Appleton Launches Line of Thermal-Transfer Security Papers for On-Demand Labels

Published: May 19, 2003, By PRESS RELEASE

APPLETON, WI, USA—Appleton recently announced the development and release of a new line of thermal-transfer label security papers that include its TechMark taggants and Read/Write threads. According to the mfr., the line offers supply-chain management the opportunity to authenticate bar codes and thereby print on-demand security labels.

Says Joe Pleshek, brand protection market manager at Appleton, "On-demand bar code labels have been adopted widely as a cost-effective and efficient way to identify products and streamline the global supply chain. But criminals that counterfeit, pirate, and divert products are keenly aware of this and go to great lengths to replicate bar code labels as a way to get their fraudulent goods to the marketplace. By adding the TechMark taggants and read/write threads to the thermal-transfer stock, manufacturers and supply-chain managers now have a cost-effective security solution that can be integrated seamlessly to thwart these fraudulent efforts."

According to Appleton, both grades of thermal-transfer stock have been qualified by Zebra Technologies for use in its complete line of the Zebra brand thermal-transfer printers. "The TechMark taggants thermal-transfer paper features taggants that are part of the paper itself," says the co. "The taggants are invisible under ordinary light, but when viewed under ultraviolet light, they become readily visible and allow for quick visual identification." Adds Appleton, "The TechMark read/write threads go beyond visual authentication; they are embedded into thermal-transfer material and carry a secure, encrypted code, which can be read by a hand-held reader to authenticate and track a company's products down to the individual product level."

Learn more about TechMark taggants and Read/Write threads, as well as Appleton's other products, at appletonideas.com.