Cover story
Non-authorised dealers: Non-authorised dealers with components from various sources, posing the least safe option for customers due to the lack of quality guarantees. This exposes customers to an increased risk of purchasing counterfeit devices.
Purchasing from non-authorised sources can lead to the following risks: • No access to manufacturer-backed warranties or technical support
• An inconsistent supply chain and an increased risk of supply chain disruptions
• No guarantee of compliance with industry standards, with increased risk of substandard and counterfeit products and both customer fi nancial and reputational risks
The consequences of allowing substandard or counterfeit products to enter the supply chain include: • Reduced production yields and increased rework; • The introduction of malware or changes that enable third parties to access software
• Increased in-service failures and reduced reliability • Heightened risks and fi nancial liability associated with catastrophic system failure
• Potential reputational damage
What is a counterfeit semiconductor product? • Non-functional or scrap product which is re-marked as good and resold
• Substandard functional product that is re-marked and sold as a full-grade product at an increased price
• Recycled and recovered components that are sold as new • False testing and traceability documentation that hides a component’s actual specifi cation or history
How do counterfeits enter the supply chain? Counterfeits are often harvested from electronic
waste using crude and poorly controlled processes. In semiconductors, this results in higher failure rates than genuine products. Some counterfeit semiconductors fail immediately upon electrical test or fi rst use, while others will fail after extended periods of fi eld application.
How customers can protect against these risks Additional testing can never fully eliminate the risks associated with counterfeits, and third-party testing processes cannot guarantee quality. Third-party processes’ limitations make customers susceptible to added scrap, rework, in-service unreliability and litigation. Fully authorised distributors, like Rochester
Electronics, comply with the SAE Aerospace Standard,
AS6496. Simply stated, they are authorised by the OCM to provide traceable and guaranteed products with no quality or reliability testing required because the parts are sourced from the OCM. Rochester is 100 per cent authorised by over 70 leading semiconductor manufacturers. Providers who are not fully authorised may market themselves as AS6171/4-compliant. This indicates that while they follow standardised inspections and test procedures, they may have minimum training and certifi cation requirements to detect suspicious or counterfeit components. If AS6171 testing is being done, the product is not being
tested to the OCM test program. OCM test programs test signifi cantly beyond datasheet parameters and are meant to fi lter products for no escapes, even when there are millions of units sold. AS6171 testing is not equivalent to OCM testing. While better than no compliance at all, if AS6171 testing is offered in isolation, this potentially indicates that the parts were not sourced directly from the OCM but have only passed AS6171 testing. This merely minimises but does not eliminate risk.
Policies to avoid counterfeit products: • Only purchase products from the original component manufacturer (OCM) or their authorised distributors and licensed manufacturers
• Purchase from an authorised supplier with full performance, quality, and reliability warranties
• Ensure your supplier complies with the industry standard AS6496 for handling and preservation, with quality certifi cations as appropriate for selling a fi nal component
• Employ a self-audit process, analysing suspicious or poor- quality purchases before implementing robust corrective actions
• Choose a testing program that uses the original OCM’s test program
• Partner with a licensed manufacturer.
Partnering with a licensed semiconductor manufacturer can also mitigate the risks of component EOL. A licensed manufacturer can produce devices no longer supplied by the OCM. This means that previously discontinued components are still available and newly manufactured. Built from known-good die, these products are tested using the OCM’s test procedures and, in many cases, the original test equipment. Devices are guaranteed to be 100 per cent compliant with the original specifi cations. All the resulting products are 100 per cent certifi ed, licensed, guaranteed and sold with full approval under the original manufacturer’s part number. While obsolescence is inevitable, it can still be planned for.
It’s vital to have partners who can support businesses during unplanned component discontinuations, completely risk-free whenever they occur. Learn more at
www.rocelec.com
www.electronicsworld.co.uk May 2025 07
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