Richard McDermott Discusses "Tamper-evident e-Seal" at the Symposium on Counterfeit Parts and Materials
Bio: Dr. Richard McDermott earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Leeds University, England in 1974 at age 25 and emigrated to the US in 1975. He purchased his first business from WR Grace in 1981. A self-described serial entrepreneur, McDermott has owned 30 businesses over the last 33 years. He acquired SignaKey four years ago and it now has facilities in Michigan, Arizona, Massachusetts, Alton UK and Zug, Switzerland.
McDermott joined the Board of ECC Corporation (ECCC) in 2013. In 2014 he was elected to the office of Treasurer. In late 2014 he was appointed Interim President after the previous President left the organization. In spring of 2015 he was elected President of ECCC and shortly thereafter elected to Council of USNC. McDermott had a key role in developing and promoting e-Labelling and writing the new IECQ AP Specification.
Abstract: OEM's are often placed into the loathed predicament of being forced into acquiring hard-to-find parts from non-franchised (Independent) distributors. To mitigate their risk, the OEM's are negotiating these contracts wherein they specify precisely what inspections are to be done, by whom, and under what rules - on 100% of the parts. US OEM's and Primes favor the section rules of SAE AS 6171 (Test Methods Standard; General Requirements, Suspect/Counterfeit, Electrical, Electronic, and Electromechanical Parts), whereas their European counterparts favor SAE AS 6081 (Fraudulent/Counterfeit Electronic Parts: Avoidance, Detection, Mitigation, and Disposition - Distributors). Whatever the choice, the cost of inspections greatly outweighs the price the ID paid for the parts. A solution currently under 180-day Beta-test at ID's in both Europe and the US, involves a tamper-evident e-Seal where all the data attaches to a 2D Signakey barcode which secures all the tested parts in a sealed ESD pouch. The pouch is delivered to the OEM - who can access and view all the data from the Signakey. If it is all acceptable, they remove the seal and thereby take ownership of the components.
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