November 2019 |
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Letter from the CEO Blinded by the Top Line Perhaps you’ve heard the phase, “You get what you measure.” This is the reason we set up performance reports that reflect the things we want to achieve. After all, if we’re not measuring it, how can we demonstrate whether or not we’re succeeding?It’s also true that, “You don’t always measure what you get.” This is especially true of the unintended consequences of focusing too much on …READ MORE Critical Thought For embedded board OEMs, Lifecycle Optimization and your electronics product portfolio are an important part of profit and loss considerations when determining your business objectives. Aging products’ impact on ROI is regularly overlooked. Component obsolescence, manufacturing bottlenecks and increasing demands on operational resources create gaps that drag down new product introduction and can considerably slow the pace of OEM innovation—undermining efforts to gain competitive advantages in the marketplace…READ MORE Featured Podcast Obsolescence is something that many vendors dread. But fear not, help is out there. Just because a chip or a board is no longer available from your supplier, you may be able to find a replacement part, and you don’t need to build it yourself. Vendors like GDCA specialize in replacing parts that are no longer available. How do they do that, and is it a wise choice to continue with a product that’s no longer in production? Those are some of the questions Rich Nass asked of “obsolescence expert,” Ethan Plotkin, the CEO of GDCA in this week’s Five Minutes With…. Past Events SAE AEROTECH EUROPE This year, our CEO, Ethan Plotkin, attended the SAE Aerotech Conference in Bordeaux, France. GDCA was there for the Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul session where we gave a presentation, “New Sources of Supply: An Alternative to Reverse Engineering Obsolete Circuit Cards.” Plotkin also became the last-minute stand-in moderator for the Aircraft Cyber-Physical System (CPS) Security panel. Along with the SAE CPS Security G-32 committee, we discussed challenges ranging from engaging key supply chain figures in standards development (think chip-makers), to collaborating with other industries on shared terminology and best practices (think automotive, medical, and rail). Special thanks to the great panelists, Airbus›s Jean-Claude Nanche, Boeing›s Bill Schofield, FAA›s Di Reimold, and the EUASA›s Cyrille Rosay, for an open and intimate discussion. TINKER AND THE PRIMES Tinker and Primes 2019. This was another great opportunity for Industry and the USAF to talk about how we work better together. A highlight this year saw the Honorable Robert McMahon (Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment) encouraging product support managers to decide what to put into Lifecycle Support Plans, instead of prescribing what should be included. On the Road (Upcoming Appearances) December 2-5, 2019 |