McNeil Consumer Healthcare issued a voluntary recall late last month in the United States and 11 other countries involving children's versions of Tylenol, Tylenol Plus, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl because they didn't meet quality standards.

According to McNeil and the Food and Drug Administration, some of the products recalled may have a higher concentration of an active ingredient than is specified on the bottle, others  may contain foreign particles,  and still others may contain inactive ingredients that do not meet internal testing requirements.

Even though the potential for medical issues was remote, the recall may have been orchestrated better with less brand damage if sufficient technologies and brand protection layers were in place, says Janice T. Abel, principal consultant for ARC Advisory Group.  In addition to being valuable for brand protection, tracing and other brand protection technologies can also help to prevent counterfeiting and reduce risks.

ARC is conducting a confidential survey on the use of implementing technologies for brand protection and anti-counterfeiting measures in packaging and in the supply chain for all industries, Abel says.  The goal is to better understand the best practices used by manufacturers, distributors and packers to address these issues.  ARC will issue a strategy report later this year. Survey participants will receive a free copy of the aggregated results.

Abel says various sources indicate that counterfeit products represent as much as 10 percent of the global $800bn pharmaceutical market.  As much as $450bn in counterfeit products make their way into the global marketplace each year and are highly prevalent in electronics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, auto parts, aviation parts, high end retail and other industries.  Some of these products pose great risks to the consumers and manufacturers and could even result in death, Abel says.

"Many companies do not want anyone, even within their own company, to know the extent of counterfeit products within their supply chain for good reasons," Abel says.

Until comprehensive, multi-layered, cost-effective and scalable collaborative technology solutions are employed for tracking products across the supply chain, counterfeiters will continue to infiltrate the global supply chain at an increasingly alarming rate.

The confidential ARC survey is available at http://www.arcweb.com/Research/Surveys/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=3e127072-323c-4864-aa63-3402ba39ddbc&ID=22&RootFolder=%2FResearch%2FSurveys%2FLists%2FPosts

Source: ARC Advisory Group