Obsolescence Management

What is Obsolescence?
Obsolescence is the unavailability of parts, or services that were previously available. They could have been withdrawn for many reasons such as technical, financial, staff and legal.

What is Obsolescence Management?
Obsolescence Management is the need to understand why this has happened and to plan and mitigate for these instances in the future. Obsolescence concerns materials, components, processes, skills and software. It can occur in all stages of the equipment’s life cycle such as development, design, production and in service. It affects components which need to be maintained for long periods of time

Reasons for Obsolescence

• Technological progress: The innovation cycles, with which components come on the market, become ever shorter.
• Component manufacturers re-assess their product offerings and trim down many “non-profitable” lines.
• Changes in the standardisation : “Old” standards are no longer available and are no longer maintained
• Legislation changes:
• The Original Manufacturer is no longer in business
• The processes, tools and the KNOWLEDGE for maintenance, update or improvement of software are no longer available
• People – Skills are lost through role changes, redundancy, retirement etc