A widespread practice among original equipment manufacturers (OEM) is the last time buy (LTB) event, which is usually a warning call to customers that a product is approaching its end […]
I used to be a cigarette smoker. Each New Year I resolved to stop smoking, and I’d stash my “last” half-pack of cigarettes deep inside a dark drawer. Months later, […]
There are a variety of issues to be faced when your embedded boards have reached end of life (EOL) or been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Without a […]
Why Obsolescence Management Processes are Crucial to Support Corporate Strategy Since I began working at GDCA, I have had the opportunity to work closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to […]
The inevitable has finally arrived. An embedded board in your application has been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Your company needs a critical embedded board, and revenue depends on […]
In embedded computing, product pruning is the selective removal of certain products that no longer contribute to the health and growth of a company. Product families that are generating little […]
In view of the COVID-19 disruption and anticipated aftermath in the embedded electronics industry, computer board OEMs face an existential challenge right now: How do they best allocate their resources […]
When reading the news around counterfeit components, much of the dialogue is driven by the defense industry. When you are dealing with systems that protect our national security and the lives of the people out in the field – you’re not dealing with counterfeits in a bunch of trivial electronics. You’re taking necessary steps to protect the lives of men and women who depend on the systems for their safety. Since 2011 more than 1800 cases of counterfeit components were reported in defense applications, including mission computers operating the THAAD missile system, in the Air Force’s C-27J, in the Navy’s P-8A, and in electromagnetic interference filters on an SH-60B helicopter.
However, the trouble with counterfeits isn’t limited to the defense industry and the military. They’re just currently the ones driving the conversation and legislation such as the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, Sec. 818.
Marvel Comic’s SHIELD (Strategic help Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and, slick as it is, it is more likely to wind up counterfeited than prevent counterfeiting
It is a program devised by a secretive government agency. Its purpose is to organize and motivate the top actors in their fields to come together to prevent crimes that threaten not only the economy but our national security. It focuses its attention on producing cutting-edge technologies. It is SHIELD, and it is becoming a reality.
No . . . no . . . not that SHIELD. That’s Marvel Comic’s SHIELD (Strategic help Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and, slick as it is, it is more likely to wind up counterfeited than prevent counterfeiting. We’re talking about the Supply Chain Hardware Integrity for Electronics Defense program being initiated by DARPA, and rather than placing a series of gigantic floating gun platforms in the upper atmosphere, it’s looking to place tiny 100 micron by 100 micron authentication dielets on all the electronic components used in Department of Defense programs.
When the subject of counterfeit mitigation and avoidance comes up you generally find a couple of areas that people focus on: standards, test/inspection, and tagging. Tagging can involve many things, […]
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