The ISO/IEC 17025 specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling. So how exactly does this apply to the suite of SAE G19 counterfeit avoidance standards? Within the verification of product process in the SAE G19 standards (AS6081, AS6171, AS6496, and AS5553) there are many different tests required in an attempt to verify a part’s authenticity. To assure that the lab and their technicians are competent in the required counterfeit detection techniques and how to use the associated equipment, labs will soon be required to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. Currently there are very few specific instructions on how to use the equipment for counterfeit detection in the published G19 standards. The yet to be released draft revision of AS6081, Fraudulent/Counterfeit Electronic Parts: Avoidance, Detection, Mitigation, and Disposition, created for independent distributors, is now pointing directly to the AS6171, Test Methods Standard; General Requirements, Suspect/Counterfeit, Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Parts for instructions on how to verify the authenticity of electronic components. Therefore, in the very near future you will see that for an independent distributor to be certified to AS6081, they will first need to be ISO/IEC 17025 accredited to demonstrate that they are able to perform the counterfeit detection tests necessary. A certified distributor may alternatively subcontract the work to a lab that is accredited.
To buy a copy of the ISO/IEC 17025 or find more information on the standard click buy ISO/IEC 17025
Robb Hammond, founder and president of AERI (American Electronic Resource, Inc.). Founding member and former committee chair of the SAE AS6081 Standard created for the avoidance of counterfeit electronic components. Robb founded AERI in Costa Mesa, California, in 1994 as an independent distributor of hard-to-find, obsolete and allocated electronic components. AERI is AS9120B, ISO 9001:2015 and AS6081 certified, tests to AS6171 standards, and inspects every part in its in-house QC lab before it ships. Robb writes about electronic component shortages, sourcing strategy and counterfeit avoidance.
