Today I would like to discuss a concern we all have in the industry and that is ensuring counterfeit components do not enter supply chains and reach final application. The ongoing chip shortages are understandably putting extreme pressure on buyers to step outside of standard supply chains and potentially open the door to poor or rushed anti-counterfeit processes as desperation takes over.
This problem is only compounded by the allocation issues driving prices up which vastly increases the potential gains from successfully selling counterfeit devices, in turn this only leads to more counterfeit devices being attempted to be sold on the market. Counterfeit techniques have also evolved substantially over the past few years to keep pace with the higher level of scrutiny that devices are now going though.
Force have been authenticating components to their original specification and our Authenticare program for over 20 years now. Since the onset of AS6081 in late 2012 the industry had widely adopted its practices and Force followed suit offering AS6081 authentication to our customer base across all test levels (A-G).
Most of our customers have set strict controls for adherence to AS6081 specification or written comprehensive anti-counterfeiting documentation that include functional verification alongside the visual and mechanical testing that either complies to or goes beyond AS6081. Worryingly though we have increasingly been asked for cut down authentication specifications especially in the Commercial and Industrial sectors in efforts to save costs. Force have always taken the stance that we will not sacrifice on authentication in efforts to win business. Any product entering our facility whether it is customer owned or otherwise is subject to a 60-point GI inspection with any suspect counterfeit flags leading to immediate rejection of the components prior to them even starting a industry standard AS6081 A/C screen.
If you would like to discuss authentication of components or require assistance in best practices for internal procedures our QA team would be more than happy to assist, and you can contact Info@forcetechnologies.co.uk for further details.
Ben Savage
Applications Manager