When Imitation Isn't Flattery
Richard Scott investigates the problem of counterfeited electrical products seeping into legitimate supply chains.
In the world TV, film and trashy novels, the counterfeiter has a rather glamorous image. A loveable rogue and a brilliant craftsman, able to fool the experts into parting company with hundreds and thousands of pounds. Obviously, the victims are always large corporations or super-rich individuals.
This player in the criminal fraternity, more so than almost any other, is one that many of us harbour a slight soft spot for. Perhaps too many re-runs of Lovejoy has frozen our mental image of the counterfeiter peddling charming knock-off antiques in some sleepy village in East Anglia.
Counterfeiting in the real world, and in the 21st century presents a far more dangerous and insidious threat to the general public and engineers alike. Over the past few months there have been several more accounts of fake electrical products finding their way into the supply chain that could easily cause horrendous damage, and even death if used. The most worrying of these was the thousands of imitation Square D circuit breakers discovered in America late last year.
It seems almost inconceivable that even a dishonest outfit would choose a circuit breaker as a product to imitate. Authentic in appearance, especially if you’re not familiar with the brand, these products could have catastrophic consequences for the innocent end user as they offer none of the protective qualities of a genuine circuit breaker and are liable not to trip.
A similar story emerged more recently of counterfeit Merlin Gerin C45N MCBs. Counterfeiters appear to have been even less concerned for the user’s welfare as the fake MCBs contain virtually no internal workings. It is essentially a shell sold as a fully working product. It is worth noting the enclosure was made from an inferior, brittle plastic which is also a light cream colour rather than a genuine light grey.
The source of many of these items is thought to be the Far East with China being the most energetic producer. Partly as a result of China’s recent industrial development and partly due to a long-held disrespect of Copyright law, the country has seen counterfeiting move into more technically advanced products along with the traditional fare of T-shirts, CDs and perfumes. Whereas clothing manufacturers used to be the hardest hit by illegal copies, now audio/visual, mobile phone and electrical component manufacturers need to be wary of their brands being hijacked by the fake industry.
The difference between these two sides of the counterfeit business (and it now is a fully-fledged, thriving business) is that many of the people who buy fake clothes, CDs or watches are fully aware of their origin. In fact, many tourists see it as a key part of their holiday experience; to purchase something just to see if it works or is even still in one piece by the time they reach home. An engineer buying a circuit breaker through a reputable wholesaler will be completely unaware of any risk and both the engineer and the wholesaler will be unwittingly putting themselves into a perilous legal situation.
So how is the threat being combated and whose responsibility is it? Well, as the open letter from Schneider suggests, it is the supplier and installer, not the manufacturer of the genuine product who would carry the legal can if the product fails. That is understandable. What may be necessary, however, is that manufacturers will need to make their products more difficult to copy, for instance with holographic labelling.
EPA spoke to Mike Hingley of Schneider who told us this was something that was being done, though it is not without its problems. “With a company such as Schneider, which has such a large product catalogue, difficulty comes with making sure the particular anti-counterfeiting measure suits the product in question. This is an issue being addressed currently.”
It is obviously a huge task for any manufacturer large or small and probably not something that was even on their radar a few years ago. But it is unlikely the problem will fade, so it is imperative manufacturers take steps to ensure counterfeiters’ lives are made as difficult as possible. As the open letter says, it is in every legitimate business’s best interest that everyone remains vigilant. The industry is competitive enough without illegal products infiltrating the market!
Until manufacturers find the best tactic to confound the fraudsters, the responsibility is predominantly with stockists and contractors to check the equipment they buy. Alarm bells should always ring when a deal seems too good to be true.
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