Genuine or Counterfeit? Identifying the authenticity of your industrial process filters

Counterfeiting is big business. Imports of counterfeit and pirated goods to the UK accounted for as much as GBP 13.6 billion in 2016 – the equivalent of 3% of UK imports in genuine goods. By faking genuine products, consumers are duped and legitimate businesses are denied the income they need.

Counterfeiting affects business-to-business activity in many industries; recycled items, unapproved components, stolen goods all play a part. With industrial process filters, how can you guarantee authenticity? This blog explores what to look out for when identifying a counterfeit product. Read on to find out.

Why are genuine filters important?

First of all, let’s discuss why genuine are filters important. Good quality filters ensure the quality of water for your experiments and laboratory work. If the filter is not doing its job right, the water you use will not be of the standard you are expecting and your work will be compromised. You need total confidence in the quality of your water and this is not possible without being assured of the quality of your equipment. Counterfeit filters pose a threat to all industrial processes.

An example of counterfeiting

A customer returns a faulty product to the distributer, querying their purchased filters batch numbers. Upon examination it becomes apparent that these faulty filters were not a registered product of that company, even though it uses the same brand names and part numbers.

Features were amiss regarding incorrect label design, lack of barcodes on the labels and formatting of the batch and lot numbers were incorrect. The consumer had purchased the product from a vendor claiming to supply the genuine brand when in fact they had actually purchased counterfeit products.

So, why is it a problem?

Counterfeiters can be based anywhere, using the standing of a company’s honest name to exploit customer trust. Companies can spend years building reputation in the market to then find it threatened by unknown parties mimicking the products and undercutting on pricing.

Filters strive to protect critical components and processes from liquid and solid contaminant damage. If the filtration system is compromised, contamination can easily result in costly downtime, unscheduled maintenance requirements and even unsafe operating conditions.

Confirming your filters are genuine

Appearance alone is often not enough to differentiate between a counterfeit and a genuine filter. Many of these fakes are cosmetically very convincing, however, it is impossible to know what environment it was produced in. Child labour, unhygienic production sites, contaminated or unsafe materials are just a few things that are impossible to detect unless you buy from a reputable source. Unless you know the authenticity of the product and its source, your own processes, and potentially reputation, is at risk.

How to identify counterfeit filters

Features such as:

  • Odd-looking packaging
  • Inconsistent label design
  • Strange number formats
  • Suspect addresses

These are all potential indications that your product has not gone through a quality control process to ensure proper performance and may therefore be counterfeit.

Overall, make sure to check you have the quality product you expect and not a cheap, ineffective and potentially unsafe knock-off. Don’t take things at face value; know your supplier and what they are supplying you.

If you want advice on confirming the origin or authenticity of a product advertised as being from Avidity Science, or you wish to verify the status of a supplier, we’re here to help. Show us the label and we can check that we did actually supply the product.

Contact our customer help team at UK.Info@avidityscience.com or call +44 (0)1844 201142