Rochester Electronics’ director – aerospace & defence EMEA, Luke Fitzpatrick, outlines best practice obsolescence management in defence and aerospace applications.
The semiconductor and defence sectors have relationships dating back to the 1960s. However, over time, the requirements and objectives of these sectors have diverged, resulting in a lifecycle imbalance. Today’s semiconductor manufacturers primarily focus on high-volume consumer markets which do not align with the extended lifecycle requirements of defence systems.
Current geopolitical tension is resulting in significant increases in defence spending worldwide. The focus is on modernisation and readiness, accelerating investments in advanced technologies and placing emphasis on robust and resilient supply chains.
There is also an immediate need to procure and protect existing platforms for today’s needs, leading to service lifecycles far beyond original expectations and exacerbating obsolescence challenges. Supply chains must manage increasingly outdated components originally intended for shorter-term use. Last-time-buy stock holding will no longer meet operational requirements.
Programs often involve extended development times, prolonged lifecycles and stringent reliability/compliance standards. As electronic systems age, obsolescence management becomes paramount, driving the need for proactive procurement strategies, longer-term budgeting and meticulous planning for transitioning to the next-generation, or sustaining current systems.
Effective semiconductor supply chain management practices to mitigate risk include:
• Strategic alignment: There are minimal semiconductor shortages in the semiconductor market cycle. Align with key supply chain partners who can be trusted and who can provide value
• Dual sourcing: Approve product from multiple OCMs when possible
• Advanced warning systems: Establish proactive communication channels with trusted suppliers to anticipate market challenges such as extended lead times and component shortages
• Comprehensive lifecycle tracking: Automated lifecycle-tracking algorithms with insights from authorised end-of-life suppliers. Components marked as ‘discontinued’ or ‘obsolete’ by the OCM can often remain active for decades as licensed and traceable solutions via 100 per cent authorised aftermarket sources
• Proactive collaboration: Utilize supply chain strengths, collaborate early and shape investments to give organisations the best potential outcome
• Program protection plans (PPP): Actively implementing PPPs, including strategic partnerships with authorised aftermarket manufacturers, to ensure continuous and compliant distribution and manufacturing
Rochester Electronics remains uniquely positioned to support these critical sourcing requirements. As an AS6496-compliant distributor and licensed manufacturer, the company offers commercial, industrial, automotive and military-grade semiconductor solutions well beyond OCM discontinuation dates. Inventory of finished products comes from the OCMs themselves.
Rochester ensures rapid response capabilities by readily supplying millions of military-grade components from its inventory. In-house hermetic assembly lines provide packaging options including ceramic DIP, side-brazed DIP, flat pack, CQFP, PGA, ceramic leadless chip carrier and metal can.
Capabilities also include customised flows to match source-controlled drawing requirements, in-house qualification/testing facilities, and DLA Land and Maritime certification to MIL-PRF-38535, offering Class Q and Class V microcircuits.
Leveraging its test and design engineering expertise, Rochester provides alternatives, develops specialised testing protocols and offers tailored design solutions. These include transitioning critical obsolete components to compatible ASIC replacements which match the original components and are form, fit and functional. This simplifies the DO-254 re-qualification processes, even for DAL-A safety-critical applications, without software changes or errata.
