The chaotic landscape of the chip market has also made strict quality control (QC) a topmost prerequisite for distributors to establish a strong market footing, and testing capabilities become a reliable source of supply. As an industry-leading hybrid distributor of electronic components and a professional Internet of Things (IoT) solution provider, and a member of ERAI Association，Ezkey advocates surpassing competitors through quality, which it achieves via high regard for quality control, unceasing development of testing capabilities, and dedication to fulfill quality commitment across the board.These ensure that all Ezkey’s parts and components are 100% genuine.

Ezkey has established logistics quality inspection centers in Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung District and Shenzhen’s Nanshan District, which are respectively renowned as a global logistics hub and China’s Silicon Valley. It has also smoothly passed ISO9001 and ERAI certifications thanks to the proven team of veteran QC test engineers and a lineup of high-end professional testing equipment. Ezkey also complies with relevant internationally-recognized standards in its day-to-day business operations, while also employing the three-tiered international QC standard workflow, and establishing strategic partnerships with reputed third-party QC centers, e.g., White Horse Laboratories. These steps have been taken to strengthen the QC process of parts and components.

Dark, the person in charge of our Ezkey QC center, pointed out that counterfeit components are ubiquitous throughout the electronic product supply chain. The batches of chips currently being circulated in the market can generally be classified into four raw materials, i.e., genuine with OEM packaging, new unpackaged bulks, refurbished and “superfake” knockoffs. Our QC test engineers know the material features for every brand, inside-out, and are able to immediately spot dubious parts/components thanks to the combination of their extensive industry knowledge and professional training experience. Now that we’ve established how counterfeits are detected and quality is immaculately controlled in Ezkey, how are the QC and inspection process implemented?

No stones on the packaging should be left unturned — the details matter because they contain clues that allow us to preliminarily lock in on the dubious parts, which could be present practically anywhere, e.g., package seals, and appear in any form, e.g., overall length, stamp impressions. Moreover, the moisture sensitivity level (MSL) of the packaging should also be thoroughly compared with the datasheet given the high correlation between refurbished materials and fake labels. Apart from MSL, details to also be attentive to include the paper type, printing format, ink, and character font, all of which must tick all the boxes in the OEM datasheet to pass the QC.

After passing the external packaging , the tapes and reels still need an inspection. The “superfakes” and new unpackaged bulks tend to go through tape and reel packaging or repackaging in technologically-inferior OEMs, where shortcomings like inconsistent placement and burrs on rear-side base holes of the reel, are common, not to mention their tendency to laminate with poorer raw material quality and produce uniformity that are inferior to their OEM counterparts.

A high-power microscope provides Ezkey with the ability to cover and clarify more details, e.g., whether packages have been sanded and refinished. Considering that laser-engraved markings are more solvent-resistant, acetone swabbing is used to tell the original ones apart from remarkings. Seeing that disassembling is immediately associated with sanding and uneven/crooked pins, chip dimensions need to be remeasured and pin coating attentively observed to test nonconformity to relevant specifications.

Following the chip encapsulation by the OEMs, an out-of-factory probing procedure is carried out as a part of performance testing, and a portion of these chips are identified as low-yield substandard defective batches. Some of these still find their way into the market through unconventional means, causing new unpackaged bulks to litter the market. X-ray inspection is a non-destructive testing approach that utilizes rays to penetrate through encapsulations, observe the chips’ interiors, and verify the presence of defects, e.g., broken wire bonds and cracked dice. In addition, lead consistency, frame shape, and die size can all help identify a “superfake” knockoff.

I-V curve tracers and multimeters are used to check the presence of short and open circuits among the pins. Ezkey’s QC center is equipped with a raft of testing equipment, which includes optical microscopes, LCR testers, withstand voltage testers, impedance testers, DC sources, and X-ray testers. Ezkey runs all tests in accordance with internationally-recognized QC standards and boasts the capability to perform 100% inspection requests to help raise your quality.

Wafers used in some "superfakes” and refurbished materials are not manufactured in the sites of authorized OEMs. To inspect the interiors, the encapsulation is removed under the effects of laser and solvents so as to expose both the die and wire bonds. In this scenario, before using a high-power microscope to observe the circuit configuration, spot out the defective workmanship and determine if the OEM logo is present, thereby judging the authenticity. We also hire the services of White Horse Laboratories, CECC Lab and Foxconn CMC to complement our findings and provide you with a more comprehensive and authoritative decap inspection results.

In addition to workflow management, Ezkey also evaluates and screens original material suppliers right from the source, organizes theoretical and practical QC training activities regularly, and establishes a sound sample bank based on an ERP system to photograph and archive the details of every incoming material, including their packages and appearance, thereby allowing test engineers to retrace the quality of materials all the way back to the out-of-factory batch status.