This Thanksgiving, Tania Scroggie expresses her gratitude on behalf of GDCA for our OEM partners and customers who have partnered with us to support their legacy embedded systems for their own customers. For several decades, GDCA has been working hard to support and sustain the needs of legacy embedded systems customers, and we are always grateful for our OEM partners who understand that even outdated technology has a crucial role to play for many of their customers.

Check out the eighth episode of Tania’s Teachables, a short video series that explores the importance of legacy equipment manufacturing in supply chain sustainment and support for legacy customers.

Even Outdated Technology can have a Crucial Role

In a world where innovation is moving at the speed of light, everyone is often focused on the latest and greatest in embedded electronics technology. We tend to overlook the older systems used throughout our everyday lives, systems that allow planes to fly, keep power grids running, and medical equipment functioning–and that’s just a few examples. These are systems that have long life cycles and often can’t easily be replaced or upgraded.

That’s where legacy equipment manufacturers like GDCA come in. When we talk about legacy sustainment, we’re talking about sustaining those crucial older systems so that they remain reliable and operational after it is no longer convenient or profitable for the OEM to support them directly. GDCA partners with OEMs to provide the support needed to keep critical embedded systems operational, manufacturing, repairing, and maintaining these legacy systems to expand their lifespan and free up our OEM partners so they can focus on innovation.

A Real Life Example on the Importance of Legacy Sustainment

Recently, GDCA completed a project that shows how important it is to be committed to legacy system sustainment. We manufactured five different discontinued circuit boards from three different OEMs, all of which were essential for a defense-related system on an aircraft carrier. The system was deployed and about six months ago, the carrier came under attack. The willingness of the three OEMs to work with GDCA ensured the readiness of this system and the aircraft carrier when the attack came.

This instance is proof of the need for the sustainment of legacy embedded systems. OEMs who support legacy systems aren’t just doing the right thing–they’re strengthening their relationships with their customers, gaining a competitive advantage, and generating new opportunities for revenue streams.
That’s why we’re so grateful for our OEM partners–they are helping GDCA support a resilient future for the embedded industry. And on behalf of the customers we serve, we express our sincere gratitude for their support and their partnership.