Schaeffler acts on counterfeits

Schaeffler wants to curb counterfeits. In Schweinfurt, the company is known to have destroyed approximately 30,000 counterfeits weighing a total of 10-tonne. The products were heavily damaged in the first step of the destruction process at the Riwald Recycling Franken GmbH premises in Schweinfurt-Sennfeld to render second-life use impossible. The scrap will now be compressed and melted down in steelworks, and reintroduce resource steel into the recycling loop. Bearings that are forged originate from all over the world. When a distributor or customer is presented with a questionable product, such as one from the INA, LuK, or FAG brands, the Schaeffler ‘OriginCheck’ app can be used to verify the originality. Using a smartphone to scan the product code and comparing it to the corresponding Schaeffler product identification numbers is one way to do this. The damage to German companies caused by product piracy is estimated at around Euro 6.4 bn annually as per a VDMA statistic. India apex body, ACMA is also playing a key role in creating awareness to reduce counterfeits.