Source
ESB
August 9, 2007
Are
Counterfeit Parts Going Compliant?
A recent
post at science-expert Dr. Ron Lasky’s blog came with an ominous ring: “The
world is taking RoHS so casually that I expect tens of billions in non-RoHS
compliant component inventories will exist as of July 1, 2006 [the RoHS
deadline].” Lasky goes on to say, “Many rascals will want to profit from these
components that may be treated as scrap.” Lasky’s fear is that unscrupulous
distributors will pawn off the parts as compliant.
An
industry participant responded to Lasky’s concern with this disturbing comment:
“I have already heard reports of counterfeit lead-free solder coming in from
China.” He goes on to note “It used to be that buying counterfeit parts put you
in jeopardy with your production, quality or reliability. Now counterfeit parts
may put you in legal jeopardy.”
Welcome
to the dawning of the sure-to-be-strange post-RoHS world. Jeff Shafer, SVP at
Chicago-based distributor Newark InOne notes that you can’t always tell whether
you’re getting compliant or non-compliant components. “We have an advertisement
that shows compliant and non-compliant parts side-by-side, and you can’t tell
which one is compliant,” says Shafer. “We’ve heard horror stories of customers
having to decide whether to do x-rays or break down components to see if
they’re compliant.”
There
are two basic ways to determine whether a component is compliant or not – that
is if you don’t trust the word of your components source. There is an x-ray
process that can tell if there is lead in the part. The x-ray process can’t
detect all of the hazardous materials listed in the RoHS directive, but it can
detect lead – and it leaves the part intact. The sure-fire way of testing a
part involves destroying the part to get a complete chemical breakdown. The
sure-fire method is also more expensive.
Most
of those wringing their hands over counterfeit parts point to Asia –
specifically China – as the danger territory. “Counterfeiting parts that are
passed off as RoHS compliant is a really big problem in China,” says Michael
Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates in San Francisco. “I think the
RoHS deadline will put fuel on the counterfeit market fire. I think there will
be a lot of shortages [as we near the RoHS deadline], though we still don’t
know if the shortages will be in compliant or non-compliant parts. People will
step forward to fill the shortages and that will come with risk.”
One
obvious problem is that you can’t trust a company willing to sell counterfeit
parts. While OEMs and distributors are ramping up their due diligence efforts
to prove their products are RoHS compliant, much of the move to lead-free
products is based on trust. Some believe you need to test your products even if
you’re working with a trusted source. “Even if you’re working with a company
that has been supplying product for umpteen years, there is still no assurance
the product is compliant, especially if you’re getting products from overseas,”
says Newark InOne’s Shafer. “We have a cable assembly we get through Premier
Farnell in China. The assembly includes many parts. Our source gets parts from
someone else who gets it from someone else. If you want the RoHS information,
you have to go back to 14 suppliers.” Newark InOne verifies compliance by spot
testing parts and assemblies from unknown suppliers.
Shafer’s
concern about counterfeiting stems from the way products get pushed quickly
along as they are bought and sold. “I don’t see how much due diligence is going
to be done as components get passed along in the gray market?” says Shafter.
“We wonder whether customers are doing due diligence to see whether these
components are compliant or not.”
Design
Associates offers suggestions on how to verify that components are compliant.
“If the pedigree of the part is not available – which is the normal case – than
a sample of the parts must be tested, per the requirement of the RoHS
regulation,” says Kirschner. “That test must be executed on homogeneous
materials which may mean that several or even dozens of samples must be
deconstructed in order to obtain an adequate amount of the material.”
It’s
not likely that OEMs will be that diligent with the commodity components that
tend to get counterfeited. That means either OEMs will shy away from
counterfeit parts that are getting passed off as compliant, or, they will start
engaging in some very risky behavior.
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