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Back in late November, buried in one corner of the huge Nuremberg fairground – which was playing host to the annual SPS automation fair – a small group of companies were hoping to play their part in fighting an estimated 7 billion Euro illegal trade. Because VDMA, the association that represents the German machine tool industry, had organised an ‘anti-counterfeiting corner’ – a selection of emerging technologies that it says could help in the fight against counterfeit products. The problem, according to VDMA section leader Rainer Glatz, is staggering – and includes every type of engineering product from brakes to bearings. “We have found it to be a massive problem,” he says. “It’s something that has to be fought.” Some of the technologies on show were more appropriate to the production line, while others aimed to mark, track and identify genuine products – keeping tabs on their journey through the supply chain. As most products now come ready-packaged, a lot of anti-counterfeiting effort is concentrated here. Barcodes and other identifying marks – such as holograms – are commonly added to packaging as a mark of authenticity. Now other techniques are emerging. Sensor manufacturer Sick, for example, has teamed up with ink manufacturers to develop a system that can identify specific wavelengths within the ink formulation. Only packages printed with this ink will be genuine. “Our USP is that we have both the ink and the sensing system,” says Simone Klausmann, product manager at Sick. She says that the technology could be used in a range of paper products – from packaging and labels to Another paper-based system has its roots in the UK: Protexxion, which is being developed and commercialised by Bayer Technology Services, is based on technology developed at Imperial College by Professor Russell Coburn. Georg Somogyvary, sales manager at Protexxion, says: “We use the individual surface of the product as a fingerprint.” In the case of paper, for example, a laser would read a small area of the surface and use the orientation of paper fibres as the fingerprint. The same technique could also be applied to metal – but is unsuitable for very reflective surfaces like glass, he says. He says that the skill is in finding exactly the same spot each time. “And you must do that for every single box.” Somogyvary sees the system being used in high production environments such as pharmaceutical production – a key part of Bayer’s business. Targeting the machine Both of these technologies are aimed mainly at high volume products that move along a production line. But another solution, targeted directly at machine builders, will prevent copying by protecting the software – an increasingly important part of all machines. “Often, a machine’s software is crucial to its performance,” says Claus Gallus of Wibu, a German specialist in software security. “If you can protect the software, you can protect your machine.” He says that many machines are being copied in their entirety – including software. A ‘key’ – in the form of a hardware ASIC, or software on a USB stick – can be used to encrypt and decrypt data. “We build the sticks and ASICs, and write the specific software, to allow your own software to encrypt the data,” he says. The technology itself is well-proven – and has been available for several years – but, according to Gallus: “Machine builders have not been in our focus up to now. And, they have not really been interested.” He cites the example of one machine builder customer. It supplies a range of near-identical machines, which are graded – and priced – according how fast they operate. The software controls the machine’s speed – prompting one enterprising buyer to simply export the software from his single ‘fast’ machine to his five ‘slow’ machines. “That is no longer possible, thanks to our software protection,” he says. As for tracking orders, SAP – in a collaboration with Nokia – is developing a system that would allow anybody along the supply chain (including consumers) to ‘interrogate’ a reference number, such as a barcode. “Anybody could read it using a mobile phone,” says Peer Laslo, programme manager for brand protection services at SAP. “Our focus is to build a global data repository of all types of ID.” A new company to commercialise the system will be set up this month. The manufacturer would pay a fee, while the service would be free to everybody else. The ability to track products easily, all along the supply chain, could have another knock-on benefit, says Laslo. “Manufacturers want to know when products are sold to the grey market,” he says. “Our system can track that – telling which wholesalers have sold the product.” However, he says that protecting against counterfeit goods will be the main aim. “The main target is to put down all those counterfeits and protect the consumer against fake drugs, brake pads and electrical devices.” Nuremberg highlights In addition to the fight against counterfeit goods, SPS was showing some of its more traditional wares. Siemens, for example, was showing a range of wireless options – including software to design wireless plant. One example was iHop, a protocol that helps its industrial LAN equipment to overcome signal disturbance. Ordinarily, a crowded network can lead to drop-outs and signal disturbance, but this can be avoided by switching between channels and ‘hopping away’. “iHop gives more robustness,” says Jochen Koch of Siemens’ industrial communication division. Within its digital engineering division, the company has updated its Automation Designer software – which allows it to plan out a factory floor, including a module that determines signal strength in a wireless factory. Siemens recently bought software company Comos, and Comos ET will form the basis of the new product. “You can generate engineering output at the touch of a button, so would also be a tool for machine builders,” says Wolfgang Schloegl, project manager within the department. Rockwell unveiled a new drive, the PowerFlex 755. Its chief attraction, according to Ulrich Knorr – a commercial engineer for standard drives – is its flexibility. “It supports both synchronous and asynchronous motors,” he says. “You could replace several types of drive with this one – it’s a universal drive.” The 755 has been adapted from a previous model, with redesigned electronics and IGBTs contributing to the new performance. It now has 16 data links instead of four, and includes DeviceLogix on board – helping it work like a PLC. There are also five slots for different encoder feedbacks. The range, which is available now, starts at 7.5kW and goes up to 250kW. “In future we may go up to 2MW or bigger,” he says.