Search Results

Written by Kirsten Koepsel, a lawyer and engineer whose work has focused on aviation cybersecurity, Supply Chain Vulnerabilities Impacting Commercial Aviation addresses the big question facing aircraft manufacturers today: keep the work in house or outsource it? The ongoing battle between cost cutting and supply-chain control is ever more visible as aircraft OEMs have full order books and tight delivery schedules. Since the 1980s, commercial aviation, like many other industries, looked for ways of more economically sourcing parts and services. The new partnerships between OEMs and suppliers at multiple levels, did make the industry nimbler and more flexible. Yet, it also introduced a higher level of instability, risks and vulnerabilities to the aviation ecosystem.

Why should the supply chain be concerned if their buyers or subcontractors are purchasing counterfeit electronic parts or if their products contain counterfeit electronic parts? If these parts end up in items that are safety critical and security-risk sensitive such as aviation, space, and defense products, whole secure systems can be comprised. As organizations have become aware of counterfeit parts, one of their responses may be to test upon acceptance or prior to receipt. But testing alone may not detect all counterfeits. Possible sources of counterfeits include products that did not meet quality control requirements and were not destroyed, overruns sold into the market place, unauthorized production shifts, theft, and e-waste. The counterfeited electronic part ends up in the supply chain when ordered by an unsuspecting buyer, who does not confirm the originating source of the part.

Electronic parts are used throughout industry to run everyday products, such as cell phones, and also highly technical products, such as aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. Unlike cell phones, which are often replaced every year, the highly technical products may remain in service from 20 to more than 80 years. But what happens if the original electronic part, with a life cycle of 18 months, is no longer available? Some manufacturers have discovered that they have unwittingly purchased counterfeit ones. Counterfeit Electronic Parts and Their Impact on Supply Chains examines how these items are negatively affecting the aviation, spacecraft, and defense sectors and what can be done about it.