As a leading security seals manufacturer, we receive numerous stories from industry users outlining the experiences they have had with highly skilled thieves. Tamper evident seals, which are globally used for securing goods and to restrict access from people with false intentions, is not solving the purpose. Behind these stories is not just fascination of how the theft/tamper takes place without evidence but the dread of the revenue lost that is going unnoticed over time.
If you are transporting goods, cargo or own an asset that is prone to tampering, you may relate to any of the following situations –
- The Plastic Seal or Metal Seal is replaced with an Exact Look Alike.
- The trailer/container door is removed from the hinges and reattached.
- The Tamper Evident Seal is Deconstructed and Reconstructed Post Tampering
In all of the above situations, the companies and Logistics providers have no way to
- Know Where the Tamper/theft occurred.
- Take Action Against the Event With Proof
- Generate Proof for Insurance Claims
- Secure Other Shipments From Similar Incidences
Let’s understand how to solve this issue.
Tamper evident seals have already seen an upgrade with a layer of digital security added with the help of RFID/NFC or smart digital ID’s.
Plastic seals to Plastic Seals with an RFID solution
A perfect alternative to the conventional strap seals, these seals can have an RFID or a QR code printed on the flag of the seal. Tamper evident seals are known to be replaced with replicas with similar colour and markings to throw brands off. Therefore, these strap seals are tagged with a digital ID connected to the cloud pushing information of the scan and verifying the seal. This enables seals to be visually tamper evident and digitally connect with the assigned parcel or product.
Similar technology is used in the case of meter seals where through a QR code, the seal can be verified and the information about the meter can be pushed in the cloud software. Also, the field auditor can easily notify a mismatch of seal and meter and much more.
Bolt Seal to E seal
Unlike plastic seals, bolt seals are harder to tamper with but not impossible. They require metal cutters to open and therefore the events of deconstructing the seal are negligible. However, regular Bolt seals are easily available in the open market for anyone to purchase and print to suit their needs. Also due to the use of these seals in cross border movements for all kinds of cargo, it is highly targeted by opportunists.
Understanding the problem, countries like India and Taiwan have resorted to RFID solutions in combination with the bolt seal. Often referred to as the E seal, these are connected to cloud software informing about tamper alerts, location data along with a timestamp. E seals are difficult to replicate due to the unique ID assigned with each RFID chip.
Bolt Seal to an Electronic Cargo Tracking System
In addition to the passive E seal, an active IoT smart lock is also gaining popularity to solve for road movements of cargo. This device attaches to the container or door of the truck alerting the movements of the vehicle, tamper status, suspicious activities or opening of the lock in real time. The remote operated device comes with highly efficient software, which presents data for each journey and analyzes the data for the user to optimize on logistics and increases visibility into each journey. Users of regular padlocks and bolt seals are moving to ECTS systems for their goods movements.
Now you have an opportunity to be a step ahead from thieves by using digital seals and to improve your operations.
To know more about such digital solutions, connect with Sepio Products on email at sales@sepioproducts.com