I’m a fan of uncovering what’s been lost to the past. Whether that’s missing history from the past century, millennium, or eons, there’s a certain serenity to filling in gaps. Since some of my favorite art and media is somewhat niche, seeing these pieces resurrected for a new audience feels like a restoration of their rightful place.
It’s much less fun having to replace PCB components that are no longer being manufactured or in wide circulation for PCB assemblies built by a contract manufacturer. Designers need to know what may be changing with these components far enough in advance so that those changes can be mitigated and implemented with a minimal impact on production. In cases where a component is no longer available, the engineering services of a CM for end-of-life (EOL) components can plan around the obsolescence.
Why Obsolescence?
| Suppliers have to balance the needs of existing parts and new products with limited production capabilities. Some components are industry stalwarts and remain in circulation for years if not decades. But others may be revised or replaced due to improvements in material sciences and manufacturing technologies. | |||
| Fit | Is there an alternate interfacing technology or orientation that better suits the needs of users? This could be an entirely new connector format/standard implementation. | ||
| Form | Can the package be resized – specifically, reduced – without a noticeable deviation in performance? Most notably, this increases the available routing space of the board, but other board concerns, such as shock/vibration resistance, can also improve. | ||
| Function | Were features added, removed, or otherwise changed? Improved component functionality drives adoption by affording new options to designers. | ||
| It’s worthwhile to underscore that obsolescence can also be driven by economic factors like component manufacturers switching production to chips with higher margins. This has been the case for some during the component shortages arising from partial or complete shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic responses. | |||
Expect and Prepare for EOL Components
There are numerous changes the components used to produce a PCB may undergo. In some circumstances, a component could have its specifications updated for either performance or even physical size.
While changes are usually minor, they could impact a design, especially when components are in short supply, no supply, or prices have dramatically changed. The component change that will have the greatest impact on designs will be for EOL parts. In these cases, component vendors sometimes replace an older component with a newer version or stop production altogether if demand is nonexistent. Or, take the ongoing shortage resulting from manufacturing shutdown and below-capacity operations; this has resulted in a steep climb of prices and lead times for some of the most fundamental components.
As a design engineer, product development takes precedence over procurement. When there’s barely enough time to find the parts needed, let alone plan out their expected lifecycles and lead times or quality are likely to suffer. Instead, component engineers working for a CM can help by monitoring the status of the components on boards and alerting designers to potential problems on the horizon.
Tracking the Manufacturing Status of Components
Component engineers monitor the obsolescence notifications from part manufacturers and distributors. They also are looking for changes in components for availability and pricing and have the latest information on part specifications. By maintaining databases on all of this information, the engineers have a complete picture of the life cycles of the components active within production.
Quality CMs should have component engineers who are experts at predicting and reacting to lifecycle changes of the parts used in extant designs. They also perform life cycle analysis of all the materials used in the production of your board to assign ratings based upon their current and future availability:
- Healthy lifecycle. No design adjustments are necessary or expected.
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- Caution. The component or product line is being prepped for replacement; new part manufacturing will eventually cease.
- EOL. The component is no longer being produced, nor are there plans to reintroduce it.
This information is vital to planning the production schedules of boards accurately. A component that is not recommended for new designs or that is EOL could cause several unforeseen consequences (including completely halting the production of your product) if the assembly cannot procure. Then the design team must prepare a new revision. Therefore, the most critical step in planning for EOL components is a CM partnership with qualified component engineers on staff who can identify these issues far before they cause manufacturing delays
Actionable Plans When Component Availability Changes
Not all CMs offer component engineering services, so it’s important to seek one out that has this capability. Following that, a CM can help you plan for EOL components by doing the following:
- Staffing qualified component engineers to monitor part EOL notifications.
- Provide alerts on EOL parts that will immediately affect manufacturing.
- Collaborate with component brokers to arrange last-time buys; this act ensures enough supply for prototype or production units built to expected delivery dates before EOL parts become unavailable.
- Recommending pin-compatible component replacement options and providing design insight, test evaluation, and comparative performance for parts that are not pin-compatible alternatives.
- Assisting with PCB redesign to accommodate any necessary component replacements.
By partnering with a CM with a qualified component engineering department, designers can rest easy knowing there’s a dedicated team to handle any surprises with sourcing and procurement of legacy components. The EOL plan arranged by the CM will be in motion long before the parts go out of stock, providing ample time to redesign and requalify products. Additionally, partnering with a CM that has cultivated long-term relationships with vendors and distributors enables a reliable line for replacing components that may be subject to a run.
Having a successful production run is dependent on procuring the components you need for when your board is being assembled. Since any issues in getting the correct components to the assembly line will cause delays and escalate costs, qualified and experienced component engineers are arguably the best assurance for a correct assembly delivered on time.
Trust Your CM to Help You Plan for EOL Components
Not all CMs can offer this depth of accuracy when dealing with EOL components. Still, our component engineers have years of experience doing this, all while fostering in-depth relationships with all the major part manufacturers. With an inside track on the parts we use for assembling boards, we can offer unparalleled sourcing and procurement and the best PCB manufacturing service possible.
Here at VSE, we’re a team of engineers that build electronics for our customers, including successfully managing the parts used in designs. Our component engineers can accurately predict component life cycles based on the current part manufacturer and distributor information. This stance provides us ample time to work with you on redesigns that will swap out components scheduled for obsolescence or stick with an EOL part through a production run to take advantage of the lower prices of saturated supply chains.
If you are looking for a CM that prides itself on its care and attention to detail to ensure that each PCB assembly is built to the highest standards, look no further than VSE. Contact us today to learn more about partnering with us for your next project.
