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Bogus parts still entering from Asia-Pacific (Oxygen Electronics and Brokerlynx featured in Electronic Buyers News)
For immediate release - Monday, April 21, 2003
Laurie Sullivan04/21/2003 10:00 AM EST URL: http://www.ebnews.com/showArticle?articleID=8800297 A fresh influx of counterfeit and remarked components and others that fail to meet re-certification standards have found their way into North America from the Asia-Pacific region, according to independent distributors. Industry trade groups like the Electronics Resellers Association International Inc., Plymouth, Mass., and distributors like Oxygen Electronics LLC, Guilford, Conn., are alerting the industry through informational Websites such as www.erai.com and www.brokerlynx.net. "The industry has seen a noticeable increase in questionable obsolete and hard-to-find parts in the last six months," said Mark Pasdon, a partner at Oxygen. "We went from receiving two or three a month to approximately 10 a month." To combat the increase, independent distributors have stepped up their efforts to protect customers by sending products to electronic test labs to re-certify the components before making the delivery. "We're trying to raise the bar and put that layer of quality between independent distributors and the client to catch these issues before they become problems," Pasdon said. "Six months ago, we began to test the vast majority of product we get." It was during its testing process that Oxygen said it discovered an increase in bad components, including EPLDs from Altera Corp., part number EP610DM-35, and operational amplifiers from Analog Devices Inc. bearing the part number OP220AZ883. Other problem parts included versions of Bourns Inc.'s Trimpot trimmers, model numbers 3006, 3296, 3386, and Texas Instruments Inc. mil-spec memory ICs, numbers 5962-8961405QXA and SMJ27C010A-15JM, with a date code of 9939A1. Bourns and TI issued alerts earlier this month regarding the components. Analog Devices and Altera did not respond to calls by press time. At New Jersey Microelectronics Inc., an electronics test lab in Clifton, N.J., inquiries from independent distributors for testing services have more than doubled this year over the same time in 2002, according to president Joseph Frederico. "Most of the product we test from the Far East is not meeting the supplier's electrical specifications," Frederico said. "Three weeks ago, I opened a piece marked as a Cypress Semiconductor unit and inside was a Motorola die." Authorized distributors say the best way to avoid problems is to procure parts through a supplier-authorized source. Jeff Ittel, president of Avnet Cilicon, a division of Avnet Inc., Phoenix, said there are other ways to solve obsolescence issues without adding the risk. "Companies will buy the die for obsolete parts from the component manufacturer and continue to make components that have reached end of life," Ittel said. "Others work with the component manufacturer to recreate the functionality of the obsolete part, which may be more cost effective for buyers than a re-design. "And preventing end-of-life issues as new designs are developed by using design-for-supply-chain services is imperative." |
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Oxygen Electronics LLC 56 Lafayette Ave. White Plains, NY 10603 USA |
Phone: +1-914-289-0202 Fax: +1-914-289-0222 http://www.o2xygen.com sales@o2xygen.com |