An enterprise network model for understanding and disrupting illicit counterfeit electronic part supply chains

This article analyses several promising policies in the electronic parts industry for disrupting the flow of counterfeit electronic parts. A socio-technical electronic part supply-chain network model has been developed to facilitate policy analysis. The model is used to understand the technical and social dynamics associated with the insertion of counterfeit electronic components into critical systems (e.g., aerospace, transportation, defense, and infrastructure) and to analyze the impact of various anti-counterfeiting policies and practices. This network model is used to assess the effectiveness of mandatory original component manufacturer buyback programs and the debarment of distributors found to provide counterfeit components. In this agent-based model, each participant in the supply chain is modeled as an independent entity governed by its own motivations and constraints. The entities in the model include the original component manufacturers, distributors, system integrators, operators, and counterfeiters. Each of these entities has dynamic behaviors and connections to the other agents. Since time is an integral factor (lead times and inventory levels can be drivers behind the appearance of counterfeits), the simulation is dynamic. The model allows the prediction of the risk of counterfeits making it into an operator’s system and the length of time between relevant supply-chain events/disruptions and the appearance of counterfeits.