Every distributor must be careful that they are not exporting to customers like the one described in this story. There are procedures that can be put in place to investigate potential customers before selling to them which includes obtaining a statement from each customer requesting the products end use. This document should contain the consequences of the actions described in this story as well. You may contact Ian Cosley, at our California facility, if you would like to see AERI’s procedure and try to implement a new program in your firm. See the above link for the full story about this FBI takedown.
Robb Hammond is the founder and CEO of AERI, an independent electronic component distributor operating since 1994. He is a founding member and former committee chair of SAE AS6081, the counterfeit-avoidance standard for independent distributors adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense, and a recognized authority on counterfeit detection.
