Legacy
The Win-Lose Dilemma
February 18, 2022
All people face personal dilemmas during their lifetimes. Corporations, made up of people, face a fair number of professional dilemmas as well. Companies that produce embedded computer products are aware of the issues surrounding component obsolescence. At the end of these products’ active lives, supporting these aging or legacy products consumes more than just manufacturing…
Do your legacy products spark joy?
July 19, 2021
“We have too much stuff,” my wife said six months into the pandemic. We’d done purges before, but they never lasted. Soon afterward, she’d say, “We STILL have too much stuff!” And she was right. This time, we decided to search the internet for advice and discovered Marie Kondo. “KonMari” is a Japanese organizational consultant…
Wood Burning as Disposition for End-of-Life Products
June 19, 2021
Wood Burning as Disposition for End-of-Life Products I live on a ranch in northern California. This winter, we accounted for the dead oak trees and cleared them for the first time. Some of the wood we used for decoration, some to frame the dog’s new pen, and some we decided to sell. Because we do…
The Cost of Ad Hoc Obsolescence Management
May 6, 2021
The Cost of Ad Hoc Obsolescence Management Original Equipment Manufacturers that approach the support of older or legacy designs as a random eventuality often adopt an ad hoc attitude toward production. “Ad hoc” means they solve the obsolescence management issues as they come without establishing a general strategy for adapting to subsequent support requests. These…
Mergers and Acquisitions
April 6, 2021
Mergers and Acquisitions Sometimes we think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. These days, it is not difficult to think this when social media allows us to paint beautiful pictures of who we are from a computer screen. During my marketing research, I came across a media campaign for an…
Recap: Sustainment Symposium 2020
March 10, 2021
The team here at GDCA has always looked forward to attending the DMSMS conference each December as a capstone to the year. It was a magical time when DMSMS wonks obsessed with DMSMS solutions and obsolescence management were no longer relegated to a corner of the exhibit hall. We were front and center, and questions of how to innovate and advance the work…
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,…
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…
5 Actions Teams Must Implement Into Their COVID Response Right Now
May 12, 2020
COVID-19 has changed the industry landscape in ways we are still trying to understand, and companies must respond—or be left in the dust. Although change is never easy, often the hardest part is deciding to reevaluate what we think we know. The alternative is to wait out the pandemic health crisis and hope that things…