LEM

Why You Can’t Engineer Your Way Out of Legacy: A Sustainment Strategy for Long-Lifecycle Systems

February 18, 2026

The Myth of “One Last Redesign”  When legacy pressure builds, the instinct is familiar: redesign the board, refresh the architecture, modernize the specs, and buy another decade of support. On paper, it feels decisive. Engineering is engaged. A technical solution is in motion.  But in long‑lifecycle systems, redesign rarely eliminates legacy risk. More often, it resets the clock…

Understanding and Mitigating Obsolescence Risks in Embedded Systems

January 10, 2025

Electronics obsolescence is an inevitable and fundamental problem that many manufacturers and end-users face daily with their embedded systems. But it doesn’t have to be a big challenge–proper planning and support can help you save a lot of time, money, and effort that would otherwise be wasted trying to ‘manage’ obsolescence risk when it’s such…

When ‘Just-in-Time’ Is Just Too Late: A New Approach to Managing Production

October 21, 2022

Until the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, just-in-time (JIT) inventory management strategy was considered to be among the most reliable business models for manufacturing everything from cell phones to satellites. JIT was used to minimize component inventories and increase efficiency throughout the production process. For active products, that meant required materials arrived when they…

5 Sustainment Questions Every Program Must Ask Itself

June 3, 2022

DoD Programs routinely face a backlog of open cases for parts that are unprocurable owing to obsolescence or DMSMS. Problematic parts range from bolts and valves to complex computer electronics. When these cases are not quickly resolved, the fallout can be significant, resulting in undermined warfighters’ missions and jeopardized lives. In this critical thought, we’ll…

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…

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…