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Running a programme · For a printer's production manager and a brand's operations team

Activation and QC

Activation is the one step that turns a printed roll into labels that answer. It comes after printing QC, never before, and it is the reason a leaked file or an overrun verifies nothing.

What to test #

Pull labels from the start, the middle and the end of the run, and scan each on five different phones in shop lighting — the full list is in the artwork spec. Before activation every scan should say We can't verify this code. You are testing that the code reads, not what it says.

What activating does #

  • Every code in the batch starts answering by the scan rules: GENUINE, VALID or SCANNED BEFORE.
  • The print file stops being downloadable by whoever runs the batch — the partner, or a brand running its own. From here it is platform-admin only, every download is audited, and the file is purged 30 days later.
  • For Dual Code batches, the console's QR preview follows the same rule and audits every look; single-code batches are listed under In progress on the security page.
  • Activation is one-way: a live batch never goes back to unactivated. The only way to stop it is to block it, which recalls its codes and keeps the credits spent.
  • A cancelled batch, or a batch of an archived brand or product, cannot be activated.
  • Who may press it: the partner, a platform admin, or a brand that runs its own batches. An employee needs the permission to switch batches on and off.
  • Every code verifies for three years from the day its batch is switched on, whatever happens to your plan. After that it shows a neutral “verification period has ended” page with your care number — never “fake” or “expired”.

After activating #

Now re-scan two labels that you will destroy: a single-code label now says GENUINE; a Dual Code shelf QR says VALID, and GENUINE once you scratch and enter its hidden code. Every scan after activation is real — it spends the label's verifications — so never test on labels that will ship.

If a run has to be pulled back later, block the batch: every code in it stops reading genuine and starts reading RECALLED, at once.

The alert that watches this step #

Ten or more of your not-yet-activated labels scanned in a week raises an unactivated-codes alert — the earliest warning in the system, because those codes have not shipped. One or two are QC test scans and normal.

Last reviewed 19 Oct 2026 · Something wrong? connect@avrascan.com