Electronic Obsolescence

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Christopher McAlpine
• Metro Users
• January 2003

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Dictionary?
• The dictionary says that obsolete is an
  adjective meaning
• to grow old, become disused
• no longer in use or no longer useful

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Electronic Obsolescence

• The Bad News
• An internet search of the word obsolete came
  back with 1,760,000 hits

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Electronic Obsolescence

• The Good News
• The search only took .04 seconds

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Obsolescence Facts
• Most electronic components have a shorter life
  cycle than the equipment they are in
• The rapid growth of the electronics industry has
  spurred dramatic changes in components
• Off-the-shelf solutions have historically
  featured shorter life cycles than custom

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Electronic Obsolescence

• What We Are Facing
• Many off-the-shelf parts are no longer
  available
• Part stockpiles are dwindling
• Vendors rarely provide direct replacements
• Support for older technology is waning

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Systems Impacted
• GA computers (PARs early PCS)
• DEC computers (PDP MicroVAX)
• Network devices (Data Highway II)
• Touch screen monitors
• Certain microprocessors
• Other discrete components

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Obsolescence Management Strategy
• Sourcing Parts
• Buying and storing parts based on projections
• Procuring sources for rebuilt parts
• Redesign
• Use newer components to provide same
  functionality
• System Upgrade
• Upgrade the system to make use of the latest
  technology

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Sourcing Parts
• Goss continues to stock and search for sources of
  obsolete components
• Goss supports some 400 individual board designs
  today
• Goss offers repairs to Goss designed many
  vendor boards
• Goss continues to search for 3rd party repair
  vendors

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Redesign
• Updated components with same form fit and
  function (part number remains the same)
• Complete board redesign to directly replace old
  board (new part number)
• Goss has already redesigned many of the more the
  boards still in use

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Electronic Obsolescence

• System Upgrade
• Address multiple obsolescence issues
• Extend equipment life
• Provide improved performance
• Provide new features
• Improve supportability

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Electronic Obsolescence

• Summary
• Many vendor supplied parts are obsolete
• Supportability issues increase risk
• Redesigns are part of solution
• Upgrades can provide new life
• Goss is committed to support of customers

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Electronic Obsolescence
THANK YOU
Christopher McAlpine christopher.mcalpine_at_gossint
ernational.com