end-of-life

What is a Second Source of Supply?

October 12, 2020

Working with a second source of supply is a favorable alternative in obsolescence management. Sanctioned by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) with original IP, a second source of supply rebuilds and maintains the supply chain of prime contractors, supporting primes and their customers. New sources of supply can predict and resolve obsolescence issues before they…

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…

Obsolescence: Too Soon or Not Soon Enough?

February 26, 2014

It is strange how onboarding the concept of legacy sustainment can change the way you look at the world around you. On a recent road trip along one of the nation’s many two-lane highways, I found myself wondering about the thousands upon thousands of wooden utility poles dotting the landscape. How often are they repaired?…

Counterfeit Mitigation: The Trouble with “Tagging”

August 21, 2013

When the subject of counterfeit mitigation and avoidance comes up you generally find a couple of areas that people focus on: standards, test/inspection, and tagging. Tagging can involve many things, including specially etched marks, marks that show up only under certain lights, rare earth tags, and DNA tags.  In general, these marks rely one or…

Counterfeit Components: More than parts — it is about people

June 26, 2013

With the dialog about counterfeits in the supply chain, it is easy to lose track of what counterfeits actually mean.  Yes, they will hurt your business. Yes, they can lead to heavy penalties and jail time, but counterfeits can also lead to jeopardizing lives; a risk that could otherwise have been avoided. I am always…

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,…

The Risks of EOL: Lifetime Buy in “real world” terms

February 6, 2013

In the past we’ve talked about the challenges of Last-time Buy and overstock.  In Dr. Sandborn’s CALCE Obsolescence Management training, this question illustrates the challenges and risks in regards to what customers can face, at the time of EOL.  The answer might be easy if you were looking at a “bridge buy”, where you only…