Manufacturing
COTS: A “reactive” good idea (continued)
June 11, 2013
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 the motivation and incentives are aligned in the right way for all the players in order to achieve the set objective. So let us look…
COTS: A “reactive” good idea
May 29, 2013
Following a directive from the US military in the early 1990s, the defense industry made a shift from using custom embedded electronic components made to military specifications to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Since the overall share of the DoD as a consumer was expected to shrink over time, this move to reduce costs took a practical…
Refurbished Boards: What works today may not be reliable tomorrow
May 15, 2013
Saying that something is “good enough for government work” is often meant as a joke and the reference implies “mediocre work.” The irony is that “government work” is often highly sophisticated; systems are designed and engineered to operate in the most extreme environmental conditions for a very long period of time. I recently had the…
ERAI Executive Conference: Gaining Momentum in the Fight against Counterfeits
April 23, 2013
Managing components at risk of going EOL requires proactive planning. If this vital step is not implemented, critical systems run into increased risk of exposure to counterfeits. Two topics that program managers never want to hear about are counterfeit components, and end-of-life (EOL). While it is possible to come across counterfeit components on active products,…
DNA tagging: A post production anti-counterfeit solution?
January 9, 2013
No matter what your opinion; DNA tagging is currently one of the top methods being discussed to ensure component authentication. The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) even issued a Request for Information on the subject. Unfortunately, due to the costs projected and associated with DNA tagging and authentication, few businesses appear to be looking forward to…
DMSMS 2012 – Sustaining an Integrated Supply Chain
November 7, 2012
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…
Legacy and NI Week 2012
September 12, 2012
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 on the industry, impacting future generations of innovators. That is why I look forward to the keynote addresses at NI Week. Each day demonstrates the…
Obsolescence and why you can’t always just make more.
August 22, 2012
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…
No one wants to be left with EOL overstock
August 8, 2012
On one of the blogs I read, someone commented: “If you’re concerned about counterfeits in obsolete components… don’t worry about to-be-discontinued components — just design them in, and buy what you need to support the product anyway. Then you won’t have to worry about counterfeits.” On the surface and if you are only worried about…
Does Innovation = Forced Obsolescence?
July 25, 2012
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…