Chinese law enforcement authorities succeeded in uncovering a counterfeiting network in the Guangdong province faking huge amounts of products and packages imitating lubricants of the leading German speciality lubricants manufacturer Klüber Lubrication. Thanks to the rigorous investigation of the Chinese authorities a company was detected which has established an illegal nationwide network including raw material manufacturing, distribution, filling facilities, packaging material suppliers and warehouses, as well as shell companies covering the illegal business.
It is due to the outstanding support of the Chinese law enforcement authorities that this counterfeiting case could be uncovered. Indeed the Ministry of Public Security mandated the Guangdong Police to launch a criminal investigation, which resulted in this major raid already last year. Klüber Lubrication and Freudenberg - as its parent company - very much appreciate the fruitful and open collaboration with the responsible Chinese security authorities and with the German embassy both lasting for several years now.
Falsified Klüber Lubrication products in valorem of more than 3 million RMB (ca. 400 000 Euro) were seized, together with huge amounts of unused packaging materials, labels, accounting books and delivery records. Fake product packaging discovered was imitating the Klüber Lubrication genuine packaging. Imitations where quite similar to the original packing and therefore hardly to identify for a customer. The product quality in the fake packaging in fact is extremely poor and neither meeting Klüber Lubrication nor customer requirements or market standards.
Customers in China repeatedly contact Klüber Lubrication to check authenticity of deliveries in cases where they doubt to have received genuine Klüber Lubrication brand products. The company supports its customers with in-depth chemical analysis and performance tests to verify product quality and thus safeguarding the customers’ operations and to support their own quality management efforts.
As other leading brands, Klüber Lubrication suffers from intellectual property infringements. The most serious problems relate to falsified products. Speciality lubricants are developed and manufactured to meet special requirements of customers and to support them in maintaining a high degree of operational safety and efficiency, to save energy, to protect resources and important company assets. Using improper products also presents a high risk to the safety of the end-users as sudden malfunctions can appear during service life of a device or machine. Furthermore, forged lubricants can result in severe dangers to the customers’ operations and quality management efforts, thereby resulting in financial risks. For example, a loss of almost 20 000 Euro is calculated for every minute of unexpected production stoppage in the automotive industry.
In order to allow customers to perform onsite authenticity checks and thereby safeguard their operations, Klueber Lubrication now offers its customers in China a digital verification tool. “MyKlüber” is smartphone application allowing customers to check the authenticity of the packaging immediately upon receipt or before use of the goods, as well as download product information and safety data sheets by scanning a code on the genuine Klüber packaging. Furthermore, the used innovative near field communication (NFC) technology prevents bringing falsified products into their operations and value chain.
NFC allows secured one- and two-way communication between endpoints, suitable for many applications like contactless payment, social networking or electronic identity documents. It is already used as anti-counterfeit solution in spirituous, luxury goods or textile industry. NFC's communication protocol and encryption offer a pleasant customer experience and a high level of protection at the same time.
“MyKlüber” is free of charge and currently available for Android smartphone on major Chinese App stores like Baidu, Huawei or Tencent. iPhone version will be released early in 2019. If you have any question on “MyKlüber”, our dedicated team remains at your disposal on MyKlueber@cn.klueber.com
About Klüber Lubrication
Klüber Lubrication is one of the world's leading manufacturers of speciality lubricants, offering high-end tribological solutions to virtually all industries and markets worldwide. Most products are developed and made to specific customer requirements. During its 90 years of existence, Klüber Lubrication has provided high-quality lubricants, thorough consultation and extensive services, which has earned it an excellent reputation in the market. The company holds all common industrial certifications and operates a test bay hardly rivalled in the lubricants industry.
Klüber Lubrication, set up as a retail company for mineral oil products in Munich in 1929, is today part of Freudenberg Chemical Specialities SE & Co. KG, a Business Unit of the Freudenberg Group, Weinheim. Klüber Lubrication has approximately 2000 employees in more than 30 countries.
For further information, please click http://www.klueber.com
About Freudenberg Chemical Specialities
Freudenberg Chemical Specialities develops, manufactures and markets chemical specialties. To be close to its customers, the company is represented globally in the market with its five brands, Klüber Lubrication, Chem-Trend, OKS, SurTec and Capol. Freudenberg Chemical Specialities is one of the global leading manufacturers of specialty lubricants, release agents, chemotechnical maintenance products, and solutions for surface and galvanic technologies. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the Business Group runs its own companies in some 40 countries. In 2015, Freudenberg Chemical Specialities employed about 3,300 people and generated sales of about € 960 million.
For more information, please visit http://www.fcs-munich.com