Suspect Counterfeiting

RMV offers Suspect Counterfeit Packaging & Materials Countermeasures Training for Industry.

Due to the rapidly growing suspect counterfeiting of ESD packaging, RMV, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is now implementing a training course for Industry (Electronics, Semiconductor, Aerospace/Defense, Medical Device) by taking steps to  protect our customers and suppliers who qualify and utilize static control packaging products and materials. Bob Vermillion, CPP/Fellow, has worked with organizations since 1997 in developing packaging countermeasures against suspect counterfeiting efforts and tampering of ESD sensitive devices. One of Bob’s design won the 2002 AmeriStar Award for the Electronics Category for the USA.

A FDA ISO 134585:2003 audit may uncover mislabeling issues with ESD sensitive devices (components). From a sample lot of 100 ESD sensitive components, 65 are labeled correctly while 35 are mislabeled. For instance, unknown to the component distributor, the 35 mislabeled devices are suspect counterfeit and incorporate a different identification process that is identified by a microscope. The critical action indicated (CAI) is now elevated to executive review (CAI-ER).  The facts are as follows :

• Counterfeiting costs U.S. businesses $200 billion to $250 billion annually!
• Counterfeit merchandise is directly responsible for the loss of more than 750,000 American jobs!
• Since 1982, the global trade in illegitimate goods has increased from $5.5 billion to approximately $600 billion annually!
• U.S. companies suffer $9 billion in trade losses due to international copyright piracy!
• Counterfeiting poses a threat to global health and safety!

In an effort to combat the rising problem of suspect counterfeit packaging of sensitive components and products, the development of a specialized training course to detect, test and validate existing ESD materials and packaging is now being offered to determine package or material authenticity. Furthermore, RMV is developing a suspect counterfeit model of detection to identify key elements to identify, detect and validate the product, material or package that can be used as a red flag upon initial inspection for incoming packaging or materials from a subcontractor, distributor or manufacturer. Consistent with RMV’s development of a Suspect Counterfeiting Course for Industry, RMV is providing this critical course training on the university level for companies to receive university credits for ISO educational requirements. Potential attendees may include manufacturing and quality control personnel, including scientists and security personnel. Counterfeit parts rarely (if at all) include any ESD protection for superficial repair and poor ESD handling in the branding process with bogus information.

Visible to the human eye, a common practice for suspect counterfeiters is to paint the outside substrate to imitate the actual shielding color of the conductive packaging. Another common practice is to dip the flexible packaging, such as anti-static foam, to attain a rich color of ‘pink’ that will imitate the actual material which acts to slow down or dissipate the charging effects when packaging a sensitive product.

Due to the increased use of outsourcing abroad, counterfeiting of medical device, pharmaceutical drugs, packaging consumables, including aerospace and defense components, is expanding at an alarming rate due in part to the unrelenting pressure on procurement and its competitors to reduce pricing in spite of rising costs to manufacture and escalating energy costs on a global basis. A mega-industry has been created to imitate components, packaging, materials and pharmaceutical drugs as Corporate Purchasing is mandated to search for lower priced materials and packaging many times from unchecked sources. As procurement personnel readily admit, the cost of static control materials are much higher than traditional packaging,  thus allowing the counterfeit market to thrive as products are pulled from obsolete and old board stock, junk yards and other unchecked sources to create a potentially dangerous and troubling problem for the buyer seeking genuine static control products, packaging and material sourcing.

This extremely important and critical initiative is being spearheaded by Bob Vermillion, Founder and Owner of RMV Technology Group, LLC, whose 30 years of experience in the field with advanced materials and packaging, teaches on the university level for California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and Clemson University, South Carolina.