Counterfeit Cores and the Importance of Supply Chain Management. Micrometals, Inc. IBM 2005 Power and Cooling Symposium

Transcription

1 Counterfeit Cores and the Importance of Supply Chain Management Micrometals, Inc. IBM 2005 Power and Cooling Symposium 21 September 2005

2 Overview Review of Information Previously Presented Micrometals Registered U.S. Trademarks The Danger of OR EQUIVALENT Case Study of T equivalent Source Approval and Verification China Manufacturing

3 Review Thermal Aging Overview and Prediction Design Guidelines for Iron Powder 200C Series High Temperature Materials

4 U.S. Trademarks Micrometals Color Codes ~ 50 years Competitor Core Identification Original Trademark Registration 1998 Additional Registrations 2002 Implied Equivalence Violation of U.S. Trademark Law Damage Control

5 Registered U.S. Trademarks Protect Micrometals Color Codes Micrometals has been granted U.S. trademark protection for its unique material color codes. Competitor parts that use these trademarked color codes are in violation of U.S. law, even if the are in equipment as wound components

6 Micrometals Color Codes

7 Which Core is Reliable?

8 OR EQUIVALENT Who decides what qualifies as an acceptable equivalent? What tests are performed? Incoming tests and long term reliability Unique identification of equivalents Disclosure or deception The cost of control The cost of lack of control

9 Catalog Examples of Equivalents Core vendor said they were equivalent Cores had equivalent appearance Cores passed incoming inspection End user unaware of change in source The field failures start to occur..

10 Catalog Example - Competitor A Competitor - 55C Ambient Micrometals - 60C Ambient Operating Temperature ( C) Micrometals - 55C Ambient 100 T90-26, 633G, 75kHz 1,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 Time (Hours)

11 Catalog Example - Competitor B T184-26, 50kHz, 500G Competitor Core - 55 C Ambient Competitor Core - 35 C Ambient Operating Temp ( C) Micrometals Core - 55 C Ambient Time (Hours)

12 Recent Case Study: T Micrometals provided assistance in evaluating p/s field failures involving a competitor s equivalent to T The Micrometals design software indicated a genuine T would not fail in the manner being experienced 6 manufacturing lots of the competitor s cores were provided for thermal aging characterization

13 Recent Case Study: T The 6 lots of the competitor s cores along with 2 lots of Micrometals cores were characterized for thermal aging The predicted thermal life based on operation at 125 khz with 400 gauss of ripple flux and 2 watts of copper loss in a 65 C ambient is represented

14 Competitor C Equivalent Competitor C Equivalent Comp-2 Comp-1 Comp-4 Comp-6 Comp-3 Comp ,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 Time (Hours) Operating Temperature ( C)

15 Competitor C vs Micrometals Comp-2 MM-1 MM-2 Comp-1 Comp-4 Comp-6 Comp-3 Comp Operating Temperature ( C) ,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 Time (Hours)

16 Micrometals T vs Model 200 MM Model MM-1 MM-2 Operating Temperature ( C) ,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 Time (Hours)

17 Competitor C, #4 vs Micrometals 200 Comp-4 MM Model MM-1 MM-2 Operating Temperature ( C) ,000 10, ,000 1,000,000 10,000,000 Time (Hours)

18 Recent Case Study: T There is a great deal of lot-to-lot variation with the competitor s cores leading to a 65 times variation in predicted life - 6 months up to 32 years! The Micrometals cores tested exhibited a minimum predicted life of 62 years; well in excess of the standard model The aging model incorporated in the Micrometals design software is only valid for genuine Micrometals cores

19 Recent Case Study: T The cost of the competitor s cores is about $.08 each The cost of the Micrometals core is about $.10 each If there are 20,000 power supplies in the field with 2 cores in each, the vendor saved $800 on the cores The cost of a field recall can be staggering both in terms of dollars as well as reputation

20 Source Approval and Verification Avoid or equivalent on drawings for critical components - define approved sources after thorough evaluation Establish a written understanding with subcontractors regarding the use of approved sources only Monitor/audit subcontractors to verify compliance Advise vendors of critical materials which subcontractors are being used to allow follow up

21 Micrometals Organization Corporate Headquarters Anaheim, California Factory Anaheim, California Factory Abilene, Texas Future Factory Zhongshan, China Hong Kong Warehouse European Warehouse China Sales/Engineering Office

22 Micrometals China Zhongshan, China

23 Micrometals China Currently building 45,000 sq. ft. facility Building completion by Oct Production to start Dec Initial manufacturing to focus on toroids and E-cores in -26, -40, -52 Materials Other shapes and materials will be added with time

24 Summary There are numerous sources of iron powder cores that copy Micrometals appearance Thoroughly evaluate the long term, high temperature performance of every source of cores as initial performance can be misleading Source control of iron powder cores is essential to insure reliability Avoid counterfeit cores that violate U.S. Trademark Law

25 Micrometals, Inc East La Palma Ave. Anaheim, California Phone: Fax: Web: