Appointments at HologramGroup

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 03/08/2016

The trade body for the global hologram industry is shaping up for further growth and the possible development of its activities in Asia.

The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), a not-for-profit organization that promotes authentication and security holograms worldwide, has appointed Manoj Kochar at India-based Holoflex to its Board.

He joins current Board members XiaoDong Liu, founder and CEO of from Henan Province Wellking Technologies Co. in China and Nuray Yilmaz of Turkey's MTM Bilisim Arge Yazilim ve Guvenlik Teknolojileri San Ticaret.

Mike Messmer of U.S.-based hologram producer NovaVision will continue in his role as chairman.

Process Color's Rajan Thomas will remain as the IHMA's Asia regional representative, where he will be joined by new deputy representative Rohit Mistry of Holographic Security Marking Systems.

The EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be covered by OpSec Security Group's Paul Dunn and Emma Swain, API Holographics, while Goran Milinovic, from System Intelligence Products, will stay on as the Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union and CIS representative.

In North America, the IHMA will be represented by Diana Newcombe of Pacific Holographics, and in the ASPA region by Umendra Gupta of Holostik.

The moves follow the appointment of Mark Deakes as general secretary, who will spearhead the IHMA's representation of the world's leading producers and converters of holograms for security, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications.

The new Board will underpin the IHMA's work to advance the understanding and development of holograms and holographic technology, particularly in the authentication of products and documents, decoration and illustration, displays and display systems, energy and environmental improvements.

"Holograms are now the single most used add-on security feature on banknotes, passports, tax stamps and other products," said Messmer.

"I look forward to working with the new board, helping the industry secure growth and innovate, as well as enabling all involved in holography to come together as one to meet the various challenges it faces.

"Asia, in particular China, is seeing a significant amount of activity for the hologram industry. Globally, China is still the major source of counterfeit products. We are working with the relevant government agencies in China to help them address the counterfeiting issue."

"We encourage all our members to work towards full ISO14298 compliance, the standard requiring security holograms to be registered," said Deakes. "This affects all of the current IHMA members and it is also a point of interest for the Chinese, especially when they export products." Enditem