Please tell us about your current role. What are your key focus areas and responsibilities?
Together with my business partner and PNO Global co-founder Bart Goeman Borgesius, we add value to the Central Banks and Currency Industry by developing and introducing new innovative products and services. Tom Buitelaar, former Dutch National Bank (DNB) and ECB employee, is the PNO Global Manager Innovations. He is the inventor of the Snowfish® range. All products and services are state-of-the-art. Our partners in manufacturing, services, and development are IGT Testing Systems and PPG Industrial Coatings, both well-known and sophisticated companies.
Tom Buitelaar, Innovations Manager (left), Jan-Dirk Enschedé, Board member, founding partner (middle), Bart Goeman Borgesius, Chairman, founding partner (right)
What are the key opportunities and challenges your company faces at present?
Improvement of the sorting process is a key-opportunity for the banknote-value-chain since the existence of the Snowfish® technology. The Snowfish® SP (Sorter Process) gives answers and solutions to the next questions:
- Is the sorting of banknotes done in accordance with the standard fitness levels?
- How to translate the fitness levels defined by human perception into objective data?
- How to implement full control by Central Banks in their sorting process?
- How to decrease the dependency of suppliers?
- How to control and to monitor the sorting done by third parties in an objective way?
- How to decrease the number of fit banknotes destroyed by sorter machines?
- How to decrease the number of unfit banknotes sent back into circulation by sorter machines?
- How to realize huge savings by a more efficient sorter process?
The Snowfish® QC (Quality Control) will be launched at the High-Security Print (HSP) conference Latin America in June this year. The Snowfish® QC is developed to give answers to and solutions for the next questions:
- How to check in an objective way if new banknotes produced to meet the technical specifications?
- How to avoid disputes with printers about the quality of new banknotes produced?
- How to increase the efficiency of the quality control process?
A more efficient Quality Control process of new banknotes produced will empower the role of Central Banks.
We shall launch the Snowfish® CA (Counterfeit Analysis) at the Anti Counterfeit & Currency Exhibition in November in Las Vegas. For an efficient fight against counterfeiters, it is needed to act fast, to analyze the counterfeit note in detail and to get a profile of the counterfeiter.
The Snowfish® CA is developed to give answers to and solutions for the next questions:
- How to analyze a counterfeit note shortly after a counterfeit note is detected?
- How to collect all specific data of a counterfeit note?
- How to compare counterfeit notes to get a profile of the counterfeiters?
- How to improve the tracing of counterfeiters?
A challenge is to convince Central Banks that the Snowfish® does not only save money but that the Banks can manage their sorting processes in a more efficient way. This is easy to prove by demonstrations on location PNO Global offers to Central Banks.
For “Raycron Eco Protect Varnish®” (EPV) for banknotes we expect the euro accreditation shortly. EPV-varnish passed all ECB tests and we are waiting for the results of the circulation trial.
The challenge for the varnish is to convince the Central Banks and banknote printers that EPV varnish is at least equal to the varnish of the current dominate supplier and much cheaper!
PNO Global will be exhibiting at the Anti-Counterfeit & Currency Expo (ACCE), taking place November 6-8, 2018 in Las Vegas. If you want to hear more about their banknote varnishes, coins and innovative solutions - add ACCE to your diary and visit them at booth 516.