Obsolescence Archives - Page 5 of 7 - GDCA

May 07

Microgrid Death Spiral: The Argument Over “Obsolete” Power Infrastructure

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

In January of 2013, the Edison Electric Institute released a report titled “Disruptive Challenges: Financial Implications and Strategic Responses to a Changing Retail Electric Business”, which outlined a variety of challenges traditional power utilities will face in the upcoming years. The current power infrastructure in the United States wasn’t constructed with end-user power generation in mind, so the increasing power independence of households and businesses creates threats of “irreparable damages to revenues and growth prospects.” Chief among new technologies are advanced renewable energy sources, including solar, and the growth of grid-independent distributed power generators, aka microgrids.
Apr 23

Counterfeit Components Hurt More Than Military Applications

GDCA

Anti-Counterfeiting, Manufacturing, Obsolescence

When reading the news around counterfeit components, much of the dialogue is driven by the defense industry. When you are dealing with systems that protect our national security and the lives of the people out in the field – you’re not dealing with counterfeits in a bunch of trivial electronics. You’re taking necessary steps to protect the lives of men and women who depend on the systems for their safety. Since 2011 more than 1800 cases of counterfeit components were reported in defense applications, including mission computers operating the THAAD missile system, in the Air Force’s C-27J, in the Navy’s P-8A, and in electromagnetic interference filters on an SH-60B helicopter.

However, the trouble with counterfeits isn’t limited to the defense industry and the military. They’re just currently the ones driving the conversation and legislation such as the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, Sec. 818.
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 […]
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.
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 […]
Jun 11

COTS: A “reactive” good idea (continued)

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

To answer the question, we need to look at the issues of innovation from a different angle; namely economics and markets. Free markets are a wonderful concept as long as […]

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