Security seals from the perspective of academics and why are they important?

  • Security seals from the perspective of academics and why are they important?

    Why is security seal important? Security seals in the eyes of academicians.

    Among the most fundamental skills of a business owner is the ability to identify profitable investment opportunities. It is not uncommon that business owners today prioritize financial returns rather than the intangible and long term investment returns. The natural instinct of any business owner is to recognize and to anticipate the long term benefits and possible opportunities for future investments.

    “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin.

    The knowledge that comes with security seals is beyond numbers and alphabets. The return on investment with security seals lies in the value of the data collected, integrity of the design, and future development readiness.

    Academics and learned scholars speak about the significance and potential of security seals. We interviewed professors with expertise in the international business, food production and regulation, defense and terrorism sectors and asked them to share their insights on business owners investing in security seals. The answers below have been edited for clarity and length.

    1. Guarantees product authenticity and security

    Dr. JiYoung Park, Assistant Professor, International Business, School of Economics and Management, Xiamen University Malaysia stated that,

    “Security seals ensure the trustworthiness and quality of relationship management between businesses and their customers.” 

    As a professor and an end-consumer of products, she believes that the authenticity of a product is one of the biggest concerns consumers have when purchasing goods.

    As businesses compete amongst each other, leveraging on their unique competitive advantages within their chosen industry sector in order to attract and retain customers, security seals play a critical role in guaranteeing product authenticity and security and help to build trust and confidence with their customers.

    2. Increases efficiency & reliability

    Investment in security seals has the potential to increase efficiency and reliability in the long run. Business owners are able to capture the operation data, which contributes as constructive reference in the decision-making process. The potential of security seals is largely on its capability to be integrated within the business’ operating systems that provide visibility and traceability, as part of the IR4.0 adaptation.

    Dr. Siti Nurhayatikhairatun Mohd Sharif, Senior Lecturer, Food Defense &Terrorism and Food Regulatory, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University Putra Malaysia stated,

    “I see big and positive potential in security seals, complementing the traceability system.” 

    She made a clear statement that security seals are commonly utilized with the purposes of security, quality control and risk-mitigating. If any incidences occur, security seals enable the tracing of root causes for further action to be taken and are referred as a reference point for future prevention.

    3. Prevents sabotage

    More often than not, security seals prevent sabotage by both insider and outsider actions. Usage of security seals also allows for monitoring and controlling of product quality. The primary issue in the operation here is the lack of standardization of systems along the supply chain.

    In the light of COVID-19, new SOPs were implemented such as the limit on the number of people allowed inside a work environment resulting in production output decreasing and less security available to physically guard a business’ assets and property. Security seals can be used as a substitute for human resources due to their reliability and physical strength. One of the major benefits of security seals is that they are compatible with hardware when used in the implementation of the traceability system – monitoring, visibility and security.

    4. Acts as a form of verification, enforcement and surveillance

    To dive further into the importance of security seals, we interviewed an expert in the Ministry of Health of Malaysia to learn more about the law enforcement of application security seals in food safety. Muhayudeen Muhammad, Assistant Director, Ministry of Health Malaysia mentioned that,

    “One step forward and one step back, security seals application benefits both law enforcement agencies and the industry players.” 

    Security seals are a form of verification, enforcement and surveillance in the health sector. There are regulations to enforce food security and traceability however with the cost factor as the main concern among industry players, limited and inconsistent information is captured in the operation. As this process is time and workforce consuming for the law enforcement agencies, the need to reinforce the importance of security seals throughout the food supply chain is critical.

    With benefits gained in the data collected via the presence of security seals by both agencies and business owners, it eases their workload when the need to trace root causes of a crisis while keeping the business owners accountable. The transparency and synergy between agencies and business owners are valuable for the nation’s food supply chain environment to be nurtured, kept safe and ultimately contribute to all end-customers.

    As a way forward, implementing a sophisticated tracking system with security seals being the main hardware brings greater interest for the agencies and business owners. Thus, agencies and government could work hand in hand to push regulations and incentives, ensuring business owners comply with the regulation and make necessary changes in their operation.

    From the academic’s perspective, security seals have a lot more potential beyond what the eye can see. While bringing ease to work, they have great potential to make businesses and industries accountable to every consumer chain. As we mention these benefits, we aim to see a drastic growth in the entrepreneurial space via the usage of security seals to create high-end services and products for the nation. Security seals are undoubtedly established as a need in every business in the long run.

     

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