22 September 2014
Preventing the diversion of sensitive vacuum measuring equipment
As a leading manufacturer of capacitance manometers, an item used to measure near-vacuum pressures in semiconductor, pharmaceutical or advanced coating processes, MKS products are perhaps the best example of a dual-use ‘chokepoint technology’ – an item without which some forms of gaseous uranium enrichment could falter or even be set back.
This paper describes one logistical technique referred to by MKS as the “Controlled Delivery” model (or Direct Factory Shipment Program, DFSP) for reducing the systemic risk of sensitive dual-use technologies being diverted to proliferation programmes of concern through illicit trade. The adoption of this voluntary approach by MKS is an example of “Anti-proliferation” in practice – the concept of resilience to proliferation in companies’ supply chains. Click HERE to visit the publications page.