Last Time Buy
Strategically Approaching a “Last Time Buy” Notice
February 19, 2025
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…
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…
Winning the Battle but Losing the War
February 18, 2022
People may not know that Napoleon’s defeat at the hands of the Russian coalition was preceded by his capture of Moscow in 1812. Although that victory seemed decisive for him at the time, the cost of holding a captured city in the face of broken supply lines was crippling. As a result, his forces were…
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…
No one wants to be left with EOL overstock
August 8, 2012
On one of the blogs I read, someone commented: “If you’re concerned about counterfeits in obsolete components… don’t worry about to-be-discontinued components — just design them in, and buy what you need to support the product anyway. Then you won’t have to worry about counterfeits.” On the surface and if you are only worried about…