Product Digitization Drives Supply Chain Future

The value of counterfeit and pirated goods will exceed $1.9 trillion globally by 2022, according to the International Chamber of Commerce. Product authenticity is just one of many problems global brands and product manufacturers face today in the modern supply chain. Product digitization is the solution which has two critical advantages: visibility and traceability.

Listen to a recently recorded webinar on product digitization to learn about major supply chain shortcomings and the innovative business solutions already being put in place. You will hear from industry experts: Phil Stafford, Global Business Development Director at Digimarc, Curt Schacker, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships at Evrythng, and John Dwyer, Vice President of Business Development at Westrock.

Webinar excerpt:

Question: When I think about digitizing my product, what is the decisive reason to use QR codes versus digital watermarks?

Phil Stafford: There are some different solutions that really make sense for particular packaging and the situation. That’s the first thing you need to look at, how would you add those symbologies in your supply chain and where does it make the most sense. So, if you tend to have more brand security issue, you might want to start thinking about using watermarks for that, or a combination using both when it comes to multi-factored brand protection use case.

John Dwyer: I would agree with Phil, I don’t think it’s an either or, you actually benefit by using both symbologies. The differential would be that QR codes typically are read natively by your mobile device when a digital watermark would be within an app-based scan. So, you think of retailers like Wegman’s, Walmart and Albertsons all use digital watermarks in their private label brands, and they love the fact that you need to be part of a community, download their app to be able to get the most value out of those branded products. Both can work, it just depends how you want to deploy it.

Question: Will counterfeiters not be able to counterfeit watermarking?

Curt Schacker: Traditionally, anti-counterfeit solutions have been with various kinds of markings and technologies, holograms, microtext that are difficult to reproduce. At the end of the day the fight against counterfeiters is a game of leapfrog.

Register now to listen to the full conversation with these industry experts.