Critical Thoughts on Embedded Sustainment & Obsolescence
Critical Thoughts is where we share hard-won insights from the field. It’s not a blog—it’s a working record of what we’ve learned supporting sustainment, managing obsolescence, and partnering with OEMs on legacy challenges that don’t fit the usual models.
These are the strategic, technical, and sometimes messy realities behind keeping embedded systems mission-ready over the long haul.
Tania Scroggie returns in her short YouTube series, Tania’s Teachables, exploring the incredible journey that we’ve been on together this year. In this latest installment, Tania reflects on the various topics she’s covered in legacy sustainment and support. She plans to use this as a foundation for even more exploration into the unique and fascinating…
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…
Electronics obsolescence is the slow apocalypse that threatens just about every industry that uses embedded circuit boards in their equipment–but when it comes to aerospace and defense-related electronics, the impact is even greater. Ensuring Quality is Time-Consuming–and the Higher the Standards, the Longer it Takes Many of the systems used in these aircraft often have…
Industrial automation has become more and more crucial throughout the manufacturing world. Robotics have expanded from simply material handling and movement to actually performing certain tasks, like assembly and welding, and they are only growing more sophisticated with each year. In a time of diminishing resources and increasing demand, automation offers new opportunities for many…
Tania Scroggie is back this week with another installment of her YouTube short video series, Tania’s Teachables, exploring the skeleton in the corporate closet–embedded electronics obsolescence. The Obsolescence Skeleton Recently, Tania and other members of her team attended the first ever Embedded World North America conference, a wonderful and insightful event. Although the attendees were…
Legacy electronic systems result from technology’s swift evolution, a rapid pace of growth and innovation that, while widely celebrated, leaves many embedded systems incompatible and unable to easily and affordably upgrade in its wake. What is Legacy Engineering? The goal of engineering as a general field has always been to solve technical problems, increase efficiency…
Tania Scroggie, SCRM and legacy manufacturing expert, is back with another episode of Tania’s Teachables on YouTube! In this installment of her educational shorts, she takes us on a journey through the complex process of licensing obsolete electronic products. Finding the Pieces–the Detective work of Legacy Products A major part of Tania’s responsibilities at GDCA…
The idea that embedded boards can have a legacy or impact as enduring as the pyramids may seem strange in a world that is always looking for the newest and most innovative technology. Their importance in electronics, both in history and in the present day, can be easy to overlook, but like historical sites such…
Diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages or DMSMS continues to be an especially critical topic for defense manufacturing and supply chain risk management (SCRM). While more and more efforts have been made recently to encourage and support proactive strategies to combat DMSMS and obsolescence, there are still a lot of challenges facing end-users and application…
New Episode Alert: Lessons from a Market Leader’s Misstep In our latest episode of “Tania’s Teachable,” we explore a compelling case study recently featured in EE Times Europe. The episode delves into the story of an embedded computer market leader who faced significant challenges after neglecting its loyal customer base during critical industry shifts. This…