Counterfeiting costs global brands an estimated $4.5 trillion per year. For manufacturers and distributors, the damage is not only financial — it erodes brand trust, creates product liability risk, and in industries like pharmaceuticals and food, can directly harm consumers.
Track-and-trace technology is the most effective operational defence. It creates a verifiable digital record for every product unit from production to end customer — making it impossible for a fake to pass as genuine without detection.
What track-and-trace actually does
At its core, track-and-trace is an identity system for physical products. Each unit receives a unique digital identifier — a QR code, barcode, RFID tag, or serialised label — that is registered in a central database at the point of manufacture.
From there, every movement is recorded:
- Production — unit created, batch logged, quality checks passed
- Warehouse — goods received, stored, picked
- Distribution — shipped to distributor or retailer, handoffs tracked
- Retail / Point of sale — product scanned at checkout or by staff
- End customer — customer scans the code to verify authenticity
If a product arrives at any checkpoint without a matching record in the database, it is immediately flagged.
The four components of an effective system
1. Unique identifier generation
Every unit gets a non-duplicable identifier. Strong implementations use cryptographically generated codes that cannot be predicted or guessed, making it impossible to print a fake label with a valid code.
2. Chain of custody logging
Each scan or checkpoint event is written to the database with a timestamp, location, and operator record. This creates an immutable audit trail — useful for recalls, disputes, and regulatory audits.
3. Verification endpoints
Retailers and end customers need a way to verify products: a mobile app, a web portal, or a scan-at-POS workflow. The verification response should be instant — a green confirmation or a clear warning.
4. Alerting and reporting
When an unverified product is scanned, the brand needs to know. Real-time alerts to a brand manager, geographic heat maps of counterfeit detection incidents, and batch-level reporting are essential for taking action.
Common implementation pitfalls
Codes applied after production — the identifier must be assigned during or before manufacturing, not at the end of the line. Applying it later creates a gap that counterfeiters exploit.
No end-customer verification — a system that only tracks warehouse movements misses the final check. Consumers should be able to verify a product with a phone scan before using it.
Single-point-of-failure databases — if the verification database goes down, every legitimate scan fails. Redundant infrastructure is non-negotiable for mission-critical verification.
No onboarding for warehouse teams — the best system fails if staff do not scan consistently. Short, role-specific training and streamlined scan workflows significantly improve adoption.
Regulatory context
Several jurisdictions now mandate track-and-trace for specific categories:
- Pharmaceuticals: The EU Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), India’s SUGAM traceability requirements, and the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) all require serialised product tracking.
- Food & Beverage: FDA’s FSMA 204 rule in the US requires lot-level traceability for high-risk foods from 2026.
- Tobacco: The EU’s Track and Trace system (EU-TTT) mandates serialisation for all tobacco products.
Even where not mandated, many large retailers now require supplier track-and-trace capabilities as a condition of listing.
ScanSure: track-and-trace built for manufacturers and their distribution networks
ScanSure is KometCode’s product verification and track-and-trace platform, developed in collaboration with distribution partners. It is designed for manufacturers who need to protect their products across multi-tier distribution — not just within their own warehouse.
Key capabilities:
- Serialised QR codes generated per unit or per batch at production
- Chain of custody tracking across manufacturer, distributor, and retailer
- Consumer verification via QR scan — no app required, works in any browser
- Counterfeit alerts sent to brand managers when an unregistered code is scanned
- Batch-level reporting for recall management and regulatory audits
- Designed for warehouse teams — the scan workflow takes under three seconds per unit
ScanSure is currently available for early access. If you are a brand or manufacturer dealing with counterfeiting, distribution disputes, or approaching a regulatory deadline, get in touch to discuss your requirements.
Is track-and-trace right for your business?
Track-and-trace makes sense if any of the following apply:
- Your products have been counterfeited or you have received complaints about fakes
- You operate a multi-tier distribution chain with limited visibility below tier 1
- You are approaching a regulatory requirement (pharmaceuticals, food, tobacco)
- A major retail partner has requested supply chain traceability documentation
- You have experienced costly product recalls due to batch identification problems
If none of these apply yet — it is worth reviewing your supply chain risk before the first counterfeit incident forces the conversation.
For questions about track-and-trace implementation or to learn more about ScanSure, contact KometCode.