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IPC Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association Council
Position on Counterfeit and Inferior Parts and Unlicensed Software
The IPC Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association (SMEMA) is committed to delivering the industry -- their customers -- well running, safe, quality products to facilitate the continued growth of the electronics assembly industry.
Unfortunately, counterfeit inferior reworked, refurbished, and cannibalized parts and illegally transferred or copied software destroy the quality, reliability, safety and dependability of the equipment we proudly produce.
It is therefore the IPC SMEMA Council’s position that equipment and software warranty and support obligations should not apply where the customer has altered or modified equipment manufacturers' products without prior written approval, where damages have resulted from noncompliance with published operating procedures, or where the customer has used replacement parts or software not supplied by the manufacturer or authorized suppliers.
To highlight this potential problem for our customers, the IPC SMEMA Council urges its members to consider modification of their terms and conditions to emphasize that equipment manufacturers are not responsible for damage caused by counterfeit inferior reworked, refurbished, and cannibalized parts and illegally transferred or copied software and that use of such items will result in the warranty on the equipment being void.
We regret that some of our valued customers have been misled by producers and suppliers of counterfeit inferior reworked, refurbished, and cannibalized parts and illegally transferred or copied software but equipment manufacturers cannot be responsible for use of such items - which have neither been manufactured nor approved as to quality, reliability and safety. We urge the industry to avoid use of these items in order to avoid quality, reliability and safety issues as well.
IPC SMEMA Council Steering Committee
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Chairman
Leo Van de Vall
President and CEO
Assembleon America, Inc.
John Byers
President
Nordson Asymtek
Mark Cowell
President
OK International
Leonard “Butch” Garrison
President & CEO, Americas
ASM Assembly Systems |
John F. Hartner
Executive Vice President
Dover Technologies International, Inc.
Kathleen Iverson
President & CEO
CyberOptics Corporation
Timothy Kardish
CEO
APS Novastar LLC
Scott Koizumi
Vice President/General Manager
Speedline Technologies, Inc. |
Marc Peo
President
Heller Industries Inc.
Jack Rozwat
General Manager, EMT Americas
Agilent Technologies
Carsten Salewski
President/CEO
Viscom Inc.
Jeffrey Timms
GM Electronics Assembly
Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. of America
Scott Wischoffer
Marketing Manager
Fuji America Corporate |
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