Covectra (covectra.com) a privately held, international serialization, authentication, and track and trace technology services provider with offices in US and in Ireland, today announced the launch of its holistic, integrated serialization-based solution for protecting infant formula from counterfeiting. This system, which was developed to meet the increasing need for brand and supply chain integrity of infant formula, particularly given the recent increase of illicit trading activity and supply chain leakage in markets such as China, also enables track & trace and diversion detection of these products through the supply chain and into the hands of the consumer.

The principle of the solution is the application of a serialized unique barcode (QR, 2D or 1D) to the bottom of the can and all levels of packaging (case and pallet) so that it can tracked through the supply chain. The serialization system consists of the following components:

• AuthentiTrack® database (hosted in Microsoft Azure® Cloud) for generating and managing all serial numbers, including all events (e.g. scans) associated with that barcode.

• Packaging line serialization system, that uses open software architecture and Rockwell Automation technology to print and verify barcodes on each level of packaging. .

• Downstream supply chain traceability system, which can be used to track products throughout the distribution system, and to detect incidents of gray market diversion. Supply chain partners are able to re-aggregate reworked pallets that were damaged in shipment.

• Consumer-friendly and highly secure authentication features which can be place on various parts of the can.

“Managing food safety standards across a global supply chain is complex and challenging. However, steps must be taken to ensure safe and secure shipping and distribution of food products that end up in consumers hands,” says Covectra president, Steve Wood. “Our solution was developed to offer a means to identify a brand’s authenticity and to enable visibility of products throughout the supply chain,” he added.

Covectra’s proprietary brand protection technology was developed to enable infant formula consumers, retailers and supply chain partners to authenticate products at the primary package, case and pallet consumers, infant formula consumers, retailers and supply chain partners to authenticate products and the primary package, case and pallet retailers and supply chain partners. This anti-counterfeit methodology is secure, user-friendly, and can be done using a smart-phone barcode scan app available from Covectra.