Systech’s own David DeJean participated in a webinar this week with Packaging Europe discussing diversion and counterfeit threats in the supply chain. The discussion covered how to overcome barriers and reduce risks proactively by gaining supply chain visibility, identifying diversion and counterfeit risks, implementing best practices, and engaging key stakeholders for successful outcomes. 

Counterfeiting is the largest criminal enterprise in the world today, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with domestic and international sales, counterfeit and pirated goods total between an estimated $1.7 trillion to $4.5 trillion each year. It is a growing problem, fueled by the rise of e-commerce and has a major impact on the global economy. Counterfeit products pose risks to health, livelihoods, and more, affecting manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike. 

When asked how effective the anti-counterfeiting efforts are in your organization? Roughly 21% of the audience considered their efforts ineffective. This number is down from previous surveys, showing that the industry is beginning to pay attention, especially after the spike from the rise of e-commerce and the global pandemic.  

Up to 30% of the products in all markets are diverted into grey markets, aided by the complexity of the distributor channel. When asked how effective the anti-diversion efforts are in your organization? Roughly 25% again responded that they considered their efforts ineffective.   

As solutions become more robust so does the sophistication of the criminal activity, adding to the difficulty of detecting and solving the problem. Anti-diversion and anti-counterfeiting efforts require a programmatic approach, not just technology deployment. This programmatic approach requires aligning strategy, technology, organization, training and resources for success. And there’s a real need for collaboration to help identify, trace and authenticate the right products.  

No one product is going to close the gray market and shut down counterfeiters. A combination of people, processes, technology, and time is critical to ensure consumer safety and loyalty and to protect brands and revenues. 

A proactive approach with covert solutions and supply chain traceability unlocks greater visibility to combat these issues. Counterfeiting and diversion plague every industry and your brand is not immune. Our solution makes it easy to hyper-accelerate the detection process with complete, real-time visibility into supply chain activity, in a non-additive manner to make it sustainable and operate in your business.    

Here is the on-demand recording of the webinar available for download.