• Golf: A Good Thing Never Truly Becomes Obsolete

    Golf: A Good Thing Never Truly Becomes Obsolete

    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.

  • Are PCs becoming obsolete?

    Are PCs becoming obsolete?

    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 […]

  • Sometimes Obsolescence is a Good Thing

    Sometimes Obsolescence is a Good Thing

    Throughout my work with GDCA and all the issues around obsolescence, I have never come across someone who believes that obsolescence is something to be celebrated and welcomed.  Everything associated […]

  • Looking at Legacy: Proactively managing the risk of counterfeit components

    Looking at Legacy: Proactively managing the risk of counterfeit components

    In general, defense sustainment and counterfeit avoidance has been left to DMSMS teams and logistics or engineering tactics.  However, so far the solution has primarily been to develop standards, authentication and anti-counterfeit technologies.  These responses have been critical, but have largely remained reactive and have not produced the dynamic collaboration crucial to maintaining a healthy, proactive supply chain.  Instead, each player is left facing inward — focusing on solutions from their own particular positions in the supply chain — but without the resources to truly be proactive.

  • The Risks of EOL: Lifetime Buy in “real world” terms

    The Risks of EOL: Lifetime Buy in “real world” terms

    In the past we’ve talked about the challenges of Last-time Buy and overstock.  In Dr. Sandborn’s CALCE Obsolescence Management training, this question illustrates the challenges and risks in regards to what customers can face, at the time of EOL.  The answer might be easy if you were looking at a “bridge buy”, where you only need enough to get you to the point of a planned upgrade.  If I had to only buy shoes to get me through five years it would be challenging but I could probably come up with a pretty good estimate based on the last five years of my life.

  • Cutting Electronic Waste out of the Counterfeit Supply Chain

    Cutting Electronic Waste out of the Counterfeit Supply Chain

    According to the EPA, although electronic waste (or sometimes known as “e-waste”) is less than 10% of the current solid waste stream, it is growing 2-3 times faster than any other waste stream.   In 2005 an estimated 26-37 million computers became obsolete and the Consumer Electronics Association reported that roughly 304 million electronics—were removed from US households.

    E-waste impacts the international community in many ways.  New innovations in industrial and commercial technology have forced obsolescence in equipment like computers, mobile phones and televisions, and refrigerators.  As consumers keep up with changing trends, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) estimates that 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste are generated each year and much of this electronic waste gets shipped overseas to developing areas in Asia, Africa, and South America.

  • DMSMS 2012 – Sustaining an Integrated Supply Chain

    DMSMS 2012 – Sustaining an Integrated Supply Chain

    After our evacuation from New Orleans, we wrote about the part that collaboration played in our experiences. While we focused on how the collaboration mostly focused on safely addressing an incoming hurricane; generally when we talk about collaboration here at GDCA, we’re talking about collaboration in the sense of an integrated supply chain poised to protect the embedded industry from unplanned obsolescence.

    That is why we’re taking a moment to celebrate and announce that DMSMS 2012 is back in the saddle for November 26-29, 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

    We know that in the face of obsolescence no one can afford to be isolated in the supply chain.  That is why we are pleased to announce that in partnership with Curtiss-Write, IHS, and Rochester Electronics we will be presenting on the realities of cross-industry sustainment: Building an Integrated Supply Chain to Support Warfighter Systems.

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