Hello all,
We have recently encountered a number of questions on a similar theme coming in to Technical Central at Harwin HQ – namely that of obsolescence. Some of you have may seen a brief reply I posted in response to an Element14 question a couple of months ago on this same issue as well. So, I thought I’d do a quick summary of some thoughts on this issue.
Obsolescence – is it only a problem for Semis and Passives?
The short answer is no. Any item from a supplier could go obsolete at any time, and if this happens in the middle of your production run, it’s a problem. Especially (as is common in mil/aero and safety critical applications) if EVERY variation in build has to go through another set qualification testing. However, it’s probably fair to say that an electromechanical product (connector, hardware, and so on) is probably less of an issue than semis or passives. After all, if the connector is a similar size, similar performance and fits in the same footprint, it’ll probably do a similar job. No guarantees of course, depending on your initial specification, but probably easier to replace than that specific IC that does that specific program from that specific supplier...
Can I avoid obsolescence?
Possibly. This will depend very much on a) what you specify and b) what research you do.
OK, what should I specify?
Products with a good, healthy track record and long history might be more likely to stay around – they’ve lasted this long, they should be around for a while longer. Try not to specify Non-RoHS product if you can at all avoid it! At some point the exempt markets (Medical, Military) may no longer be exempt, and more countries will also introduce their own equivalent legislations. So, at some point it will just become uneconomic to keep making Non-RoHS product.
Our Datamate range is a classic example of this. The product has been around for a very healthy number of years in many different guises, and we expand the range all the time. In 2005/6, we effectively doubled the number of variations available by adding the RoHS versions. Now, we have no active plans to make any of this range obsolete – after all, we are adding to it all the time, it is so popular. However, at some future point, I would have to anticipate that it will not be economic to maintain the tin/lead tail versions due to our customers having to conform to RoHS, and they will become obsolete. We actively recommend to our customers that they should really specify the RoHS versions on any new builds now – and Element14/Farnell has certainly contributed by switching the whole range in the catalogue to RoHS-only products.
And what research should I do?
Ask questions of your suppliers – and keep asking questions. Before specifying any product into a BOM, ask your sales contact what is the expected lifecycle of the item? They should be able to give you a guesstimate of its staying power. One of our customers asks us to use the following criteria to specify the expected obsolescence:
On Last Time Buy or Obsolete
Less than 2 years
Between 2 and 5 years
Between 5 and 10 years
Over 10 years
By using this simple rating scale, hopefully you can make sure the availability of any item is longer than the time you expect to be producing and/or maintaining your end product. Or if it is an essential part, know that you have to build up a stockpile by a certain date. However, I suspect in some areas you may struggle to find suppliers who would be willing to commit to more than 10 years, and this could well be shorter for certain product types.
Also consider the supplier themselves - a track record of staying in business would be useful here! And how much of their supply chain do they control? For instance, Harwin has our own in-house moulding, stamping, plating and assembly, as well as Design and Quality, so we can assure customers that as long as we get the raw materials, we can keep making the products - no external sources to let us down.
Am I safe now?
Don’t assume this is the final answer, either. You might want to set up a schedule to ask the same question at least once a year, so you can check that there are no issues arising. Certainly at any time it starts to look as though your own product lifecycle will run longer than expected, re-question. Then you can redesign any areas of the product before you continue to commit to a part that will not be available, or you can re-design and re-qualify well before it becomes an issue.
Is this just me having this problem?
You are not alone... There is a special interest group called the Component Obsolescence Group (COG), who look at issues related to obsolescence. Perhaps they would be able to help if you need assistance, or maybe this is such a big issue for your company that you should consider joining. They have a UK-specific group and a Germany group, and work with a number of other international groups – check their website for details. There are also businesses that can handle this type of activity for you, so you can hire someone to do it for you instead of handling it in-house. Also, distributors such as Element14/Farnell can also assist, I am sure!
Can you help me further?
I’m no expert on this specific subject, but I can help on any questions specifically relating to Harwin products and their obsolescence. Do please feel free to contact me on LiveHelp, or e-mail me through Element-14, or on technical@harwin.com!
That’s all for now, I hope you will all find something useful in here!
Wendy 
Technical & Marketing Engineer, and RoHS Compliance Project Manager
Harwin plc
! 
