ERAI Inc. and the UKEA announce landmark information sharing agreement

NAPLES, Fla., April 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —  ERAI, a leading source of risk assessment information related to counterfeit electronics and high risk parts in the electronics supply chain, and the UK Electronics Alliance (UKEA), a consortium of the leading trade associations representing the UK electronics sector, are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement to share information on counterfeit and high-risk parts.

With reports of counterfeit parts in the electronics supply chain still increasing at an alarming rate infiltrating even the most secure supply chains, the sharing of information between the world's largest database of non-conforming material and the leading online resource for information on counterfeiting in the electronics supply chain will bring significant benefits to their respective client communities.

ERAI and the UKEA will 'swap' partial information from their respective online suspected counterfeit parts databases so that both databases will contain thousands of documented suspect counterfeit reports.  The manufacturer's name, part number and the date the part was originally reported will be shared but further information such as the date code and how to identify that the part is counterfeit will only be accessible from the originator's database.

The transfer of information from ERAI to the UKEA's www.anticounterfeitingforum.com website has already been completed and includes links from each entry to the ERAI database to enable ERAI's subscribers to view the original entry with a single click. A corresponding transfer from the UKEA to ERAI will be completed shortly.

ERAI and the UKEA will also share new suspect part information as they are reported to enable their respective client communities to benefit from the world's most comprehensive email alert service.

Mark Snider, President of ERAI, Inc., said, “By sharing information from our database with the UKEA, we hope to raise awareness relative to the true extent of the problem of counterfeiting in the global electronics supply chain and benefit the wider electronics community”.

Peter Brooks, Chairman of the UK Electronics Alliance, said, “By collaborating in this way, two of the most significant organizations leading the fight against counterfeiting in the electronics supply chain have achieved a great step forward by increasing visibility of where the risks exist.”