Manufacturing Traceability: Fighting Counterfeit Parts with AI | Roei Ganzarski

What if every manufactured part could be identified and traced using nothing more than a photograph?

In this episode of The Manufacturers Network Podcast, Lisa Ryan talks with Roei Ganzarski, CEO of Alitheon, about manufacturing traceability, counterfeit parts, quality control, AI, automation, and technology that gives physical objects something similar to their own unique fingerprint.

Roei's background includes Boeing, aviation, software, electric aircraft, and manufacturing technology. Throughout his career, he kept encountering the same problem: manufacturers rely on paperwork, serial numbers, barcodes, QR codes, labels, and tags to prove that a physical part is the part everyone thinks it is.

But what happens when the label falls off, a serial number is copied, a QR code is moved, or a counterfeit part looks almost identical to the original?

Can a Manufactured Part Have a Fingerprint?Alitheon's technology, called FeaturePrint, uses photographs to identify individual physical items without adding a barcode, tag, sticker, RFID chip, or other marker.

Manufacturing processes produce parts within allowable tolerances, but seemingly identical parts still have tiny physical differences. FeaturePrint uses those variations to create what Roei describes as "biometrics for things."

That means a manufacturer can potentially identify whether a specific item has been seen before, trace it through production, or determine that an item isn't the one it claims to be.

Counterfeit Parts Are a Manufacturing and Safety ProblemCounterfeiting isn't limited to fake watches and designer bags.

Roei discusses counterfeit and gray-market products involving pharmaceuticals, automotive brake pads and airbags, healthcare products, military components, and other high-consequence applications.

For manufacturers, the risk extends in both directions.

Incoming counterfeit tooling, components, filters, or materials can affect production and quality. Outgoing counterfeit products can create safety risks, warranty problems, financial losses, and damage to brand reputation and customer trust.

Traceability Can Improve Manufacturing QualityTraceability becomes especially valuable when something goes wrong.