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Issue link: http://amt.epubxp.com/i/306831
www.AviationPros.com | www.AMTSociety.org 29 supplier doesn't notify either the OEM or the keeper of the software that the plans have now changed. The second camp are the reactive people who know that proactivity has its failings and jump into action at the first sign of obsolescence and buy up all the remaining world stock to get the time for a redesign. The issue with this is that not all component suppliers are 100 percent honest, and there are many counterfeit components waiting for the gullible or desperate to purchase them. Some of these are excellent copies to look at, but lack the quality to make them suit- able for f light and other high reliability systems. Additionally, finding out late in the cycle can cause you to miss the boat and not find any in the marketplace. If the original parts are not available there are quality companies who will take bare and unused die (the core of the IC) and will "complete the parts" by packaging them as per the original design. There is an international standard that can help (IEC62309) if the conserva- tive views of many companies could be reformed into seeing the huge asset there is in taking known redundant equip- ment and reusing certain key elements in the next generation of products or as spares for older equipment. The quality departments within OEMs have a real issue with this concept. However, the military on the ground use this technique (cannibalism) in an uncontrolled way to maintain aircraft, radar, ships, and all kinds of equipment. The IEC standard actually predicts the useful remaining life of devices, and when used properly, it can be shown that the parts are more reli- able than new parts, due to them having passed the new stage of their use where failures are higher. QAGAN For those of you who know that it's not true in your case as you burn in the parts deliberately to avoid these failures … these parts have already passed that stage and so save the cost in money and time of that operation. This standard, although originally intended for domes- tic appliances and cars (where this prac- tice has been used for many years) is used where there are statistical figures to show the use of any item after a cer- tain time frame. In the military and civil aircraft areas, where logs are kept of the f lying time and all maintenance, they are actually the ideal people to adopt this standard. Any other military equip- ment that has similar logs of use can also expect to benefit from this type of new component supply, called QAGA N, to avoid confusion with traditional new components. QAGAN can apply to single parts or to assemblies (like PSUs, or other subas - semblies). The simple principle behind this revolutionary idea is that all parts have a life cycle curve (electronic parts follow a shape known as the bath tub). W hen you look at this shape — high at one end, low along the longest length, and the rising up at the far end, you will see how components are recorded as fail - ing. For any cynics out there, you only need to look at BMW cars, Xerox copiers, and many more quality products to see that the "top of the range" suppliers have been doing this for years (it's even law in Germany and it's becoming law in all of the European Union to recycle used parts). This has not reduced the quality or reliability of the products. QAGAN is also used to cover the reuse of materials, so where a material is very expensive, difficult to get, or prohibited from sale, then it's possible to recycle that back and use it again — in a controlled and quality way. On my last visit to PA X River, people were amazed at the concept, and defi- nitely could see where this would be of great use to them when dealing with and trying to avoid, end-of-life obsolescence on vital systems. Financially speaking, this has to be the answer to a military prayer. The U.S. government owns billions of dol- lars worth of high-tech equipment, which for the most part is fully documented. There are BOMs, drawings, and life his- tories. Therefore, all the parts no longer needed in their original application are a relatively low-cost resource and could easily keep a trusted piece of valuable equipment from joining the other piles of military hardware thought to be beyond economic repair. Having been in this business for almost 30 years, I have watched the obso- lescence problem grow, and have seen so many solutions offered for it, some very high quality, some not so high. But I have not, until now, seen a solution that is both cost-effective and high quality, and that is achievable in all areas of electronics. And the best news is it is an outstand- ing solution for the support of military equipment. David Purdie Associates provides mechanical obsolescence solutions. For further information contact David Purdie at (352) 368-2115 or visit www.davidpurdieassociates.com . AMT_28-29_MilitaryAlladin.indd 29 4/17/14 4:13 PM