Maintenance Technology April 2015 - (Page 36)

INDUSTRY ANSWERS companies operate with zero-tolerance policies against counterfeiting and are committed to anticounterfeiting technologies and programs. Industry organizations are also working to combat counterfeiting. Organizations such as the National Electrical Manufacturer's Association (nema.org) enable member companies in the electrical industry to focus their collective efforts on identifying ways to stop counterfeiting. Industry representation by NEMA can be used to promote laws, regulations or government directives. Other industry organizations, including the Electrical Safety Foundation International (esfi. org), rely on engagement from the electrical industry and supporters to promote consumer awareness of counterfeit electrical products. These Can Help 3 Tips: How You Counterfeits Combat To stay protected from unsafe lookalikes and help combat this industry-wide problem, Tom Grace encourages maintenance and reliability professionals to keep the following anti-counterfeiting tips in mind, and share them with others in their operations. These pointers can help personnel build conﬁdence in their ability to properly avoid, identify and report fake products: 1. Know that counterfeits are hard to spot. C ounterfeit product m nufa a cturers rely on deception, the Internet a prices below m rket level to ﬁnd their w y into nd a a our hom businesses a fa es, nd cilities.The m sophistiore ca counterfeiters becom the m difﬁcult counterfeit ted e, ore products a to identify re . The best w y to a a void counterfeit electrica products is l to purc se products from the m nufa ha a cturer's a uthorized distributors or resellers.The risk of obta ining a counterfeit rises if one ca nnot tra the pa of com erce to the ce th m origina m nufa l a cturer. 2. Know your resources. Ta a nta of the resources a ila surrounding ke dva ge va ble counterfeiting. M ny com nies a lea a pa re ding efforts to protect public hea a sa b providing tools, tips a lth nd fety y nd inform tion to help professiona a a ls void com into conta ing ct with ha rdous electrica devices. za l 3. Know how to report a counterfeit. If you identify a counterfeit in the ﬁeld, report it to the bra nd owner.This will a llow a uthentica of the suspect product tion a ensure its rem l from the m rketpla nd ova a ce. 36 | MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY collaborative efforts carry a stronger message and can help improve awareness and detection. To address the problem of counterfeit electrical products meaningfully, further collaboration is needed across industries and beyond. Stopping the sale of counterfeit products is everyone's responsibility. If every individual along a product's supply chain played an active role in stopping the buying and selling of counterfeit products, the demand for counterfeit electrical products would decrease. It is crucial to continue to work together to prevent these unsafe counterfeit products from causing harm to people and property. MT: How do counterfeit products enter the marketplace? TG: Counterfeiters rely on deception and below- market-level prices to find their way into the marketplace. In addition, counterfeit manufacturers are becoming more and more sophisticated in their production of unsafe lookalike products, making it extremely difficult to tell the difference between a counterfeit and an authentic product. The sophistication of shipping counterfeit products is also adding to the difficulty of detection. A counterfeit shipment takes an indirect shipping route to the intended destination. In some instances, counterfeit products and other infringing components are shipped separately, further increasing the difficulty of detection. The sheer number of imported products is also alarming. In 2013, 11 million shipping containers and 250 million air shipments of counterfeit products were accounted for being imported into the U.S. In addition, counterfeiters have reduced the size of a shipment to decrease losses if a shipment is seized. Due to these counterfeiting practices, deceptive manufacturers can easily circulate potentially dangerous products throughout the marketplace. MT: What can industry professionals do to avoid counterfeits? Recognizing a counterfeit product is difficult at first glance, but there are several ways to detect and avoid them prior to making an actual purchase. By following these tips, end-users are more likely to identify and avoid counterfeits: TG: APRIL 2015 http://www.nema.org

Maintenance Technology April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Maintenance Technology April 2015