Licence Plates

Challenge

Our Reseller in South Africa  (Integri –Sec) had identified that there was an increased proliferation of counterfeit Vehicle Licence Plates in circulation.

The consequences of counterfeit licences are:

• Uninsured vehicles
• Scrapped and unsafe vehicles on the roads
• Loss of Government revenue
• Vehicles involved in crime are extremely difficult to detect

It was vitally important therefore to provide a solution that ensured only genuine licence plates were in circulation and to close the loop to prevent genuine blank plates being illegally issued.

Solution

Rather than trying to increase the security offered in the licence plate itself, we proposed a solution that would apply the hologram in a secure and controlled environment. In this way the hologram became a clear authentication device for a genuinely issued licence plate. This also made the plate issuers responsible for ensuring they were performing the necessary security checks prior to issuing a licence plate.

We implemented a system where the holograms were applied onto the plates at the point of issue utilising a MicroPOISE Mk2 hot stamping machine at each location. This provided the following additional security measures and features:

• Sentry each machine is operated by a control code, this prevents  unauthorised access and use to the machine and hologram foil as well as being programmable for daily, weekly or monthly production. In this manner the volume of plates issued from any one location is limited.
• Micro embossing the holograms are micro embossed with the machine at the point of issue with each machine offering a unique impression. This allows easy public recognition and is an auditable security feature.
• PC Interface this allows the machine settings to be saved and easily changed, vitally important for quick and efficient stamping of different types of licence plates. The PC interface also has different security access levels allowing the machine to be accurately controlled.

Result

The Vehicle Licence plates are now issued in a controlled and secure manner and the authority has already identified a significant increase in revenue and an increase in vehicle identification following crime.