Secure Aeronautical

"Unapproved parts'' is the FAA's term for components not certified as airworthy—from fraudulently produced knockoffs made with inadequate alloys to recycled pieces misrepresented to hide defects, age or crash damage.

The worldwide aircraft parts market is worth $45 billion.  It is not known how many "not airworthy" parts have claimed lives, because official records are not kept internationally and are a topic of dispute in the United States.  However, there is a high degree of certainty that the aircraft industry is under assault from counterfeiters and gray market participants.  Quality control managers at aircraft repair stations believe the system is contaminated and are finding unapproved parts on a daily basis.

Most major international airlines have encountered unapproved parts—and the problem is more serious in the developing world, where regulations are lenient and sometimes nonexistent. Unapproved aircraft parts are suspected of having played a role in many more accidents than federal records indicate. In addition to the public safety hazard, counterfeit aircraft parts are a substantial burden on aircraft part manufacturers.  Similar to the automotive aftermarket, revenues lost to counterfeiters carry operating profit margins that are substantially higher than the average operating profit margins reflected in a company's financial statements. 

The industry is in need of a track and trace system to validate parts. SSI technology will fulfill this need. 

SSI's patented ESC™ System can provide aircraft parts manufacturers true unit-level track and trace of their products. 

The ESC™ System can create a unique, single hybrid one dimensional and two dimensional bar code that can incorporate the information contained in the multiple bar codes in use by the aircraft industry, and provide an electronic pedigree that can be tracked and traced through the supply chain during a parts useful life. 

This can be accomplished with readily available, off-the-shelf bar code scanners. 

Furthermore, SSI's patented technology is able to incorporate the EPC™ format and represents a true bridge and backup to unit-level RFID technology.