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.
GDCA Solution Director Thomas Helmonds is the guest speaker in our most recent YouTube upload! In this short, educational video, Thomas explores the role of legacy equipment manufacturing in long product lifecycles, supply chain resilience, and cost-effective solutions for the critical and obsolete embedded electronics systems. For industries like medical equipment manufacturing, defense equipment, and…
Ethan Plotkin, CEO of GDCA, joins Amelia’s weekly Fish Fry podcast again this week, discussing what GDCA does as a legacy equipment manufacturer(LEM) and how we partner with OEM companies to take over the production line, repair, manufacturing, and sustainment of discontinued circuit cards to support the cards for those few customers who cannot yet…
GDCA is in the business of helping defense programs who can no longer get support for obsolete electronics circuit cards, like computer boards, graphics cards, power supply controllers and many more specialized electronics assemblies that make defense systems “smart”. These circuit card assemblies (CCAs) are often commercial products that have been discontinued by their OEMs.…
The day you receive that “last time buy” (LTB) notice for a crucial embedded PCB or PCB component for your systems can be stressful–even if you know it’s coming. What if you still need that circuit board five to ten years after that LTB day? Suddenly, sourcing the required parts becomes a mad scramble, resulting…
Tania Scroggie is starting the new year with another installment of her short video series, Tania’s Teachables, on YouTube! Tania tackles the frustrating and recurring nightmare of embedded electronics obsolescence in her tenth video discussion. The Nightmare of Obsolescence Nearly every OEM has experienced it. Customers grow frustrated and leave because the OEM cannot…
Electronics obsolescence is an inevitable and fundamental problem that many manufacturers and end-users face daily with their embedded systems. But it doesn’t have to be a big challenge–proper planning and support can help you save a lot of time, money, and effort that would otherwise be wasted trying to ‘manage’ obsolescence risk when it’s such…
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…