January 2023 Edition: Ample Solutions Quality Assurance Centre High-risk or Counterfeit Part Report

Ample Solutions has constructed two Quality Assurance (QA) centres, separately in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, each with an approximate area of 1,000 square metres. The centres have over 60 state-of-the-art professional testing equipment and more than 50 qualified inspection engineers. It adopts the 3-tier international standard quality control (QC) process with the 4th tier outsourced testing by Foxconn Testing Innovation Centre as part of our strategic partnership; all to ensure that we only deliver authentic quality components to our clients.

To safeguard our clients’ interest and to provide the latest market intelligence on high-risk or counterfeit parts, Ample Solutions QA Centre has consolidated a report comprising of the intercepted parts via the Tier 1 and Tier 2 inspections. This report is published for the month of January 2023 and subsequent reports will be published on a monthly basis. 

Tier 1 Inspection Intercepted Part List

What is Tier 1 inspection? This refers to the process of labelling and packaging verification by comparing shipment labels with the original label and packaging in the Ample Solutions label database. This inspection process can intercept 90% of counterfeit parts. 

To provide you with a better understanding of how Tier 1 inspection works, we have also selected two labels from the intercepted list and included a breakdown of the identified differences identified by our inspection engineers. 

Left: Intercepted part, Right: Authentic label from database 

Upon receiving Infineon’s FF600R12ME4 shipment label, we compared it with the authentic label in our database and spotted significant differences.

The differences: 

Logo, serial code, part code: It can be clearly seen from the picture that the logo font on the high-risk label is thinner than that of the high-risk label. The gap between the logo and serial number on the high-risk label is also wider.

Font and barcode: The position of “9D” and “2149” are of the same level while the “2149” is lower than “9D” on the high-risk part. 

Environmental lab: The slanted stroke in the “PB” icon extends beyond the circle while the stroke stays within the circle on the authentic label.

Hence, it was concluded that this label has high-risk of being a counterfeit.

Top: Intercepted part, Bottom: Authentic labels from database 

Upon receiving TI’s OPA365AIDBVR shipment label, we compared it with the authentic label in our database and spotted significant differences.

The logo and environmental label font on the authentic labels are more regular, the PB icon is rounded and centralised. Meanwhile, the logo and environmental label on the high-risk label are rugged and contain ink smudges. 

Part number quantity position: The font of the authentic label and quantity is relatively consistent, and the gap between the top and bottom lines is relatively narrow. On the other hand, the font, position of the quantity number and DC also varies greatly on the high-risk label as compared to the authentic ones. 

Hence, it was concluded that this label has high-risk of being a counterfeit.

(The table below is not the full version of the report, please reach out to marketing@ample.sg for full report)

Tier 1 Inteception Part List

Tier 2 Inspection Intercepted Part List

What is Tier 2 inspection? This refers to visual & marking inspection by using the LEICA miscrope with a magnification up to 160x, to inspect the interior and exterior sides of the component for its dimensions and check for scratches, polishing, breakage or oxidation on the BGA. Visual & marking inspection can intercept of counterfeit parts. 

Tier 2 Inteception Part List

(The table below is not the full version of the report, please reach out to marketing@ample.sg for full report)

The full January report of Ample Solutions QA Centre, including the origin, date code, and images of the parts, cannot be made public due to data classification.

If you would like to learn more, please reach out to marketing@ample.sg to for the full report. 

High-risk or Counterfeit Part List by ESM China

Note: The following table is based on the high-risk or counterfeit part list released by ESM China in January 2023. 

High-risk or counterfeit part list released by ESM China

If you would like to learn more, please reach out to marketing@ample.sg to for the full report.