LABELEXPO EUROPE BREAKS RECORDS

LABELS&LABELING |43
(L-R) Will Duggins and Graham McGuire
with Rotatek Universal press
Security Specialist
TRADE SECURITY SPECIALIST SPS is aiming to transfer its expertise in high-end security print and finishing
to the brand protection market. Andy Thomas reports
Since its founding in 1982, Security Print Solutions (SPS) has
lived a low profile business existence as a specialist supplier of
high end security print solutions to the trade.
This is set to change as SPS looks to transfer its security print
and finishing expertise to the brand protection label market. ‘We
have grown our business by 50 percent over the last two years
to a six million GBP turnover, and with this new direction we are
looking for still higher growth in the next two to three years,’
asserts director Graham McGuire.
The success of SPS has been built on the back of innovation.
For example, in 1990 the company was the first to pioneer
security holograms onto UK checks and other paper substrates.
Spending on R&D annually exceeds a six figure sum, and
SPS has demonstrated its expertise across a wide range of
high security products including checks, tax stamps, visas,
certificates, store gift vouchers, discount vouchers and event
tickets.
It is not a huge leap from here to brand protection labels.
‘Whilst our activity within the label market is small, we are
quickly growing our security label capabilities in the tobacco,
alcohol, auto and white goods market places,’ says Graham
McGuire. ‘Over the past two years we have produced well in
excess of one billion tax/revenue stamps for export, mainly to
the Middle East.’
McGuire stresses that although any competent label converter
can print basic security labels, they are not necessarily
operating in a controlled security environment, with secured
enclosures, audited and controlled waste management and so
on. ‘We are regularly vetted by check suppliers and we have
ISO 27001 for secure information handling,’ says McGuire.
"The label can be applied to the
packaging as a seal or on the product
itself. Each application has its own
specific characteristics to ensure the
maximum protection of the product"
END USER FOCUS
This strategic shift to the brand security market will entail
extensive market research to target the end sectors most
requiring protection. ‘The end use is the critical starting point
– where is the label to be applied and how?’ says Graham
McGuire. ‘This dictates the label substrate, adhesives and
finished configuration of the label, whether sheet format,
reels or banded individual items. Another extremely important
point to understand is the types of fraud and the potential
for alteration. Why would people alter? What would be the
minimum or maximum security required? The final part
would be design, not just a fancy good looking design, but
a design which is very easy on the eye, provides great depth
of protection and is easily authenticated. Our experience in
bank note software means we can protect from alteration and
counterfeit fraud in one.’
Once the overall strategy has been agreed, SPS will then
look at the functional characteristics required: ‘The label
can be applied to the packaging as a seal or on the product
itself. Each application has its own specific characteristics to
ensure the maximum protection of the product, for example
NOVEMBER 2013 | L&L