Written by Jeff McKaughan
MLF 2011 Volume: 5 Issue: 10 (November/December)
While reading Mae DeVincentis’s interview in this edition of Military Logistics Forum, you will see that one of the challenges she notes is that of counterfeit parts. A broad and diverse supply chain is partly responsible for the efficiency by which the U.S. military can operate virtually anywhere in the world. At the same time, that broadness and diversity represent the cracks in the seams that allow bad actors—DeVincentis’s words—to infiltrate that supply chain with bogus reparables.
Counterfeit parts potentially can disrupt the supply chain, impact mission capability, damage larger components and systems, and put lives at risk. Bogus parts also dramatically impact budgets—for every bogus part in the system, at some point an authorized part will have to be bought, meaning that one part has been paid for twice. Budgets are tight enough without having to double the spare parts budget! Some bad parts are simply badly engineered or manufactured bits of steel, while others can be sophisticated electronics that may function well early and for a period of time, but are unpredictable in their failure rate. Plus if a bad part is not quickly identified, the supply chain could continue buying bad parts at high prices and the spin cycle continues.
Among other acquisition agencies, DLA takes the job of tracking down the frauds, eliminating the parts from the systems and taking the necessary response against the suppliers.
The Government Accountability Office recently set up a fictitious company—complete with website, fictitious owner and staff, and even a Central Contractor Number. Working totally through the Internet, the GAO sting-like operation was able to purchase 13 parts, seven of which were, after an authenticated test process, found to be bogus (and from vendors in China!). The other parts were, for various reasons, not sent out for the authentication process to confirm whether they were legitimate or not.
Even taking China out of the equation, the danger is obvious for the military, but think about the commercial world, where a rigorous authentication process may not exist. Has anyone among us had a part of something fail recently? Was the part or device all it was supposed to be? While perhaps not an epidemic, the problem of counterfeit parts is large and growing. The physical and economic dangers are real and need to be addressed. The GAO has announced that its full report of its investigation will be issued shortly—and will probably simply confirm the fears. ♦
 Jeff McKaughan, Editor This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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