Counterfeiting & theft solution
By Canadian Packaging staff
Design & Innovation Food Safety Coding & Labeling Drug Quality and Security Act iGen OTC Group product counterfeiting solution Product theft solution XAPS Xerox Xerox Automated Packaging Solution Xerox CanadaOTC Group and Xerox thwart counterfeiting and theft of pharmaceutical packaging with unique tracking solution.
TORONTO—Package theft and counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical industry cost an estimated $75 billion to $200 billion globally each year, and the sale of counterfeit medications puts human lives at risk.
Existing solutions involve using an inkjet printing process to apply the necessary identifiers at the last stage of packaging. This method has proved insufficient however, and leaves ample opportunity for fraud, especially when package printing and assembly are provided by an outside vendor.
To resolve this challenge, OTC Group of London, Ont. has developed a state-of-the-art digital print solution with Xerox to prevent theft and counterfeiting of pharmaceutical packaging.
The Xerox Automated Packaging Solution (XAPS) includes both a workflow process and packaging approach to prevent theft and counterfeiting.
It seamlessly joins four components – printing, coating, stacking and die cutting, all inline, allowing the OTC Group to produce folded cartons with advanced anti-counterfeiting measures efficiently and affordably.
In 2013, the U.S. passed its Drug Quality and Security Act to address counterfeiting and theft, but pharmaceutical companies have struggled to comply with the strict new requirements on the tracking and tracing of drug packaging that the Act mandates.
“While many in the pharmaceutical industry struggle with the ability to conform to serialization and track-and-trace accountability, we’ve engineered a process that works,” says OTC vice-president of high-performance packaging Adam Egan.
He says the Xerox iGen and XAPS solution has allowed the OTC Group to perform as the market demands.
The solution developed by the OTC Group and Xerox goes beyond the legal requirements, and can save clients millions.
For one current client requiring an 800,000 printed carton production run, OTC Group estimates that the solution eliminated millions of dollars of risk exposure by providing traceability at every level, with the ability to account for every package printed—including waste—and providing that data to the client in electronic format.
About Xerox
Xerox is a global business services, technology and document management company helping organizations transform the way they manage their business processes and information. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., it has more than 140,000 employees and does business in over 180 countries. It provides business process services, printing equipment, hardware and software technology for managing information — from data to documents.
Xerox Canada is headquartered in Toronto, with regional offices nationwide. For more information, visit www.xerox.ca.
About The OTC Group
OTC Group is a high-performance packaging and data company based in London, Ont., offering new production and printing technology, design flexibility and engineered data segmentation tools. They provide brand marketers and retailers cost-effective, high-speed packaging and promotion solutions with customization and personalization, as well as special event marketing and market- or demographic-specific short runs. More information available at www.otcgc.com.
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