Tachus Technologies delivers best-practice Counterfeit Prevention Programs that help mitgate the risks associated with electronic and mechanical counterfeit components. In today's high-tech marketplace, counterfeiting is a serious and growing problem in the worldwide electronics industry, therefore it is imperative that companies engaged in the manufacture of electronic and mechanical components, products and/or systems, have a best-practice counterfeit prevention program in place. The quantity and variety of component types in-market is astronomical and includes integrated circuits (ICs), AC inverters, DC power supplies, transformers, resistors, capacitors, relays, fuses, motor controllers, heaters and transmitters. The increased engineering challenges posed by counterfeiting have been aggravated by current global economic conditions, environmental compliance statutes, as well as outsourcing/off-shoring initiatives by firms that are under pressure to maintain profitability.
Obviously, counterfeit electronic and mechanical parts have a wide range of potentially negative impacts. At one end of the impact spectrum, customers are not getting genuine and quality-approved OEM parts, thus paying a premium for potentially lower quality/performance alternatives. For Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), performance degradation issues and outright failures from suspect counterfeits are driving OEM warranty costs up, thus affecting their bottom line. Severe impacts from counterfeit parts include castastrophic failures which result in injury, death and/or significant monetary liabilities. In fact, the legal liabilities for OEMs with none-existant or marginal counterfeit prevention programs are enormous and can tarnish a company's brand image and ultimately result in significant loss of revenues.
The figure on the right is the correct logo of PMC Sierra
Outside of the Commercial sector, the Defense and Aerospace industry have been particularly susceptible to counterfeits. Robert P. Ernst, who heads research into counterfeit parts for the Naval Air Systems Command’s Aging Aircraft Program in Patuxent River, Md., comments, “it’s very difficult to determine whether tiny fake parts have contributed to particular plane crashes or missile mishaps.” Ernst estimates that as many as 15% of the entire spare and replacement microchips the Pentagon purchases are counterfeit. As a result, he says, “we are having field failures regularly within our weapon systems — and in almost every weapon system.” He declines to provide details but says that, in his opinion, fake parts almost certainly have contributed to serious accidents. When a helicopter goes down in Iraq or Afghanistan, he explains, “we don’t always do the root-cause investigation of every component failure.” Click here to read about a counterfeit incident which impacted the DoD.
Tachus Technologies Inc., in concert with its business partners, has the capability and the resources available to provide complete and cost effective solutions (Programs) for counterfeit component prevention. Furthermore, Tachus can assist the client when replacement verification of authentic components is required, in cases of obsolescence and end-of-life. Our facilities are DSCC-VQC and AS9100/ISO9001 Certified. The parts are not only visually inspected but can be subjected to microscopic inspection and tested for RoHS compliance using X-Ray fluorescence technologies. Some components may be acid etched/ de-capsulated to expose the die for positive verification. Parametric tests can also be conducted. Our X-Ray inspection system can allow us to take the component image to verify die size, die location, wire bond pattern and internal lead characteristics.
Don't wait for a counterfeit incident to happen to take action. Be proactive and contact Tachus Technologies to find out how we can help you deploy a best-practice Counterfeit Prevention Program that safeguards your products, your customers, your bottom-line and your industry reputation.
