Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1527276
22 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2024 In those early audit investigations, before I knew about ERAI, we would look up the con- tact information for the broker we'd bought from. I'd get the broker's address and go to Google Earth. On my first search, the address was an awning in Hong Kong. Another was a parking lot somewhere in Hungary. at's when I knew we were very exposed. Those two organizations must be extremely helpful in such situations. ERAI was instrumental. ey certify brokers. If you want to be part of ERAI and you sell a counterfeit, you lose your membership. ERAI personnel also under- stand the regulations in this realm and can provide guidance on proper dis- position. In one instance, I'm aware of ERAI step- ping in and saying, "Now that the customer knows that these are counter- feits, it is against the law to ship them anywhere." at ended the story. Component verification has become a financial burden to the organization, especially since counterfeiters are more sophisticated. How do you respond to that threat? One of the advanced ways that they slip them in is by mixing legitimate parts with fake parts in the same reel. Back in the day, you could check the first 10 off the reel. If they were good, the reel was good. When we started having issues again, we also learned to look in the middle or at the end of the reel. As you said, we go into allocation from time to time. You find yourself in allocation and looking at possibly shutting down a $25 mil- lion-a-day factory for want of a chip. What do you do now? Most larger companies now have well-defined procedures for detecting and avoiding coun- terfeits. One of the most straightfor ward methods is simply using known distribution or direct sourcing strategies. If you have to go to the secondary market, validating any purchase is critical. ere are legitimate brokers in the industry. ere are also a lot of good testing and analysis facilities that have sprung up to combat counter- feits. While testing components may seem expensive it's money well spent to protect your organi- zation. I can't stress enough that the purchaser must take it upon themselves to make certain parts are legitimate. How is the working relationship between ERAI and the original manufacturers? In my experience, the manufac turer s don't want you to leave the pri- mary supply chain, so his- tor ically, suppor t hasn't been strong for organizations like ERAI. Another avenue is to use third- party data service providers, which offer centralized repositories of datasheets and compliance data, including counterfeit risk. ese services can be critical because they pull all that information into one place and access it for an annual fee. ese services can really provide a company with limited resources an excellent means for accessing data efficiently. You've been talking about going to the man- ufacturers to get a manufacturer or lot code matched up. Is this something that they're making available to clients? Can you do your own searches?