Embedded Technology
The Human Factor: When losing older workers leads to obsolescence
April 10, 2023
Ask anyone who drives an older car. As the system ages, it develops its own quirks. You have to jiggle the shifter in park to get the keys out of the ignition. You have to pump the gas twice before it starts up on a cold day. The AC has to be turned off…
Last Time Buy vs. Last Time Offering
August 4, 2022
A widespread practice among original equipment manufacturers (OEM) is the last time buy (LTB) event, which is usually a warning call to customers that a product is approaching its end of life (EOL) stage. This practice varies in its execution, but it usually takes the shape of a six-month EOL notice with a six-month LTB…
Helping you keep your New Year’s resolution
March 8, 2021
I used to be a cigarette smoker. Each New Year I resolved to stop smoking, and I’d stash my “last” half-pack of cigarettes deep inside a dark drawer. Months later, when I felt I needed just one cigarette, I’d retrieve the pack and start smoking again. For a long time, I tried nicotine-replacement therapies: patches,…
Risks of Sourcing EOL’d Embedded Boards Outside the OEM
December 15, 2020
There are a variety of issues to be faced when your embedded boards have reached end of life (EOL) or been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Without a proactive plan in place, these issues threaten timelines and budgets and, even more importantly, jeopardize quality and add risk. Time and False Hope Although sourcing…
Are Obsolescence Management Processes Crucial to Corporate Strategy?
November 25, 2020
Why Obsolescence Management Processes are Crucial to Support Corporate Strategy Since I began working at GDCA, I have had the opportunity to work closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to better understand and deal with the impact of low-performing older designs. The nature of my work often has me talking with team members throughout their…
How to Find Discontinued Embedded Boards
November 10, 2020
The inevitable has finally arrived. An embedded board in your application has been discontinued by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Your company needs a critical embedded board, and revenue depends on timely delivery. But the OEM cannot build additional boards for you and the franchised suppliers don’t have any inventory left. What can you do? Predictably,…
How to Effectively Prune Your Embedded Product Portfolio
July 8, 2020
In embedded computing, product pruning is the selective removal of certain products that no longer contribute to the health and growth of a company. Product families that are generating little or no profit for the company because of production complications, small market share, and/or outdated function can harm an embedded computer manufacturer’s bottom line. The…
Now’s the Time for Electronics OEMs to Shape Their Futures
May 12, 2020
In view of the COVID-19 disruption and anticipated aftermath in the embedded electronics industry, computer board OEMs face an existential challenge right now: How do they best allocate their resources to satisfy the competing objectives of 1) sustaining existing designs while simultaneously 2) inspiring and capturing the market for new designs? If OEMs spend too…
Counterfeit Components Hurt More Than Military Applications
April 23, 2014
When reading the news around counterfeit components, much of the dialogue is driven by the defense industry. When you are dealing with systems that protect our national security and the lives of the people out in the field – you’re not dealing with counterfeits in a bunch of trivial electronics. You’re taking necessary steps to…
A Tale of Two SHIELDS: Marvel Comics, DARPA, and Counterfeiting
April 9, 2014
Marvel Comic’s SHIELD (Strategic help Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) and, slick as it is, it is more likely to wind up counterfeited than prevent counterfeiting It is a program devised by a secretive government agency. Its purpose is to organize and motivate the top actors in their fields to come together to prevent…