GDCA, Author at GDCA - Page 8 of 12

GDCA

As the pioneer in COTS obsolescence management, GDCA is authorized by our OEM partners to continue to manufacture and repair the embedded legacy products critical to long-lasting applications. Using OEM-authorized IP and original specifications, GDCA provides repair, long-term customer support, manufacturing, and sustainment for over three thousand End-of-Life, COTS, and custom-embedded computer boards and systems.

Apr 09

A Tale of Two SHIELDS: Marvel Comics, DARPA, and Counterfeiting

GDCA

Anti-Counterfeiting, Defense

Marvel Comic’s SHIELD (Strategic help Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and, slick as it is, it is more likely to wind up counterfeited than prevent counterfeiting

It is a program devised by a secretive government agency. Its purpose is to organize and motivate the top actors in their fields to come together to prevent crimes that threaten not only the economy but our national security. It focuses its attention on producing cutting-edge technologies. It is SHIELD, and it is becoming a reality.

No . . . no . . . not that SHIELD. That’s Marvel Comic’s SHIELD (Strategic help Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and, slick as it is, it is more likely to wind up counterfeited than prevent counterfeiting. We’re talking about the Supply Chain Hardware Integrity for Electronics Defense program being initiated by DARPA, and rather than placing a series of gigantic floating gun platforms in the upper atmosphere, it’s looking to place tiny 100 micron by 100 micron authentication dielets on all the electronic components used in Department of Defense programs.
Mar 12

Drinking From a Too-Short Straw: The Brutal Costs of Mismanaging Obsolescence

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

It can be easy for those of us in the embedded industry to think of obsolescence as predominantly an electronics or software issue and to imagine its scope as limited […]
Feb 26

Obsolescence: Too Soon or Not Soon Enough?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

It is strange how onboarding the concept of legacy sustainment can change the way you look at the world around you. On a recent road trip along one of the […]
Nov 13

Keys to Managing DMSMS: A Clear Assessment of Obsolescence Risk

GDCA

Defense, Events, Obsolescence

“Proactively consider DMSMS through[out] a system’s life cycle by anticipating potential DMSMS occurrences and taking appropriate logistics, acquisition, and budgeting steps to prevent DMSMS from adversely affecting readiness or total […]
Oct 23

Keys to Successfully Managing DMSMS: Being Proactive

GDCA

Defense, Events, Manufacturing, Obsolescence

“Proactively take timely and effective actions to identify and minimize the DMSMS impact on DoD acquisition and logistics support efforts.” SD-22 DMSMS Guidebook The DMSMS conference is just around the […]
Oct 09

SAE AeroTech 2013: Innovation and Total Life Cycle Support

GDCA

Events

The SAE 2013 AeroTech Congress and Exhibition in Montréal, Quebec, Canada, brought together an international community to discuss both design and total life-cycle sustainment. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) boards and components […]
Sep 18

Software Obsolescence: Why Modernization Doesn’t Necessarily Mean “Modern”

GDCA

Defense, Manufacturing, Obsolescence

For players in the embedded industry it is easy to forget how large the problem of obsolescence can be, especially beyond the component level. Recently, I was talking to a software engineer who had spent a year doing software modernization, as a result of upgrading a flight navigational system from the original code to Linux.

The reasoning for the transition certainly made sense—the program was having difficulties finding software engineers who could continue to sustain programming that had been implemented during the early 1980s. While the system was incredibly robust and was considered “bulletproof,” it could no longer be supported the way it had been. Under pressure to upgrade, the program moved to Linux, which has a community that affords an active and growing resource for talent.
Sep 04

Golf: A Good Thing Never Truly Becomes Obsolete

GDCA

Events

Every year at National Instruments NI Week in Austin, TX the GDCA team gets to enjoy a wave of hot weather that is only overshadowed by a tide of hot technology innovation. NI Week does a wonderful job of providing a forum for education and inspiration. As one of the few conferences where GDCA has a booth, we decided to challenge the NI Week attendees putting skills by bringing out “The Beast”—10 feet of the most challenging green we’ve ever encountered at a conference. Because we were keeping in mind the balance of innovation and legacy, we had two putters handy for people to try: a state of the art putter supplied by Ethan, and a legacy putter from the 1930s supplied by our in-house golf champ, Arlin.
Aug 21

Counterfeit Mitigation: The Trouble with “Tagging”

GDCA

Anti-Counterfeiting, Events, Manufacturing, Obsolescence

When the subject of counterfeit mitigation and avoidance comes up you generally find a couple of areas that people focus on: standards, test/inspection, and tagging. Tagging can involve many things, […]
Aug 07

Are PCs becoming obsolete?

GDCA

Obsolescence

Recently on NPR I heard that PC sales have hit a record low. With the growing touch screen market, even Windows is focusing their innovation and development on the tablet […]