Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Shingo Kaneko) has developed the "Easy Order Hologram" for use as an anti-counterfeiting label. This hologram is around 50% cheaper than previous holograms (*1), has a short delivery time and can be provided in small lots starting at 50,000. Sales will be launched in late January 2011 targeting use for the export products of manufacturing companies.

Recently, there has been increasing demand for holograms that are difficult to counterfeit to be used as anti-counterfeiting labels in order to contain the counterfeiting and forging of various products that is increasing throughout the world. However, in the production of previous holograms, a number of processes such as design, platemaking, prepress and embossing have been necessary. This has meant that a long time has been needed from order to delivery. In the case of small lot production, the price of a single hologram has been high and some companies considering hologram use have ultimately decided against it.

With the Easy Order Hologram, production processes have been reduced by using general-purpose designs prepared in advance by Toppan Printing as opposed to holograms designed specifically for each product. This means that the price is around 50% that of previous products, the delivery time is short and it can be provided in small lots starting from 50,000.
A standard type design and color shifting (red to green) type are available and customization for specific products, printing of logos and individual ID information, demetallization (*2) and color shifting (*3) are possible as options. With these options, it is possible to print a company logo or a unique code of up to 11 digits on the back or front of the hologram, to change the demetallization pattern or to add a two-color changing effect to the design.

Copyright 2011 TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.

Features
-Compared with manufacturing a hologram starting from the design process, there is a reduction in price of around 50%, the delivery time is short and it can be provided in small lots starting from 50,000.
-In the case of 50,000 holograms, the delivery time will be about 2 weeks.
-Standard type and color shift type (red to green) are available. Printing of logos and unique IDs (up to 11 digits) and demetallization are available as options.
-Can be used on a trial basis as a first step towards full-scale adoption of Toppan Printing hologram products that offer more advanced functions.

Reference price
In the case of 50,000 holograms with just logo printing (1 color) option
Price: 1.5 yen per hologram
* A separate quotation is required if other optional features are used.

Potential customers
Manufacturers needing brand protection for export products.

Sales target
80 million yen in the first fiscal year

Future developments
As further options for the variable section, Toppan Printing will proceed with development focusing on features such as Braille, 2-dimensional code printing and liquid crystal type latent images. Toppan will respond to the security needs of companies in Japanese and global markets and provide optimal products in a timely manner.
This product will be displayed as a sample product in the Toppan booth at the AUTO-ID EXPO in Osaka being held at Mydome Osaka from January 27 to 28, 2011 (Organizers: Japan Automatic Identification Systems Association).

*1 In comparison with price for mass produced hologram with original design (Excluding design and platemaking costs).

*2 Demetallization
By removing part of the vapor deposited aluminum layer of the hologram, it is possible to express high-definition and high-precision text and patterns in the hologram.

*3 Color shift
The color of the hologram changes with viewing angle due to the use of special inks and films. This effect enables easy differentiation between authentic and counterfeit products with the naked eye.

* The company names, products and services featured in this press release are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies.