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.
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…
Recently, one of the ways in which we’ve seen end-use customers try to combat electronics obsolescence is by getting the technical data (TDP) of the required circuit board from the OEM. For the last few years, there has been a growing conviction that having the TDP is the answer to the challenge of assuring support…
Electronics obsolescence causes far bigger shockwaves across supply chains than most people realize. The domino effect typically starts with the discontinuation of a component on the circuit board, and then cascades all the way through the supply chain to the end-user’s equipment. The result is a relentless avalanche of cross-industry costs, supply chain inefficiencies, and…
A new video series for OEMs on the EOL cycle Legacy Expert Tania Scroggie of GDCA, Inc. presents a new series of short videos about end-of-life products and the strategies available to OEMs when their customers want support for an embedded system that is obsolete. Tania is GDCA’s OEM Relationships Director, responsible for coordinating between…
A case study in what can go wrong Obsolescence is a critical issue in PCB manufacturers and their customers, and can be an expensive problem to deal with if not dealt with on time, or even better, ahead of time before the real issues begin. As a legacy equipment manufacturer–a manufacturer of obsolete and discontinued…
Product teams are often faced with multiple obsolete electronic circuit boards within their systems, parts that are currently obsolete and ones that are likely to become obsolete in the near future. Quickly prioritizing the current and upcoming challenges these boards present, and then identifying and analyzing the right resolution options for each one is difficult. …
A tech refresh is a typical solution for updating critical elements of an electronic system to enable new capabilities or replace obsolete hardware. At any given time, most systems will have many obsolete items, some of which impact the system more than others. Circuit boards are one of those significant parts that tend to impact…
Finding embedded circuit boards after the OEM has discontinued them can be challenging, especially if the board is several years old. However, there are several comprehensive steps that you can take to source the discontinued boards that could save you time and money. Specific sources have risks, so always consider your applications’ security, safety, and…
The value of working with an ITAR compliant company ITAR or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, is a vital set of regulations that control the export and import of defense and space-related articles, services, and technical data on the United States Munitions List (USML). Every company that handles, manufactures, designs, sells, or distributes items…