A method of characterizing a fiber sample comprising: applying imaging technology to the fiber sample, wherein the fiber sample is obtained from an acetate tow band co mprising fibers, wherein the fibers comprise standard fibers and identification fibers, wherein the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein each of the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature, wherein the at least one distinct feature comprises at least one taggant optical properties, wherein the identification fibers consist of 2 to 25 groups of distinguishable identification fibers, each group of the distinguishable identification fibers being formed by the identification fibers having the same distinct feature or a same combination of distinct features, wherein a number of the identification fibers in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers is defined as a fiber count, wherein at least one of the fiber counts corresponds to a taggant fiber count, and wherein (i) the at least one taggant optical properties, (ii) the distinct features in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers and (iii) the one or more taggant fiber counts are representative of at least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band , detecting the groups of the distinguishable identification fibers, and counting a number of each of the distinguishable identification fibers. applying imaging technology to the fiber sample, wherein the fiber sample is obtained from an acetate tow band co mprising fibers, wherein the fibers comprise standard fibers and identification fibers, wherein the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein each of the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature, wherein the at least one distinct feature comprises at least one taggant optical properties, wherein the identification fibers consist of 2 to 25 groups of distinguishable identification fibers, each group of the distinguishable identification fibers being formed by the identification fibers having the same distinct feature or a same combination of distinct features, wherein a number of the identification fibers in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers is defined as a fiber count, wherein at least one of the fiber counts corresponds to a taggant fiber count, and wherein (i) the at least one taggant optical properties, (ii) the distinct features in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers and (iii) the one or more taggant fiber counts are representative of at least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band , wherein the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein each of the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature, wherein the at least one distinct feature comprises at least one taggant optical properties, wherein the identification fibers consist of 2 to 25 groups of distinguishable identification fibers, each group of the distinguishable identification fibers being formed by the identification fibers having the same distinct feature or a same combination of distinct features, wherein a number of the identification fibers in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers is defined as a fiber count, wherein at least one of the fiber counts corresponds to a taggant fiber count, and wherein (i) the at least one taggant optical properties, (ii) the distinct features in each group of the distinguishable identification fibers and (iii) the one or more taggant fiber counts are representative of at least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band , detecting the groups of the distinguishable identification fibers, and counting a number of each of the distinguishable identification fibers. <EOS>