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The label scanner
One-click authentication of Groz-Beckert sewing machine needles
As with many other high-quality brand products, pirate and counterfeit copies of Groz-Beckert sewing-machine needles do surface from time to time. For customers they are often hard to differentiate at first sight from the original product. To protect you as well as your customers from inferior copies like these, Groz-Beckert has developed a practical tool. You can use it to test the authenticity of Groz-Beckert sewing-machine needles with just one click.
Available worldwide and free of charge
Groz-Beckert has made this practical tool available for you worldwide and free of charge: the "label scanner" has been integrated into the already-existing app "myGroz-Beckert" and can be found there in the "Sewing" section under the category "Toolbox". The app for iPhone and iPad is available as a free download in the Apple Appstore.
Scanning labels has never been easier
If you haven't already installed the "myGroz-Beckert" app with its many useful functions for the textile production process, you can download it here in the Apple Appstore. Installation couldn't be easier – it starts automatically the moment the app has been fully downloaded. Installation requirements: an iPhone or iPad with at least iOS 5.0 as its operating system. If you installed the "myGroz-Beckert" app prior to June 6, 2013, the free update to the latest version (2.5) is recommended, which contains the "label scanner" toolbox for the first time.
Using the label scanner couldn't be easier: the authentication test for Groz-Beckert sewing-machine needles takes place via a data-matrix code. These square fields with their different patterns are already widespread: the black-and-white pattern contains diverse information and is now being used in its more advanced form – the data matrix code – at Groz-Beckert as well.
For this, the labels on the Groz-Beckert sewing-machine needle packages were redesigned: as of May 1, 2013 all cartons in batch sizes 500 as well as all modules of 10 have been given labels bearing a data matrix code and a six-digit alphanumeric code alongside the product designation.
Using the tool is very simple: activate the label scanner and point your smartphone's camera at the data matrix code. Alternatively you can also input the alphanumeric code provided manually (the one in the example shown is AAC1Q8).
After the data matrix code has been scanned, or the alphanumeric code has been manually entered, a label is shown on the display of your smartphone. If this matches the one on the package label, you know that you have an original Groz-Beckert product. Below the label image you will also be offered a selection of relevant technical information brochures on your phone display providing more detailed information about the respective needle.
If a different label or an error message appears, then the product may be a fake. The tool then offers the option of making contact with Groz-Beckert directly via e-mail.
Data matrix codes – Compact, reliable, secure
With the data matrix code, Groz-Beckert is making use of a highly advanced technology. The code is a compact one – that is, it requires less space than a similar QR code. The latter are easy to recognize: QR codes have position markings in three of the four corners of the code field in the form of a white square on a black background.
Since a data matrix code can be read at any angle and is equipped with integrated error-correction functionality, it is still secure even when up to 25 percent of the code field has been removed or destroyed. The read-speed is also much faster.
Because of these benefits, the code is gaining rapidly in importance: sectors such as the aerospace industry or medical technology are relying increasingly on this type of code identification.
The easy way to far more security
As you can see, the new label scanner is very easy to use – and the benefits are vast. That's why we recommend that you make regular use of this practical tool, to ensure protection from pirated products. People who trust in Groz-Beckert quality should be certain of receiving Groz-Beckert quality. By scanning the labels you can ensure that no inferior-quality needles are being used either by your customer or yourself, and that the excellent quality of the textile end-product is not endangered.
If you'd like to find out more about the benefits offered by original Groz-Beckert products, just get in touch with the experts at Groz-Beckert.