When the Senate Arms Services Committee released a report in 2011 suggesting counterfeit defence parts were costing the U.S. taxpayer more than $6 billion dollars a year, it sparked media inquiries about the state of electronic components on Canadian platforms, notably the newly acquired C-130J Hercules aircraft.
This week, Secure Components of Norristown, PA, a distributor of obsolete and hard-to-find electronics and mil-spec material, said it had become the first company to complete an audit by DNV, meaning it now conforms to the AS6081 Counterfeit Avoidance Standard.
The audit was conducted as a pilot. The proposed new International Electro-technical Commission’s Quality Assessment System (IECQ) for electronic components is designed to address the issue of counterfeit electronic components infiltrating the defence supply chain.
The company said in a release that “this third party certification will revolutionize the procurement process for material that is obsolete or on prohibitively long lead times and therefore cannot be obtained from the Original Component Manufacturer or a franchise or authorized distributor. AS6081 requires significant transparency between the distributor and the procurement department purchasing the electronic components. This transparency ensures that testing, which is critical when procuring on the open market, is occurring when invoked.”
Secure Components expects to receive the official certification soon after the final technical committee review by subject matter experts and approval by the IECQ Management Committee, who are scheduled to meet in Singapore on May 3, 2013.