Are you unfamiliar with a technical term in connection with Obsolescence Management, or do you need a reliable definition? In the TQ glossary on this topic you will find explanations of frequently used terms from our business areas.
If your company has already implemented in-house obsolescence management, we will be happy to support you with an audit. This will be individually tailored to your industry and your company and carried out by our experienced Obsolescence Managers. Following the analysis and evaluation of the audit, we work with you to develop measures to optimize your obsolescence management.
In contrast to reverse engineering, a functional replica without existing documents of the obsolete assembly is carried out here.
Emulation results in a comparable replacement unit, but not a 1:1 replica.
The EOL/PCN service includes the structured handling of Product Change Notifications (PCN) and Product Discontinuance Notifications (PDN) or End-of-life Notifications (EOL) as a defined process. The notifications are made available to you and individually coordinated with you to secure the system.
Within the scope of the Last Time / Life Time Buy, original components with the original specifications can be purchased for the last time before the end of production and removal from the product portfolio.
The Last Time Buy can also be referred to as a bridge buy and illustrates the bridging until the next refresh of the assembly.
In the lifetime buy, on the other hand, the quantities to be purchased are adjusted accordingly so that stocks can be maintained until the complete end of the service life of the module. This may require special storage to maintain functionality and usability (see "Long-term storage").
At our locations in Delling and Durach, we offer you cost-effective storage of electronic components and assemblies in nitrogen cabinets. A constant atmosphere in the nitrogen cabinets is ensured by a constant control of temperature and humidity, whereby an extension of the functionality and processability of your components and assemblies can be realized.
In order to monitor the risk potential of endangered components, Monitoring is used. Parts lists or selected components are loaded into a global database, and you are automatically informed of product changes and discontinuations by e-mail.
For each bill of materials, a separate recipient group for the life cycle messages can be set up, so that individual processing is possible in your company. When commissioning monitoring, you also have the option of defining which categories of automatically generated messages you would like to receive.
Together with our development department, we also offer you the complete development of a new product from the point of view of long-term availability. Based on your specifications, all activities between our development and obsolescence management department are carried out and you benefit in both areas from our many years of know-how.
A Obsolescence Management Plan (OMP) defines the activities to be applied to mitigate the effects of obsolescence at all stages of the product life cycle. Timing and milestone planning are included in the OMP.
As a result, the OMP also allows the cost of maintaining the availability of assemblies or systems to be determined over the pre-defined period. This also supports an optimization of the sales prices of the corresponding products. The OMP not only consists of a one-off creation, but also requires continuous further development and adaptation to changing conditions.
In order to give you an overview of the current life cycle status of the components you use, we offer parts list analyses. With the help of the parts list analysis the risk potential of the respective assembly or system can be determined and further measures can be derived at an early stage.
In addition to the algorithm-based determination of the expected EOL date, the parts list analysis also includes information on possible alternatives, suppliers with stock levels and environmental and material data (RoHS, REACH).
A definition of the required content and data format can be made customer-specific.
We use three sources to ensure market proximity and high data quality:
An analysis of your parts list can be carried out once or at individually defined intervals.
The proactive obsolescence management offers the possibility to include obsolescence management in any status of the product or system life cycle before obsolescence has occurred.
In contrast to reactive obsolescence management, a risk-oriented approach is applied here, whereby an obsolescence focus is based on the risk level of the system or component.
Reactive Obsolescence Management only deals with possible effects and their elimination in the event of a change or discontinuation. No measures are defined before the change or discontinuation occurs, but only the component-specific reaction to the incoming notification, whereby a very short action time usually represents a major challenge.
At the customer's request, used components can also be reused. The functional components are removed from old systems, tested and, if necessary, reconditioned before they are subsequently inserted into the system to be maintained. A sufficient service life of the component to be cannibalised is required. An examination of the quality of the components as well as an individual feasibility test are indispensable here.
If the producibility of an assembly becomes impossible due to an unexpected unavailability of discontinued components, an unplanned redesign can be carried out. In this case, the system is adapted to the currently required service life of the assembly and the availability situation of components, whereby the replacement of further endangered components is also made possible. Consequently, a redesign can improve system performance, operational reliability and maintainability.
Reverse engineering includes the complete post-development of the assembly based on specified specifications and documentation based on the current component availability. Consequently, a 1:1 replica of the obsolete assembly is realized.
We offer you a targeted worldwide search for active alternatives to your discontinued components. Substitutes enable you to replace them in "Form, Fit and Function" and can be easily integrated into your design. This also enables you to identify aftermarket sources and components that have an uprating.
With the help of component management, the current availability situation of components is already analyzed in the development process before the parts list is created. This results in a strategically optimized component selection with regard to the long-term availability of the product.
Strategic obsolescence management refers to the most comprehensive management process that begins during the development phase and optimally accompanies the entire product or system life cycle.
Services from the proactive and reactive area can also be applied in a planned manner.
We are also happy to offer you an introduction to Obsolescence Management as part of a workshop. Here an individual adaptation to your circle of employees and the existing know-how can be carried out in your company.