Author: Teri Ivaniszyn,
Vice President of Digi-Key Electronics,
operational excellence
Today's culture demands more transparency and information from brands than ever before. Whether it's food, beauty, automotive, or electronics, customers want to know where their products come from and what they're made of. They also want to know more about the companies they support: their operating procedures, the way they treat their employees, their commitment to sustainability, and much more. At Digi-Key, we share our customers' desire for transparency and information. And when it comes to our suppliers, we demand the same type of information that our customers need from us. Traceability is information provided by manufacturers, such as date codes, lot numbers, or serial numbers, so that anyone throughout the supply chain can trace components back to the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in the event they something goes wrong. Many have compared it to the "farm to fork" model of the food industry. Within the electronic component industry, traceability is quickly becoming a growing focus.
The importance of traceability in the supply chain of electronic components cannot be underestimated. Firstly, at a time when competition is tough and earning consumer trust is vital, traceability is critical to protecting a brand's reputation. If a product is recalled or malfunctions during testing, being able to accurately and quickly trace the problem back to the manufacturer can mean the difference between building customer trust and ruining your reputation. As the field of IoT continues to grow, and within the medical, aerospace and automotive industries, the need for greater traceability is becoming more important. In addition to strengthening and maintaining a brand's reputation, sourcing traceable products can also save companies considerable money. If a product fails, the OEM or subcontractor can quickly send a recall notice, reducing legal costs and mitigating lost profits. Defects with genuine products can also be quarantined much more easily than with counterfeit parts, reducing the amount of labor and time spent correcting a problem. As discussions and demand for traceability continue to grow, Digi-Key's commitment to traceability leads the industry. All of our products are genuine, and we only buy direct from our 800+ franchised manufacturers to ensure that the component is new, authentic, and fully warrantable under the direct supplier, and that accurate and up-to-date technical information is readily available. For each of our more than 8.2 million components, Digi-Key has 10-year documentation that demonstrates part traceability and authenticity.
These certificates are available to any customer who requests them. Additionally, each of our 800 suppliers undergoes a meticulous process to ensure traceability. They fill out the initial paperwork, we determine if the product is authentic, and we make sure that up-to-date and accurate technical information is readily available. As a result of this process and commitment, we are able to distribute our components with confidence and guarantee our customers the highest level of traceability. This fall we went one step further and became one of the only distributors worldwide to be certified by the Anti-Counterfeiting Accreditation Program (CAAP). This demonstrates that our counterfeit controls have been verified by a third party auditing company and ensures that our components comply with AS6496 aerospace standard. Digi-Key also has disposition, inventory control, receipt, and customer return verification controls developed to adhere to the mitigation certificate and anti-counterfeiting offered by AS6496. In the event Digi-Key identifies a suspected or confirmed counterfeit product in the supply chain, Digi-Key has established processes to quarantine the product and report the findings to the supplier, relevant customers, and the appropriate authorities. In addition to the CAAP, we also maintain the ISO 9001:2015 standard, which certifies the purchase, storage and distribution of electronic components and computer products to original equipment manufacturers or customer specifications, including technical support and value-added processes. In other words, we not only seek transparency in our components, but also in our business practices and customer service. Digi-Key is proud to have a growing number of references and suppliers, but our heart and soul remains the same: to support the engineer. One of the most important ways we can do this is by ensuring they have access to the highest quality components on the market. At Digi-Key, we're excited about the growing dialogue around traceability and the increased demand for authentic products. We look forward to continuing to equip engineers and manufacturers around the world with products that are 100 percent traceable, from prototype to final product.
