and varied applications for both low residue and Dual Layer Label Lock security labels.  I hope you enjoy it.

Label Expo 2009

The blogosphere appears to be without any reviews about Label Expo 2009 in Brussells, the biggest labelling show in the world. Tens of thousands of people go every 2 years, hundreds of stands, millions and millions of pounds/euros/dollars spent and not a single blogger out there reviewing it I can find (at least in english). Bizzare.

So, for anyone who didnt go and is looking for a users opinion of the show, here we go. Its bulleted for my convenience and speed.  Please quickly add your thoughts to the comments once you’ve read it – no registration needed, just type and press!

• it appeared to be a big show, as big as last time, but there was a lot more space in the halls due to halls not being filled with exhibitors, and certainly low number of attendees, certainly on the 2 days I was there.
• This was my 5th Label Expo (01,03,05,07,09) and this time 1.5 days at the show just wasnt enough to have all the quality conversations I wanted to, and I missed out on plenty of casual booth stops that I would have liked to as well .  For next time, I am going to have to stay over for 2 nights and get in 2.5 days.
• I’ve tried driving, flying and training it now, and I can confirm that without a doubt, Eurostar is the best and most convenient way to get to Label Expo from the UK (thanks to Barry D*** for that tip!)
• Exhibitors said it was busy on Wednesday and Thursday, but quieter on Friday and Saturday – indeed many exhibitor reps I wanted to speak to had gone home by Friday lunchtime!  The organisers were likened to Dick Turpin by 2 exhibitors I spoke to  – “highway robbery” was the phrase used  – apparently it isnt cheap to attend this show!
• The main new innovations I saw at the show that were genuinely new were the Holoprint printing technique from Nilpeter and the rush of digital inkjet incarnations all jumping on the Xaar 1001 bandwagon
• I saw some good products that were new to me but already established in the marketplace, mostly in connection with the security labelling part of our business as possible add ons to our Label Lock product range

• There was a small but useful Linkedin.com speed networking session on Saturday organised by Lou at the Linedin Digital Label Printing Group
• Kocker and Beck are moving into to the manufacture of rotary screen units, taking some business from the 2 existing suppliers, Stork and Gallus. Thats an interesting move – maybe rotary screen pricing will come down soon?
• “Lanbel” is a new concept in linerless labels, whereby you supply labels on a slightly offset web with each label sticking to itself.  I novel idea, but I doubt it will catch on.  Yes, it saves the liner, it just looks too unrelaible to use in a production environment

gallus granite press

• The new gallus Granite, made of slabs of granite was a novelty item to me; I just didnt get it.  Why? Why Why?  Apparently they were being sold cheap – 350k euros for a quality 8 colour press which is pretty good, but surely Gallus must be making a big big loss at those rates???
• Cold UV light for ink curing from LED lamps was new and very nice, but at £10k+ per lamp, I’ll give it a miss at the moment.  No doubt it will take over in due course – it looks very good.

there werent amny quality freebies - thank the credit crunch

• The global economic crisis is having its impact on show freebies – the best giveaway I got all show was a plastic packet of plasters from Evonik!
• There were some new high performance chemical resistant thermal transfer labelling solutions that didnt need lamination, using special ribbons and material combinations.
• Whilst there were plenty of people selling standard modular 5+ colour UV flexo presses at the show (yawn…), I think the message had got though that its the speciality machines that make the money, and that end of the market, even in combination presses, is commoditised.
• There was a sad lack of any initiative from any of the raw material substrate suppliers to address the industry wide problem of recycling of label production waste and the recycling of siliconisaed liner.  IMHO the solution to stopping the landfill of the milions of tonnes of this waste every year has to come form the big 2 suppliers (UPM RAFLATAC and AVERY DENNISON groups) and then onto the smaller coaters, Herma, Mactac, Flexcon, Manter, Smith  McLauin etc).  We cannt keep ignoring it, and it needs a concerted effort by the industry to address this.  FINAT, please lead the way – the problem isnt going away!  If one of the suppliers had launched a recycling solution for this, it would have been a complete show stopper.  As it was, the best news I saw on this front was that Calvin Frost from Channelled Resources launched a new European scheme to recycle liner .
• I dont know what happened to the PISEC 2009 move from Athens to Brusells, but it wasnt there.

Comments on the digital labelling developments

Basically there was nothing significantly new from either of the 2 main players in digital labelling (Xeikon and HP), both having put out major developments at DRUPA 2008, Xekion with its 3300 1200dpi fast solution, and HP with its high quality fast WS6000 series digital labelling presses.  There were some new partnerships developing on the software and web 2 print integration sides, but nothing new in terms of kit.  IMHO both these top end solutions are at the same level now; both have very similar quality, both have some advantages and disadvantages over the other, they are priced at different points and each have their own peculiarities, but nothing from any other digital label printer comes close to them at present.

There were lots and lots of new uv inkjet incarnations, all but 1 or 2 based on the xaar 1001 inkjet head.  Some were stand alone machines with no converting, some ran offline converting, some ran inline with full rotary converting, but none I could see ran inline with laser or semi rotary die converting.  The problem is fundamentally that they all suffer from the same problem – the resolution of the xaar 1001 head is only about 600dpi, and compared to either the HP or Xeikon at 1200dpi+, or conventional flexo or letterpress or screen or anything else, its just not as good.  I dont understand why anybody would buy a digital solution now with lots of lines in it from blocked nozzels or whatever, when you can by a xeikon or HP thats much higher quality at not much more money (HP may even give you a free one if you will use enough click charges!).

UV inkjet has a lot going for it, and I expect that it will take over the market for digital label printing at some point soon, but it wasnt LabelExpo 2009, I’m sure of that.  The advocates of full rotary inline converting for digital inkjet are misguided IMHO – I just cannt see why thats a good idea (Stork DSI 4330L, [wrong, edited out 29/9/09 ]  Rapid Machinery Squidjet etc).  Semi rotary or laser is the only way to take full advantage of digital, unless you are printing pre diecut stock (like EFI Jetrion advocate, in which you are really restricted to non bleeding images if you want any decent quality.

The Agfa/Edale digital inkjet press was unusually based on Toshiba TEC inkjet heads

The only non Xaar uv inkjet instalations I saw were from Agfa Dotrix / Edale which was not bad at all, but still not at the Xeikon/HP end of the quality scale, and I think the EFI Jetrion system has its own head system, but again its too narrow and the quality isnt there.

Xaar 1001 printhead

Of all the Xaar 1001 instalations, I thought the Durst quality was the best, but again, you have to be prepared to compromise on quality and productivity compared to Xeikon or HP.

GM had an interesting idea for an inline laser die cutting solution from Spartanics to fit into their existing converting line, but the price was just too high at the moment to launch it.  They also had a small footprint converting solution for offline digital labels, and there were many of these at the show.

There are a growing number of small desktop type short run digital labelling solutions from many different providers (eg Primeria), basically based on a reel to reel A4 laser colour printer or small inkjet system – nice but at £20k ish, and very expensive to run in anything over say 1000 labels, its only good for end users to print very small quantities of the same materials and designs in house, not industrial manufacturers.

Security Labelling

There was a real lack of anything new at the show – the cheap tamper evident materials (mostly from east Asia) I saw were rubbish, even the stand exhibitors couldn’t get many of them to work properly.

The Nilpeter Holoprint system is clever and effective

The exception was the new Holoprint technology from Nilpeter, arguably the premier brand in narrow web machinery.  Their system involves printing a 50,000dpi holographic image in register and inside a varnish with no foil, using a new printing system they have patented (read the patent here). It could be classed as a brand new printing technique, along with gravure, flexography,offset, letterpress, hotfoil, intaglio etc – really a combination of flexo and direct gravure. Very clever, impressive and cost effective to run I imagine.  I hesitate to guess how much it would cost to install though!

The Holoprint images are very good quality, unlike my photos!

Basically it works by flexo printing a UV varnish onto a web which is then embossed by a special plastic PDMS rubber shim that crucially can transmit highly focussed UV light so it is partially cured (or “set”) under the shim that embosses the hologrphic image into the varnish, which is then followed by a post cure.  Hats off to the guys who thought of that!

Conclusion

• A good show, too much “me too” in respect of traditional flexo offerings, and not enough innovation.
• Anybody who can crack 1200dpi, 20m/min+,250mm web+ narrow web UV inkjet will make a fortune.
• Belgian beer is excellent!

Leffe beer

Disclosure

I am the MD of a UK label printing company (Mercian Labels), we are are a Xeikon user, and these views are from the perspective of a label printer with interests in digital, flexo and security label printing – it is not an all encompassing independent review – if you want one, go to a journalist!)

Please now comment!

A reminder to please quickly add your thoughts to the comments once you’ve got this far – no registration needed, just type and press – opinions about anything very welcome, and unless your post is offensive I will publish it and share your views and get some debate going.

Label Lock is growing and we are now hiring

Our Label Lock security labelling product range  is really taking off, and we need an Export Sales Coordinator to help us manage this growth.  Please contact us if you are interested in this exciting role (no agencies please!).

Low residue Label Locks used for the DfT SDoC regulations to seal vehicles carrying "known cargo"

Our low residue Label Lock tamper evident security labels have found some really interesting applications since they were launched last year, and they are now proving to be perfect for companies transporting “known cargo” to airports and needing to comply with the DfT SDoC regulations that came into force on 1 September 2009.

If you are a freight company looking to seal panel vans or other vehicles without welding on D rings for plastic pull tie seals then our large low residue Label Lock seals (available with and without counterparts) are ideal.  They come complete with special storage boxes (ideal for the cab!) and ultra secure subsurface unique numbering as standard.

Label Lock™ security labels new website

We are really pleased with the overhaul of our  Label Lock™ security labels website showcasing our premium low residue and dual layer security seals that we have designed and developed in recent years, and launched in 2008.  You can check it our here.

Only a couple of months ago the Royal Mail issued what it claimed to be a ‘tamper proof’ stamp to cut down on the illegal reuse of stamps in the UK.  Yesterday a houseguest showed me how these stamps can be removed with ease, using absolutely no equipment at all.

It is that easy, and the stamp labels are hardly ‘tamper proof’.  Contrast that with our own Dual Layer Label Lock product, that really is a security label in a class of its own.  The label separates into 2 dry peel labels if you try to remove it and cannt be reapplied.

We spend a lot of time attacking our own security labels using a variety of complex techniques, and there are very, very few that are undefeatable.  Royal Mail’s ‘tamper proof’ stamp using outdated security cut technology is not one of them.

The story of the electricity company E.ON being fined €38m for breaking a tamper evident security label seal that companies like us manufacture came to our attention yesterday.  You can read a quick version on the Times website or a full account on the Europa.eu website with pictures.

The very nature of our work at Security Labels International means that we dont often get to see many of our security label products in action, but stories like this demonstrate how important the performance of our products is, and the consequences of false positive readings for end users.

We have a new product range out soon that will give customers the highest levels of security ever seen in the marketplace – if you are involved in such high profile security sealing then we will be pleased to send you samples to trial, or help train your staff in the correct use of such seals. As the Competition Commission have demonstrated, accidental breech or misuse can be very, very expensive.

We have been getting lots of interest in our new Labellock range of security labels from customers and distributors across the world.  Its taken a lot of R&D to get this product range to market, and its great to see the product being shipped out of the door.

We’ve invested heavily in the business in the last year, and its great to see the product being shipped across the workd for all sorts of weird and wonderful applications, and being stocked by new distributors and business partners we hope to build good long term relations with.

If you have not looked it up yet, then please pop over here.

PRESS RELEASE
16 June 2008
Cannock, Staffordshire, UK
LABEL LOCK LAUNCH SCORES “NO MARKS” FOR SECURITY INDUSTRY.

Building on their recent successes in security labelling, Security Labels International has announced the launch of the revolutionary new product – Label Lock.
Label Lock is the latest product to grace the portfolio of the Cannock-based company, part of the Mercian Labels Group. Available for distributors to stock easily in bulk, yet with each label having a unique number, Label Lock is described as the last word in tamper-evident labelling.
Because the surface of each security seal changes dramatically once removed to display the words ‘opened’ – but leaves no marks on the product it sticks to – Label Lock is seen as having unique advantages for all items that will be re-used. As Sales Director Hugo Gell said: “A padlock can be picked, unlike Label Lock which will seal everything from doors to CD and DVD cases without the need to drill holes or spend money on electronic monitoring. It’s designed initially as a deterrent, but the label tells you instantly if someone’s tried to get past it, and it can’t be replaced because every label has a unique number printed under the surface. What’s more, there is no sticky mess left behind once you’ve removed it”.
The product is the result of years of development and investment by Security Labels International, the UK’s premier custom label company. Dr Adrian Steele, Managing Director who has pioneered the R&D behind the technical aspects of the product said: “This has been a very challenging and exciting project. We were determined to present a good British-made product that was designed without compromise to perform a very demanding job. Technically advanced and highly innovative, we believe that this product will be at the forefront of value-added security systems the world over.”
“LabelLock labels will be distributed worldwide through a carefully chosen network of distributors” added Hugo Gell. “Having tried to quietly test them in the market place prior to launch, we found ourselves faced with an alarming and immediate demand. The Security Industry is crying out for innovative, unique, cost effective solutions, and we now have the ideal product to deliver just that”.
Adrian Steele added: “Once we were satisfied that the product was technically sound and market tested, we faced the immediate challenge of being able to supply a hungry marketplace. Happily, the investment we have made in infrastructure, technology and machinery have paid off, and we are now in a strong position to supply globally and in bulk”.
LabelLock labels are entirely manufactured in the heart of the UK by Security Labels International. The business employs close to 20 people and has a turnover in excess of £1,000,000, which looks set to grow rapidly following the launch of their new product and a move into the global marketplace. Products will be showcased at the Transec Exhibition in Amsterdam on 24th – 25th June, and can be seen on the website www.labellock.com

- – - ENDS – - -

- – - CONTACT – -

Security Labels International

Watling Street

Cannock

WS11 0BD

UK

+44 (0)1543 431 099

Contact: Hugo Gell

hugo@securitylabels.com

www.securitylabels.com

www.labellock.com

—NOTES FOR EDITORS – - -

Mercian Labels Ltd (www.mercianlabels.com) was established in 1969.

Relevant images available from the following links:

www.labellock.com/press/before.jpg

www.labellock.com/press/during.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/after.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/logo.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/people.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/alarm.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/box.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/case.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/cd.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/car.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/cabinet.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/cameraphone.jpg
www.labellock.com/press/pc.jpg

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