Obsolescence Archives - Page 5 of 6

Oct 24

DMSMS 2012 – Evacuation from Hurricane Isaac and Collaboration in Action

GDCA

Defense, Events, Obsolescence

Proactive obsolescence management can often be an adventure. I like to think of it as a cross-industry supply chain game of chess. On one side, you have legacy experts like GDCA, with a quarter of a century of experience sustaining legacy systems. On the other side you have counterfeit risk, disruptive technology and time.

This year, we had an additional player when it comes to long-term support adventures: Hurricane Isaac.

“DMSMS” is a defense industry term and you can’t talk about embedded obsolescence management without eventually coming across it. For anyone not familiar with it, it stands for Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages. These shortages can happen due to ongoing disruptive technology (going from NAND to DRAM), environmental disaster (such a flooding in Thailand or the nuclear emergencies in Japan), and plain old EOL. And, because you can’t always predict how obsolescence and end-of-life is going to impact a supply chain, you can imagine that the DMSMS conference is something we at GDCA look forward to every year.
Sep 26

What do vintage cars and embedded boards have in common?

GDCA

Defense, Obsolescence

They both get harder to maintain as they get older, and if you don’t plan for obsolescence, they can both fail.

It’s common sense. As things get older, they become more expensive to maintain. For example, an antique car was state-of-the art when it first came out. It performed beautifully, and the parts were easy to find. If it had any real problems, it could be taken into the dealer for repairs. However, now that the car is a classic, it requires a lot more upkeep. In the past, it only needed to be taken in for oil changes and tune ups. Now it needs a new transmission, replacement brakes, a new timing belt and a new radiator… and as time passes, the mechanic can’t even get the parts he needs to fix it.

As the components become harder to find, the odds that your car can even feasibly be repaired get more remote. At first, you might scour junkyards and advertise online, looking for those crucial pieces of equipment, but eventually you will probably end up having to find someone who can reverse engineer or custom build the needed parts for you. And now a part that may have been $300 new is going to cost you hundreds more — if not thousands.

With each transaction, that car gets more and more expensive to fix and maintain, but some cars just can’t be replaced.
Sep 12

Legacy and NI Week 2012

GDCA

Events, Manufacturing, Obsolescence

When people think of “legacy”, they often think of what is being passed along or left to the future. We believe a business’ legacy is the lasting mark they make […]
Aug 22

Obsolescence and why you can’t always just make more.

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

When I first began my work with GDCA one of the questions I had was “Why is dealing with obsolete components not just about making more parts?”

As I have come to learn, unfortunately, obsolescence management is not just as simple as “making more parts.”

Imagine you manufacture various components. In the 1960s, the computers you were making parts for were relatively simple, without many customers who could even afford computers; quantities were low, the manufacturing was relatively easy, and products generally lasted longer.

Let’s jump forward to today. Over time, and as technology has evolved (Moore’s Law), your fabrication company’s production has also evolved. Now with each product line, you are cranking out hundreds of thousands of parts each day. Customers who need 50 parts are not happy to hear of a 5000 part minimum order quantity (MOQ). And besides, to some the manufacturers even a 5000 MOQ on an older part can be a distraction.
Jul 25

Does Innovation = Forced Obsolescence?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

Is there a downside to new technology innovation? We all love and encourage innovation, but what is the hidden cost?

Critical embedded applications in the Defense and Medical industry are a great example of where this question comes into play. Both these applications have people’s lives relying on them, and both require extended life cycles due to critical verification and certification requirements.

If an OEM experiences sharp drop in demand for a particular embedded board, it doesn’t make any business sense to continue building more, and the board will likely become obsolete. Everyone understands that an OEM can’t remain competitive if they have to support every product they’ve ever developed… forever. But if that board is still being used in the defense or medical industry, suddenly the systems engineer is faced with diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages (DMSMS) and higher risk of exposure to counterfeits if obsolete components must now be sourced.
Jul 11

SMTA & CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit Electronic Parts and Electronic Supply Chain

GDCA

Anti-Counterfeiting, Defense, Events, Obsolescence

The recent reports concerning the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 continue to shake up things in the Defense industry. This past week was the SMTA & CALCE Symposium on Counterfeit […]
Jun 07

What does Brooks Stevens have to do with “Planned Obsolescence”?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

You may not know about Brooks Stevens, and today is his birthday.

Clifford Brooks Stevens, born June 7, 1911, was an American industrial designer of home furnishings, appliances, automobiles and motorcycles— as well as a graphic designer and stylist. At the time of his death, he was considered “a major force in industrial design.”

If Google was to do a custom sketch for his birthday, it would probably be the widely recognized Oscar Mayer “Wienermobile” or the Harley-Davidson motorcycles body he designed in the 60s (production of new bikes are still based on Stevens’ body designs).

But how many will reference a topic sure to light a fuse in any frugal consumer? Planned Obsolescence.
May 23

Who says obsolete equipment is junk?

GDCA

Manufacturing

Sometimes we can get a little carried away with our work here at GDCA. From embedded boards to trains, we love talking about all things legacy and EOL; and we […]
May 01

GDCA: Celebrating 25 Years of Legacy Support

GDCA

Events, Obsolescence

1987 takes us back: a dozen eggs were 65 cents, a gallon of gas was 89 cents, you and the family may have tuned-in to watch the premiere of a […]
Apr 11

Does the prospect of overstocking kill your critical embedded systems?

GDCA

Manufacturing, Obsolescence

The past few decades has seen exponential advancement in circuit board technologies and related industries. This unprecedented technological growth has devastated many older critical embedded applications and their manufacturers, with […]