Government/Military Trends
July 2004
Coping with parts obsolescence
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The parts obsolescence issue won’t end anytime soon, especially as weapons systems age and their life gets extended even further than expected at the time of the product’s design and development. The government, as well as military contractors, are sensitive to this issue, particularly in regards to troop readiness and reducing the lifecycle cost of built-to-last products.
In all cases the processes to mitigate the risks of Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) is the same, consisting of four steps.
Step 1: Engineers first establish the parts list baseline or obtain the parts list or system configuration. This can be a Bill of Materials (BOM), Illustrated Parts Breakdown (IPB), Source Control Drawings, or a combination of sources.
Step 2: The next step is to identify obsolescence issues for the parts on this list. To do this, engineers try to match the parts to one or more reference sources to get the DMSMS and Predictive Obsolescence data and metrics. This is frequently done on a part-by-part basis, with the information needed typically difficult or impossible to locate. The military is working to be proactive for this step so they can identify parts before a plane is grounded or a system cannot be used.
Step 3: Once the engineers identify those parts with potential obsolescence issues, they assess their options. To do this, they must evaluate and integrate supply chain data. For example, who do we purchase this part from? What is the price? Where is it stocked? What is the inventory? What are potential alternates? What is the lifecycle of the part?
Step 4: After all the information gathering for each part, the engineer must decide on a corrective action. The ideal solution is to select an alternate or substitute, with fallback actions being lifetime buy, reclaim or salvage, and as a last resort, redesign.
There are many problems with the traditional ways of handling this four-step process. The information on parts is spread out over thousands of manufacturers, requiring engineers to conduct tedious, redundant searches to get the information they need. The vast number of data sources also makes it impossible to conduct an exhaustive search and get as much information about a part or substitution. For example, a part used in one piece of avionics for an aircraft might also be used in another, but the engineer conducting the search does not necessarily have that knowledge. Because of the lack of good and central information, searches can take 2-3 days per part. If you’re talking about thousands of parts, the search process is unwieldy.
Government agencies and private companies like IHS are developing ways to cope with parts obsolescence. The goal of these efforts are to dramatically reduce the costs associated with maintenance and support of military weapons systems and equipment.
IHS developed the E-Portal Tool as a way to manage the parts obsolescence problem. The E-Portal Tool is a direct result of a collaborative effort on the requirements and content required for an obsolescence tool. This collaboration consisted of a consortium of private industry and government. In fact, affected agencies were deeply involved in the concept, how it needed to work and how the information should be presented in order to make it a valuable tool for them.
The E-Portal Tool consists of four stages, or levels recommended to achieve a proactive and comprehensive part obsolescence management program.
Level 1
Level 1 simplifies the process of searching across hundreds of thousands of parts manufacturers, sources, and industries. Instead of conducting multiple searches, engineers only have to perform one search per part. All relevant data and information returns, with a history of crossover for components. For example, if an engineer conducts a search for a part from an F18 aircraft, the return will include data relevant to that part in an F18 as well as an F15, because of the interoperability of the part between these two aircraft. The tool will also return information on previous searches of what someone else was looking for. This information includes what other searchers learned about the part, giving additional context and lessons learned from other research that the engineer would not necessarily think to learn about – or ever find on their own.
The Level 1 solution shrinks the decision-making timeline from 2-3 days to a few seconds. It does this by allowing an integrated search of logistics and procurement information on 100 million-plus parts. The data covers more than 40 databases of parts purchased and stocked by the government and is fully cross-referenced. It provides sophisticated indexing and searching for more contextual search capability.
E-Portal Tool prevents engineers from doing menial tasks, such as endless searches, in addition to saving time on searches by reducing the need for redundant searches on the same part. The accelerated resolution rate produces significant savings and reduces the need for redundant purchases. Savings can be significant. NavAire estimates they will save $280 million per year by using the E-Portal system to help alleviate the parts obsolescence dilemma.
Level 2
The next level toward a complete parts obsolescence solution consolidates the searching effort through access to several databases simultaneously for easier and more efficient data analysis.
IHS identified several off-the-shelf database tools that contain excellent data searching and compilation functionality. These applications are easy to install in a single- or multiple-user environment and allow for more analysis of IHS’ parts data.
Level 3
Level 3 designs planning for obsolescence into an organization’s business processes, integrating extensive parts information from all available sources into a single, seamless application. The system make-up will differ depending on an organization’s budget, users and systems, however, some common features include:
- The ability to conduct an exhaustive search across heterogeneous data sources.
- Smart searching, where the system “learns” with ongoing usage, and uses that knowledge to improve searching effectiveness.
- Concise reporting feature so users can readily compare potential solutions in a single report, making it easier to identify the alternative that is best for the particular case at hand.
Level 4
Ultimately, the key to parts obsolescence is lack of compatibility, with systems not compatible across or within platforms. When one component changes or is no longer available, the solution can impact interfacing parts — whether in form, fit or function — and increase the cost of obsolescence solutions. The Level 4 solution involves embracing an industry-wide, open system architecture. Open system architecture components are interchangeable and constructed to not impact ancillary components and/or hardware in the system or platform.
Unfortunately, there is little guidance, standards, or definitions for open system architectures, leaving it to individual contractors to interpret the requirement. IHS helps define and implement standards of interoperability, and ensures that these standards are met and validated. IHS has joined with the Joint Council on Aging Aircraft (JCAA) and the Aerospace Vehicle System Institute (AVSI) to support the definition and implementation of standards for new and vintage platforms in both the commercial and military industries.
IHS Tools to Help Purchasing Agents Find the Right Standards