The high price of low cost fakes
03 August 2009
We've all received those emails offering designer watches at unbelievably low prices. Some things seem too good to be true, but then not all things are as they initially appear to be. A cut-price Rolex is one thing, and generally, intuition steps in before handing over money for a sparkly 'Rodex' with just one hand.
A copied designer watch is not going to endanger human lives, but what if there are counterfeit components out there that are not so easy to identify?
It's a problem that has been around for a while, (Counting the Cost of Component Counterfeiting, Are your parts the real deal?, Fake parts, real threat, Anti-counterfeiting technology for aerospace), and doesn't seem to be going away.
To combat this issue and raise awareness of the sheer size of the problem, the UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA) has launched a brand new website, www.anticounterfeitingforum.org.uk that will identify details of suspected counterfeit components. It will also include photographs in a searchable database so that members involved in all aspects of the supply chain can contribute and notify their peers.
Of course, the issue is how do you suspect a copied part? It's true that at this time, we're all trying to save money where we can, but it’s important to ask yourself a few questions. Was it too cheap? Is it from an unknown source? Is there something not quite right about that date stamp? As the counterfeiters have become wise to packaging, paperwork, markings, and labels, spotting the fakes from the genuine article can prove to be an arduous task. So the function of the website is to establish a point of reference database for users to check their goods against the known fakes, and show the telltale signs to look out for.
The implications of this are that potentially, it could save lives. For example, components used in aerospace applications are expected to have a life of thousands of hours. When fake parts are installed, it leads to an unknown life expectancy and could fail at any time without warning.
In these times of economic cutbacks, there will always be people trying to make money, and it's likely that the market is being flooded with cut-price components. But there could be a high price to pay for low cost components, especially where lives are concerned.
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