Obsolescence and end-of-life challenges
Quiksol Global’s president, Brian Ellison, outlines practical steps manufacturers can take to navigate end-of-life notifications, supply disruptions and accelerating semiconductor change
Component product lifecycles continue to shorten due to OEMs’ demand for higher performance. This leads component manufacturers to push their architecture technology forward and balance their manufacturing capacity to serve broader customer market verticals. The downstream effect on supply chain professionals is inevitable end-of-life notifications, longer lead times and end product redesign cycle times.
Maintaining a resilient supply chain involves a process of continuous improvement, communication and selecting the right supplier partners to maintain consistent supply.
Product lifecycles are being compounded by geopolitical tensions, semiconductor technology advancements and expanding market verticals such as AI. It is now commonly accepted that the electronic components supply chain will continue to experience disruptions with no predictable end in sight.
Building strong distributor relationships with companies that offer broad value propositions to provide end-of-life product lifecycle support and MRP inventory management solutions will enable supply chain professionals to maintain a sustainable supply chain. Accurate information, communication and transparency between customers and suppliers will facilitate the development of tailored supply chain solutions that mitigate disruption.
Aligning customers’ design and manufacturing demands with the supply side of the equation, while mutually understanding available industry information to employ an exception-based model to streamline routine transactions, will allow for a pointed focus of filling the gaps to streamline a tailored supply chain model.
What should supply chain professionals do to mitigate gaps and the disruptive effects of obsolescence and end-of-life notifications?
Work with distribution partners who have robust and experienced global purchasing teams in all regions.
Work with distribution partners engaged in active excess inventory programs, expanding sourcing avenues beyond the traditional supply chain.
Work with distribution partners having sophisticated internal and/or external third-party platforms that can provide detailed product life cycle information ahead of EoL notifications for current and planned new designs. Identify product life cycle risk information and accurate timeline planning options.
Work with distribution partners that can align to customer MRP share information to pre-position key components to extend the re-design cycle timeline. Allowing production manufacturing to remain sustainable.
Work with distribution partners that have component engineering resources to offer plug-and-play alternatives to current and upcoming obsolete component challenges.
Obsolescence has always been a factor to consider in supply chain management. Accounting for the fast-paced evolution of the semiconductor industry and pace with which it is compounding, product lifecycle management will continue to be a consideration into the future. OEM demand and Tier 1 component manufacturers’ reactions have set the stage for an unprecedented supply chain shift with potential downstream effects reaching into most all verticals now and into the future.
Choose a distribution partner with the expertise, supplier network and quality first initiatives to respond swiftly to market disruptions and collaborate with foresight to mitigate those obsolescence disruptions before they become uncertainty.
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