Continental Aftermarket: protecting your own brand is top priority

The only effective protection against product piracy is to have a consistent linkage of codes with every single product as well as an identification mark physically integrated into the product label. The biggest automotive suppliers in Europe have long shared this view and for that reason have united in an initiative which has declared war on product piracy: MAPP, “Manufacturers against Product Piracy”. With the help of the MAPP coding standards, a product can be traced throughout the entire supply chain.

In this way, Continental Aftermarket, a provider in the independent aftermarket (free parts market) sector and a division of Continental, the globally active automotive OEM, protect its international brands with the alphanumerical MAPP code and an additional 2D barcode, which are both placed on the product. Although the MAPP code marks each product as a genuine part, the label with the code itself remains a system weakness. To protect the label from forgeries, both the label and the packaging are safeguarded by means of a physical identifier by tesa scribos – the tesa Holospot.

"Brand protection has been a top priority within the independent aftermarket of Continental Automotive for many years", explains Stefan Dötsch, Director of Product Management & Portfolio Independent Aftermarket Continental. "The global increase in the number of forgery cases, as well as our sales partners' desire for better visual identification of genuine ATE and VDO parts, prompted us to draw up an extended brand protection program. In the search for a suitable partner we decided on tesa scribos, because the company is especially well known for its technological advances in brand protection solutions. The brand protection program was initially developed for VDO spare parts, then for ATE brake disks and brake pads. The program is currently rolled out across the majority of our aftermarket portfolio. Genuine ATE and VDO parts are now clearly identified; forgery attempts can be detected immediately."

Security on all levels

tesa Holospot® technology equips each individual product with a special label bearing information which is forgery-proof, for authentication comprehensive traceability. The authenticity of a product can be checked by everyone involved in the supply chain – starting with production and logistics through customs right up to the retailer and final consumer. The figures shown in the tesa Holospot lithogram match the last four digits of the MAPP code, which guarantees that the tesa Holospot and packaging belong together. In addition, there is online verification that provides information on the authenticity of the product.

With the online verification system, tesa connect & check, tesa scribos recently started offering its customers the option of carrying out a multi-stage online authentication process, which checks both the code and the tesa Holospot's security features.