The global electronic component distributor is expanding its services to the aerospace and defense sectors.
MIAMI—Sourceability®, a global distributor of electronic components and supply chain service provider, reported that it received official certification to AS6081. The certification signals Sourceability’s ambitions to expand its services in the aerospace and defense sectors, the company said in a release.
The AS6081 certification was created in response to a significant increase in fraudulent and counterfeit electronic parts entering the aerospace and defense supply chains. It is a requirement of the Department of Defense (DoD) for distributors of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) parts. According to the American National Standard Institute (ANSI), the rigorous standard is one of the most recognized and respected standards in the aerospace industry.
The requirements set in AS6081 are critical to reducing risks associated with counterfeit parts re-entering the supply chain, the company said.
Sourceability’s certification process began with the successful implementation of AS9120 (Quality Management Systems – Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Distributors) in 2023. The AS9120 certification includes ISO 9001 guidelines and specifies additional requirements related to the aerospace industry that are applicable to distributors. Through this achievement, Sourceability said that it has established a strong quality management system (QMS), which is consistently capable of providing products and services that meet or exceed customer requirements.
Soon after, the team began pursuing the AS6081 certification (Fraudulent/Counterfeit Electronic Parts: Avoidance, Detection, Mitigation, and Disposition – Distributors), which mainly consists of a rigorous set of requirements related to procurement, external provider management, inspection, test and evaluation, reporting, and material control of EEE parts to mitigate the risk of buying, receiving, and selling fraudulent and counterfeit parts.
“Our quality, sales, procurement, and operations team members have become experts in awareness and compliance of both the AS9120 and AS6081 standards,” said Sourceability Quality Management System Manager Bessy Estrada, in the release. “Obtaining the AS6081 certification will open new doors for Sourceability as demand for electronic components continues to grow.”
According to Sourceability, customers can be confident that when they procure components from the company, they will be protected from potentially harmful parts entering their aerospace and defense supply chains. The AS6081 standard contains specific avoidance requirements and inspection methods, including sample size to be used, specific tests to be performed (such as X-ray, X-RF, and decapsulation), acceptance/rejection criteria, and documentation requirements. These methods ensure that all products entering and exiting the supply chain through Sourceability are authentic. They also ensure that the risk of nontraceable material “has been mitigated by the unwavering commitment to counterfeit mitigation and quality control,” the company said in the release.