Counterfeit Parts News

Originally released in April of 2009, the January 2013 revision of the SAE AS5553A standard is an attempt at a more comprehensive approach to managing the issue of "fraudulent/counterfeit" electronic parts. The trigger for developing and revising the standard is, according to SAE, "a significant and increasing volume of counterfeit electronic parts entering the aerospace supply chain, posing significant performance, reliability, and safety risks." However, with the revision, the standard is expanded to cover non-aerospace industries that require high-reliability components supporting safety- and life-critical systems, such as automotive and medical electronics. Among the many stand-out features of the standard: a chart the shows the relationships among all the elements of the electronics supply chain, and another displaying a flow chart of the parts management process from part selection to final disposition, including decision points when questionable parts are encountered. SAE has also scheduled a symposium and training sessions for June 5 in Norwalk, CA.

Register Today!

GlobalSpec's Electronic Components & Product Design Online Event — March 27, 2013

Join your peers and leading manufacturers for this free, informative, and interactive Online Event — right from the convenience of your desktop. Participate in any or all of the educational sessions including Mentor Graphics' presentation, "More Effective Design Approach for Power-sensitive Embedded Systems," Freescale Semiconductor's presentation, "Multicore Software Development for Embedded Systems," and more. Spend time networking with peers and meet with exhibiting manufacturers eager to showcase their latest products, services and technologies. Register today!

As an ECIA member, Mouser Electronics ensures all our customers are receiving authorized, genuine components. Mouser is an AS9120A Certified Distributor. AS9120A is a quality management certification for distributors to the aerospace industry addressing chain of custody, traceability, control, and records to prevent counterfeit electronic components from entering the supply chain.

One simple click protects against disastrous product failures and quickly locates available authentic parts inventory from ECIA authorized electronics distributors. Once you've spec'd the part, you're just one click away from knowing who has it in stock, their pricing, and their current available quantity.

Poor or inadequate planning for the eventual obsolescence of electronic components vastly increases an OEM's vulnerability to having counterfeit components enter the supply chain. Once a part gets scarce after the original supplier ceases production, desperation and pressing delivery schedules can cause system manufacturers to lower their guard when scrutinizing sources. So, managing the component end-of-life issue is critical, especially for OEMs selling to the military. This commentary from a specialist in electronics industry procurement and logistics sheds some light on how to avoid problems with component obsolescence and the vulnerability to counterfeit parts.

Counterfeit electronic components have a high failure rate and pose a threat to life and to national security. Because of the risk, government and industry organizations have spent a considerable amount of resources combating this problem. Despite these efforts, counterfeit and substandard device activity continues to climb. SIA members discuss the prevention of counterfeiting.

Comchip Technology — the leading provider of SMD diodes — has passed the ISO/TS 16949 qualification. As well as being ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified, Comchip strives to minimize negative impacts to the environments while providing leading edge diode solutions. Available: switching, schottky, rectifiers, ESD/TVS suppressors, zeners, and bridge diodes.

At Alliedelec.com, our web features make searching for parts easy. Filter search results with Parametric Search or have an online quote emailed to you for easy checkout. Play our online scavenger hunt game and you could win an iPad mini! Try all our web features today at Alliedelec.com/AlliedWeb.

Based in the U.S. since 1993, Stilwell Baker specializes in end-to-end electronic product development. Our services include electronic and electro-mechanical engineering, PCB/PCA design, firmware/software development, prototyping, U.S. manufacturing, packaging, certification, regulatory compliance testing, and ongoing manufacturing support. Learn how Stilwell Baker can help with your next project.

Wonik Corporation USA is a solutions driven company committed to helping small to mid-sized companies succeed in the global marketplace.

Wonik, with fifty years experience can provide design, engineering consultation, and global product sourcing to help make your company competitive.

Delphi Automotive's Electronics & Safety division is offering world-class contract electronics manufacturing and services in the U.S. Electronic assembly, subassembly, final assembly, and test are available, built on Delphi's recognized experience in the on-time manufacture of electronics components. Learn more about our expertise in providing robust, reliable electronics for automotive and other harsh environments.

An article at SMTonline.com offers an assessment of the counterfeit parts issue from the point of view of an electronics contract manufacturer (ECM). ECMs can populate boards with customer-supplied components, or act as purchasing agents, procuring parts to fill out a customer's bill of materials. This places ECMs in a unique position to evaluate their customers' controls for counterfeit risk mitigation. The author cautions that no matter what the sources of components may be, rigorous controls are the responsibility of the OEM.

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), responding to complaints from the semiconductor industry about the mandate to mark components with unique DNA-based identifiers as an anti-counterfeiting measure, has announced that it will reimburse chip makers for the cost of the process. The reimbursement program was initiated in recognition of the fact that many small businesses are direct suppliers to the DLA and, according to the announcement from the agency, "are not prepared to comply with the new DNA marking requirements within the cost constraints and time frames required for product deliveries."

What about reclaimed parts, or "pulls?" Should they be allowed into the electronics supply chain? According to this discussion, the answer depends on who is doing the reclaiming, and where and how it's done. If it's done on a heap of e-waste in China, the resulting de-soldered parts have no place in the legitimate supply chain. However, there are reclaimed parts that are perfectly suitable for re-entry, as explained in the article. The key, as always, is control and traceability.

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