The FAA says over half a million counterfeit/unapproved parts are installed each year, which is alarming. They lead to equipment failure, endangering workers and the public, tarnishing brand reputation, and creating legal liabilities. So if you are a manufacturer, you should avoid counterfeit industrial parts at any cost. Don’t know how? Let’s explore some practical tips!
How Counterfeit Industrial Parts Enter the Supply Chain?
Counterfeit industrial parts can easily enter the supply chain via unreliable distributors and brokers who recover them from scrap or steal them. Here are some popular ways or sources:
- Sold through open exchangers and independent brokers who don’t have any traceability and don’t provide warranties for their products.
- Degraded parts are recovered from scrap, repackaged, and relabeled for sale as new, which greatly impacts the product’s performance and safety.
- Lack of quality certificates and conformance documentation, as well as false datasheets, can conceal the part’s true identity, making detection difficult.
Practical Solutions to Detect Counterfeit Industrial Parts
Detecting counterfeit industrial parts may seem like a complex task, but it’s not. With the right set of technologies and strategies, you can easily pinpoint fake items and save your money:
High Power Microscopy
One of the most effective ways to detect counterfeit industrial parts is to utilize high-power microscopy. Typically, it refers to the use of microscopes to magnify small, invisible to the naked eye details of obsolete parts. It has a magnification range of 50X or more, enabling you to inspect surfaces and fine details, such as internal die markings and wire bond integrity.
Suppose you receive a batch of PLC systems. You can use high-power microscopy to check for inconsistencies in the internal wiring and even faint manufacturer’s markings. If the wires look uneven or the manufacturer’s logo is completely missing, it can be a counterfeit item.
X-Ray Inspection
X-ray inspection isn’t limited only to biological labs now; it’s quickly being adopted in counterfeit industrial parts detection. How? Well, you place the component you’ve sourced from the supplier in an X-ray scanning device.
It utilizes different absorption rates of materials as the X-ray penetrates the components’ packaging and casing, revealing their internal structure.
For instance, you can use it to pinpoint anomalies such as missing or damaged structures, incorrect die sizes, and the location of all wire bonds within the sample. The best part is that X-ray is highly effective for spotting recycled components even when the marks are convincing.
Electrical Testing
Know that even when manufacturers try their best to mask markings and avoid the catching of fraudulent parts, you can find them using electrical testing. In this, you put the industrial transistors and logic ICs under load to check whether they switch their behavior or how they perform under stress. There are three types of electrical testing that you can perform:
- Parametric Testing: Verifies that the component’s internal characteristics, such as current, resistance, and voltage, fall within a specific range.
- Functional Testing: Checks how an obsolete industrial part performs at different temperatures.
- Board-Level Testing: Tests the components once it’s placed on a PCB to know how it functions in a board rather than isolated.
Decapsulation
Decapsulation, as the name implies, is an approach that involves removing the outer packaging of an electronic component. The ultimate goal is to gain access to the internal die (semiconductor chip) and other wires and bonds. You can then detect incorrect manufacturer markings and cloned internal layouts. Here are some ways to decapsulate and detect counterfeit industrial parts:
- Chemical Decapsulation: Jetting acids and solvents that dissolve the packaging to reveal the die inside.
- Mechanical Decapsulation: Grinding or physically removing the top layers of the components.
Note: It’s a destructive test so the part will not be of use after decapsulation. It should be performed on samples, not the entire supply.
Heated Solvents Analysis
Counterfeiters often use fake markings to conceal fake obsolete industrial parts. One way to find out these counterfeit industrial parts is to use heated solvent analysis.
So what happens is that the part is exposed to harsh solvents heated at high temperatures.
This breaks down and dissolves any surface coatings that are applied to disguise it. You then stay assured that there’s no tempering and blacktopping involved and the product is high-quality.
XRF Analysis
XRF stands for X-Ray Fluorescence, which is helpful in determining the composition of an industrial part. It’s a non-destructive test that works on the principle of ionization. The atoms within the sample component may ionize when exposed to gamma rays or other short wavelength x-ray beams, giving you an image on the connected detector. You can use it to find out the differences in the composition of the sourced part and the original components.
What are the Key Risks of Using Counterfeit Industrial Parts?
If you ever end up with counterfeit industrial parts, don’t use them in your applications, as they can lead to potential risks and issues, such as:
- Fake parts may perform fine at first, but they can fail under high stress and load, leading to the project or complete equipment failure.
- Counterfeit industrial parts are unable to manage heat, leading to overheating and short circuits in electronics or other applications.
- They lack the required quality certifications, such as RoHS, REACH, or UL listing. Hence, there’ll be compliance issues, and you might end up with penalties and disappointed customers.
FAQs
What are the most common types of counterfeited industrial parts?
Some common types of counterfeited industrial parts include analog integrated circuits (ICs), microprocessors, and memory ICs, programmable logic devices, among many others.
Does serialization play a role in detecting counterfeits?
Genuine manufacturers often use serial numbers or QR codes for easy traceability. You can verify these against OEM databases to confirm authenticity.
Should you rely on only one method for testing fake parts?
No, you shouldn’t rely on only one method; instead, combine visual checks, microscopy, and performance testing.
Conclusion
Detecting counterfeit industrial parts becomes a breeze with the aid of advanced methods and technologies. However, if you need a reliable supplier to get authentic and quality parts for your applications, Enicstra has your back. Our products are sourced from top manufacturers and come with months of warranty, giving you peace of mind.