Application of RFID electronic tag in alcohol anti-counterfeiting

Over the years, the problem of wine counterfeiting has gradually been noticed. The current situation and problems of the development of wine anti-counterfeiting technology are introduced, and the advantages and technical characteristics of RFID electronic tags applied in wine anti-counterfeiting are proposed.

RFID is radio frequency identification, commonly known as electronic tags. RFID radio frequency identification is a non-contact automatic identification technology, which automatically identifies the target object and obtains relevant data through radio frequency signals, identification work without human intervention, can work in a variety of harsh environments. RFID technology can identify high-speed moving objects and can simultaneously identify multiple tags, fast and convenient operation. RFID’s basic components are.

1. RFID tags – by coupling components and chips, each tag has a globally unique electronic code, attached to the object identifies the target object.
2. RFID reader – a device to read or write tag information, can be designed as a handheld or desktop machine.
3. RFID antenna – between the tag and the reader to transmit the radio frequency signal.

Electronic tags have a very wide range of applications in the item anti-counterfeiting industry due to their advantages such as long-distance identification, large storage capacity, strong environmental adaptability, and each tag has a globally unique code. The application of alcohol anti-counterfeiting is one of the current hot topics of discussion in the industry, and many enterprises are actively demonstrating and testing the application of RFID in alcohol anti-counterfeiting. RFID has two main applications in alcohol anti-counterfeiting management, one is production and sales management, and the other is anti-counterfeiting management.
Current situation and characteristics of wine counterfeiting and anti-counterfeiting technology
In 1998, the counterfeit wine incident in Shanxi is still fresh in people’s minds. Counterfeit wine has become a big issue of concern for all wineries, and the wineries have invested a lot of financial and human resources in researching anti-counterfeiting methods to cope with the losses caused by counterfeit wine to their own economy and brands, and have launched various series of anti-counterfeiting products, which have also achieved certain results. With the continuous development and improvement of anti-counterfeiting technology, anti-counterfeiting technology has become an important part of enterprises in safeguarding their own interests and establishing their brand image.
Although various anti-counterfeiting measures have been adopted for various kinds of wines, some unscrupulous people are still desperate to make and sell counterfeits under the temptation of high profits, and counterfeit products are still prohibited in the market. The author analyzes the counterfeit wine on the market and finds that their counterfeiting behavior generally has the following characteristics.

Recycling old packaging as the main means of counterfeiting

Since all kinds of wine on the market nowadays take anti-counterfeiting measures on packaging, such as using different color and shape bottles, crystal outer packaging, etc., these make it difficult for counterfeiters to make counterfeit, meanwhile, the method of recycling old packaging becomes the simplest and most effective counterfeiting means for counterfeiters.

The level of counterfeiting technology of counterfeiters is getting higher and higher

With the development of technology, more people have mastered anti-counterfeiting technology, including counterfeiters, of course. They use imitation methods to make and sell fake wine, and the imitation objects include not only the outer packaging, bottles, caps, and even anti-counterfeiting logos can be imitated almost the same as the real product, and the “product” even looks more real than the real product, which makes it difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish the authenticity.
Due to the high profits of counterfeit wine, especially the fake high-grade famous wine, the lawless elements are willing to take risks under the temptation of high profits, and in order to cope with the increasingly serious counterfeiting situation, some counterfeiters form gangs or even groups, forming a tight and orderly network from counterfeiting to sales, and obtaining information through different information channels, thus easily avoiding the government’s counterfeiting activities and making the counterfeit products on the market products in the market.

Counterfeit wine is mostly found in large hotels, clubs and other dining places

In order to escape from law enforcement, counterfeiters and counterfeit sellers are now mostly using the method of mixing the whole batch of counterfeit wine with the packing boxes of real wine and then retailing to catering establishments, so that even if they are found, they can escape from sanctions due to the small quantity.

Most of the counterfeiters use the second best method

The counterfeit wine incident in Shanxi caused serious consequences with dozens of deaths, and the government departments have carried out severe apricot punishment, and the counterfeit makers and sellers have been severely punished by the law. In order to avoid legal responsibility, counterfeiters mostly use low-grade wine into the packaging of high-grade wine as good, so that you can avoid the serious consequences of the fake wine caused by life-threatening law enforcement agencies and social concern, so as to avoid legal sanctions, but also to obtain huge profits, can be called “two birds with one stone”.
As a result, many new technologies and enterprises have been born in the anti-counterfeiting industry. The current development of anti-counterfeiting technology has the following significant features.

More use of anti-counterfeiting measures such as physical damage and information code inquiry

Such as tearing the box when opening the package, or making the cap break, or making the bottle break, which are all physical destruction anti-counterfeiting technologies. The other type of information code inquiry technology is mainly represented by the use of laser holographic anti-counterfeiting and information code telephone inquiry.

Increasing anti-counterfeiting technology content

With the improvement of counterfeiters’ anti-counterfeiting technology, the original anti-counterfeiting technology will soon be copied by counterfeiters, and wine manufacturers can only continuously launch new anti-counterfeiting measures to cope with them. From the beginning of physical damage, to fragile labels, to the current laser anti-counterfeiting and code telephone inquiry, new anti-counterfeiting technologies will be launched in the future to continuously improve the difficulty and cost of anti-counterfeiting technology, so that counterfeiters are not easy to imitate.
Anti-counterfeiting measures have a certain degree of concealment. The outer packaging is usually the brand image and favorable advertising position of the wine manufacturer, and generally without the launch of special new products, manufacturers are reluctant to easily change the form, pattern and material of the outer packaging, etc. Even for new products, they will try to use similar or identical packaging, and will try not to affect the original packaging image when using anti-counterfeiting measures, therefore. This requires that the anti-counterfeiting measures Wen have a certain degree of concealment.
Although there are a variety of anti-counterfeiting technologies co-existing, they all have different problems, which are summarized as follows.
Poor security
Some manufacturers adopt the method of destroying the mouth of the bottle for anti-counterfeiting, but the broken mouth of the bottle can easily scratch the hand of the consumer; some manufacturers adopt the method of opening the bottle and destroying the cap, which makes it more difficult for the consumer to open the bottle, and in some cases, the aluminum alloy is used for the cap, which also easily scratches the hand of the customer. At the same time, for this technique, although the cap is destroyed but the bottle itself is intact, with the improvement of counterfeiters’ technology, the anti-counterfeiting effect of the destroyed cap is getting worse and worse.
The anti-counterfeiting effect is not obvious
For the use of outer package destruction and anti-counterfeiting label, the outer package is easy to be imitated due to its low technical difficulty. And with the popularity of anti-counterfeit label technology, various anti-counterfeit labels are easily available, for example, fragile anti-counterfeit labels, laser holographic anti-counterfeit labels, etc. Therefore, anti-counterfeit products launched by manufacturers soon after will appear in a very short period of time with similar anti-counterfeit counterfeit products.
Complex or unverifiable verification
Some manufacturers adopt the anti-counterfeiting method of telephone password inquiry, which effectively combats the counterfeiting behavior of counterfeiters. However, since this method requires consumers to call to verify, and some people are too embarrassed or too troublesome to verify at all, this leaves opportunities for counterfeiting, and the resulting losses have to be borne by the f4 family.
It is difficult to control the sales process
Since the anti-counterfeiting mark of each piece or bottle does not have uniqueness or the process cannot be monitored, therefore, it is difficult for manufacturers to track and monitor the products sold. When law enforcement officers check, sometimes counterfeit products are found among the genuine ones, but it is difficult to trace them back to the responsible person, which also causes great difficulties to combat counterfeiting and sales, and affects the authenticity and reliability of manufacturers to grasp the market situation.

Advantages of RFID technology liquor anti-counterfeiting traceability management solution

• 1. In terms of technology, the traditional alcohol anti-counterfeiting and traceability technology has many defects, such as the amount of recorded information is too small to completely record all the information involved, the information is read-only, does not support writing, the reading range is small, easy to damage, and can not adapt to the humid environment. RFID is based on radio frequency technology, which can complete the reading and data integration of label content, record a large number of commodity logistics information, and the readable and writable recording method can effectively track products and find existing problems in time. In addition, RFID label has the advantages of long service life, high safety and low environmental requirements. It has the properties of waterproof, antimagnetic and high temperature resistance that the bar code does not have.
• 2. In terms of enterprises, the alcohol anti-counterfeiting traceability system based on RFID technology can help enterprises realize standardized anti-counterfeiting specifications and anti-counterfeiting operation processes, make use of the advantages of RFID technology to realize automatic data collection, improve work efficiency, help enterprises improve supervision and production capacity and expand brand quality advantages. China is a large country producing wine products, and there are many wine enterprises. The anti-counterfeiting and Traceability Technology Based on RFID has a broad market prospect.
• 3. In terms of consumers, consumers have higher and higher requirements for the quality and hygiene of alcohol. RFID wine traceability and anti-counterfeiting can provide consumers with a series of wine information, ensure the safety of wine products, protect consumers’ right to know and choice of wine products, and make consumers feel more at ease.

Advantages of RFID anti-counterfeiting Tags

• 1. Each RFID anti-counterfeiting tag corresponds to a single commodity. The RFID tag has a unique ID code, which cannot be copied;
• 2. RFID tags are non paper products, not easy to wear, and there is no pollution and tearing. In addition, they are waterproof and anti magnetic;
• 3. RFID tags have two types: read-only and read-write, with large storage capacity;
• 4. The physical interface of the reader and writer of the electronic label is not directly open to the final consumers of the goods, which can effectively ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the label;
• 5. RFID tag can read and write a large number of target goods at one time, with high efficiency and automatic data processing.

RFID electronic tag wine anti-counterfeiting applications

Since RFID has characteristics that other anti-counterfeiting technologies do not have, the application of RFID tags in wine anti-counterfeiting has a unique technical advantage. Actility is a professional manufacturer of RFID electronic tags, and has rich experience in the use of tags and requirements for various application environments. At present, for the wine anti-counterfeiting label is carrying out special research. RFID electronic label has the characteristics of high technical difficulty, simple production process, and can not be copied, each label has a global unique code, the information in the label can be written and encrypted by the manufacturer itself, effectively preventing arbitrary tampering with information. Therefore, counterfeiting is very difficult, and can effectively curb counterfeiting behavior. At the same time, the RFID system can also realize real-time clinical control after connecting to the information network. These advantages can effectively improve the production efficiency of enterprises, enhance inventory management, control product sales, combat counterfeiting, and enhance the brand image of enterprises.
RFID system mainly includes read-write (including server and terminal reading equipment), middleware, electronic tags. In the enterprise headquarters will set up a total server, responsible for all data collection and control, in the warehouse, delivery, sales terminals (stores, large sellers, large supermarkets, key places dining places) set up RFID terminal reading equipment, the device can only achieve the permitted range of information reading, can not modify the information on the label, and each device must be certified by the wine production enterprise headquarters server ( Authorized unique code and password). Use, read-write read the effective or illegal information will automatically through the GPRS or network feedback to the server, when the server receives illegal information will alarm, and through the terminal device number to determine the source of information, so that the enterprise in the first time to grasp the relevant situation and make a response.
When the label is attached to the package the wine in the package will have the world’s only electronic ID card, at the same time, the label can also write other information. Enterprises in the preparation of RFID equipment, in addition to the production line of RFID equipment or out of the warehouse management equipment can realize the read-write function, other RFID terminal equipment only read function, that is, only manufacturers can write through the encryption of the instructions to change the label information of each bottle of wine, and this information are stored in the server database, other terminal read-write can only read the internal part of the label is authorized When using the product, as long as the data obtained by the terminal is checked with the data of the database, the identification of the authenticity of the product can be completed (for the factory set up in the region by the authorized institutions can also get the relevant read-only data of the server, which facilitates timely product identification), which greatly reduces the chance of artificial tampering with information inside and outside the enterprise. In the various stages of wine production and sales, wineries can achieve product tracking and control by obtaining information inside the labels through different terminals. Distilleries can also cooperate with market supervision such as industry, commerce and taxation and other government departments to strengthen the supervision of counterfeit and shoddy products to combat them. As long as the manufacturer provides the authorized terminal equipment to the local regulatory authorities, when a consumer doubts the authenticity of the wine, he or she can go directly to the relevant authority to check, and at the same time, the regulatory authorities can also bring the equipment to the market for inspection, which can improve the accuracy of the identification of authenticity and efficiency, as well as enhance the credibility and visibility of the enterprise in the market.

How to realize the anti-counterfeiting function of RFID electronic tags after building up the system?

At present, Actility provides the following solutions.
The label can be affixed to the packaging box or box with RFID paper anti-counterfeit electronic label or fragile label, affixed to the seal of the packaging box, once the package is opened, the label is destroyed, its electrical circuit is disconnected and cannot be restored, eliminating counterfeiters from using the recycled outer packaging to make counterfeit.

Seal the label inside the package

The label is placed inside the package when the outer package is made. This label uses the function of wireless data transmission of RFID to solve the weakness of identifying the authenticity by appearance in the past, and does not affect the appearance of the package, and identifies the authenticity by identifying the encrypted data written inside the label by the enterprise. At the same time, once the outer packaging is damaged, the label inlaid inside loses its function at the same time, which is often done without the knowledge of the outside world, and can effectively achieve anti-counterfeiting functions.

Injection molding the label into the bottle cap (non-metal)

This solution is to add the anti-counterfeiting function of the electronic label to the original anti-counterfeiting bottle cap. The label is injected inside the cap when the cap is made, and when the consumer opens the cap, the label is destroyed through the specially designed stress cut on the cap, thus destroying the cap and destroying the label at the same time, thus realizing multi-functional anti-counterfeiting.
The winery sets up the read-write antenna on the production line and writes the encrypted data provided by the server database one by one into the anti-counterfeiting electronic label of each bottle or case of wine, while recording the corresponding label UID code into the server database. Because of the large memory capacity of RFID tags (now there are 8Kbit capacity tags on the market, the maximum capacity is 32Kbit), the writing speed is fast (can be calculated in milliseconds), and the writing distance is far (can reach several meters), so the normal operation speed of the production line is hardly reduced when information is written to the tags. When the packaged wine is shipped out of the workshop, this packaged wine can be controlled in real time through the RFID system, including the inventory management of wine, the time and quantity of incoming wine, the location and time of storage, the time and quantity of outgoing wine, the place to which it is shipped, and all information such as the unit, vehicle, and registered personnel of transportation can be monitored by the manufacturer through this system. When the ex-factory wine arrives at the delivery destination, the personnel in charge of the delivery can send the delivery information to the server through the handheld device with GPRS function in time, and the receiving unit or personnel can also transmit the receiving information to the server through the read-write connected to the Internet network, so that the production enterprise can accurately control the process of inventory and transportation, due to the RFID used by each sales terminal The equipment has the effective code, and designates the person in charge of the management and sets the password, therefore, each sales terminal is able to realize the person in charge, once the problem appears soon can find the responsible person.
In the sale, the seller reads the information on the label, the consumer can check whether the product is genuine through the display screen, and the seller can print the consumption voucher for each bottle of wine sold with the anti-counterfeiting code provided to the consumer at the same time, the consumer with the code can go to the liquor manufacturer in the region to set up the store query or telephone query anti-counterfeiting information is true, once the problem is detected, the consumer Once the problem is detected, the consumer can obtain the corresponding compensation with this article. Due to the different sales prices in different regions, individual sellers will use this difference to obtain additional profits from the producer, in the product distribution or fixed-point sales link will appear in the case of collusion, while also disrupting the sales strategy of manufacturers, to manufacturers to investigate market information brings difficulties, and the use of RFID tags will be able to achieve sales prices, regions, personnel identification, for example, set a password within the tag, if The tag is allowed to range of terminal read-write read when the screen can display effective information, once read by the reading device outside the permitted range does not show any information, at the same time, the read situation will also be automatically sent to the manufacturer through the system, the winery can read the device through the terminal number directly to find the person responsible for the situation, and to deal with the relevant situation, so as to effectively control the phenomenon of collusion.
Due to the unique anti-counterfeiting technology characteristics of the electronic tag, RFID is now increasingly recognized by the entry, relative to the existing anti-counterfeiting technology on the market, the characteristics of the technology are mainly as follows:

Realize anti-counterfeiting function

Manufacturers can publicize the anti-counterfeiting effect and usage of RFID in various ways, so that consumers can clearly understand how to identify the authenticity, and the interaction with consumers through the system authentication of the electronic tag at the time of sale can effectively curb the counterfeiting and selling behavior. Because the electronic label has the global unique code, has the irreproducibility, therefore, the counterfeiters may not imitate the real electronic label, at the same time for the recycling of the old packaging again, the server will immediately reflect that this label has been used, belongs to the counterfeit products, at this time, the display will show “this bottle is fake wine” and other similar prompt information Remind consumers not to buy, manufacturers can use the network alarm to find out which seller has sold how much counterfeit wine at what time, and promptly notify the local market supervision to investigate and deal with illegal acts.

Realize real-time tracking

Because each read-write is connected with the server, the manufacturer can grasp the use of each read-write, and use the front-end processing and the back-end check combined method, therefore, the manufacturer will get the first-hand information in the first time. Timely and effectively grasp the market dynamics, facilitates the manufacturer to adjust the market strategy in time, for example, when finds the sales situation in a certain place is not ideal, may increase the advertisement propaganda strength or use the effective promotion means to stabilize the market, this may target to increase the sales cost, what is more important is to develop the timely and accurate implementation sales strategy, actually greatly reduces the overall sales cost.

Realize one-to-one verification

Because each terminal read-write must get the authentication of the server, so it avoids the illegal read-write falsifying, at the same time, each terminal read-write has the password, for the user can provide the real data safely and effectively, and for the handling of the unexpected situation can find the first responsible person, avoid shifting the responsibility to each other.

The cost is lower

Because each enterprise has many sellers and product distribution personnel, which needs to configure very many reading equipment, will not produce very big cost investment? Now a bottle of high-grade wine less than a few hundred dollars, more than on the dry or even tens of thousands of dollars, compared to the losses caused by fake wine, companies need to invest in the cost is not high. At present, a RFID read-write terminal is only a few hundred dollars, with GPRS function of the handheld machine is less than two thousand yuan, so companies need to invest in the cost is not high, and the direct economic benefits obtained will soon be able to recover the cost of inputs.
RFID technology as an emerging anti-counterfeiting technology is not well known, electronic tag anti-counterfeiting in the application of wine anti-counterfeiting is rare, its own technical characteristics of how to play the maximum effectiveness of further research, but the author believes that the efforts of the majority of practitioners, electronic tag anti-counterfeiting technology will be unique in the wine anti-counterfeiting, for the majority of wineries and consumers to bring convenience.

Source: China RFID Tags Manufacturer – Actility Technologies Company Limited (www.tractility.com) Actility provides powerful security solutions for retail store management to prevent asset and property losses, improve transaction security, and provide intelligent analysis. We produce AM/EM/RFID systems, EAS tags, EAS soft labels, EAS safer, lanyards, detachers and all kinds EAS accessories products. Infrared people counter and camera people counter is available. If you want to have more information about the article or you want to share your opinion with us, contact us at [email protected]

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