Whether in a TV set, a car or a large production plant – there are masses of electronics everywhere. And the proportion of electronics in devices and systems is constantly increasing. Everyone knows that electronic components – control units, switching devices, frequency converters, drive controllers or sensors – only have a limited service life, which is becoming ever shorter. The average service life of a frequency inverter, for example, is 60 months. This is mainly due to ever faster innovation cycles and rapid technical progress. Often, the production of obsolete components is simply no longer sufficiently profitable.
Manufacturers have no choice but to discontinue the components and replace them with newer, more modern and more efficient ones. The industry is faced with a dilemma here: the short life cycles of electronic components are becoming less and less compatible with the longer utilisation periods of devices and systems.
Time and again, a wide variety of electronic components have to be replaced when they are discontinued because they will no longer be available at some point. The German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) refers to the state in which a good or process is no longer available as obsolescence. The word obsolescence stands for ‘to wear out, grow old, go out of fashion, lose reputation, lose value’ (Latin obsolescere).
The consequences of obsolescence are high costs and system downtimes. Experts assume that up to 50 per cent of the total product cycle costs for devices and systems with life cycles of more than 10 years are caused by direct or indirect obsolescence consequences. The problem of a component’s unavailability is often only recognised when a need for replacement parts arises due to necessary repairs or maintenance measures. It is not uncommon for a supposedly insignificant component discontinuation to result in the discontinuation of entire assemblies, complex modules or even complete systems.
An early introduction of an obsolescence management system is urgently needed here.
INspares GmbH has developed a unique system for obsolescence management in manufacturing companies.
The idea is simple: if all electronic components in a company are digitally recorded and stored in a central database and this is realised for many companies, a gigantic database with many thousands of electronic components is created. If this database is linked to the manufacturers’ data (Siemens, SEW, Lenze, Schneider Electric, Rockwell, etc.), they can enter their information about an impending discontinuation. The result is a system in which every user of a discontinued electronic component is automatically informed of the discontinuation at an early stage.
The INspares solution starts at three different points: In the planning and design phase, during delivery and in productive use by the end user. Ideally, these points interlock and leave no gaps.
Information as early as the planning and design phase
In the industrial environment, many plant engineers use EPLAN software. The software accesses component lists from many manufacturers in order to design and plan a machine, system or control cabinet. Through a planned co-operation between INspares and EPLAN, their software could be linked to the INspares component database so that the engineer already has information on the discontinuation of components used during planning and design. He can replace these components at this early stage.
Inspection during final acceptance before productive use
System integrators such as INperfektion are also brought on board. As part of the final acceptance test at the customer’s premises, a check is carried out against the INspares database to identify any obsolescence in installed components. In this way, the problem is detected before the system goes into productive operation. For this purpose, the total article parts list is sufficient to carry out a comparison. INspares then provides feedback via a traffic light system.
Permanent all-round view of electronic components in production
Manufacturing companies are at the centre of the solution. Because without knowing which electronic components are used in the company, the entire system will not work. To begin with, data is recorded and ALL electronic components are catalogued. The app is used to record all relevant data and parameters, including photos taken on site. This information provides the company with a 360° view of its components, their life cycle, specifications and suppliers. On average, around 70 components are recorded per hour. On the other hand, the central database is fed by INspares.
If a component is discontinued by manufacturer A, the customer is informed and can take appropriate measures. For example, the system checks how often the component is installed and at which critical points it is in use. This provides management with decision-making aids to enable them to make targeted decisions. Does the stock level need to be increased? Does a retrofit need to be budgeted and planned? Or do you want to continue to take risks? The only important thing is that the management can be involved, because there are now reliable figures.
100% transparency leads to unprecedented insights and statistics
As already mentioned, a centralised and manufacturer-neutral component database offers new, previously unimaginable insights and statistics for everyone involved. In future, every manufacturer of an electronic component will receive information on how often their component is actually in use. The user (industrial company) will suddenly know how many units of component A are in use and how many of them are in stock – and how many units are in stock at the manufacturer or how quickly they could be delivered.
With the help of state-of-the-art AI software, the INspares software is able to make forecasts and probabilities about an imminent component failure or an imminent discontinuation. This is based on a rapidly growing database plus historical data. The risk of plant downtime due to the failure of an electronic component is minimised, which means that the INspares system makes a contribution to environmental protection and energy saving. Because unnecessary production downtimes can be avoided, hectic taxi journeys with spare parts across Germany become obsolete.
Coming soon: Connecting external service providers
The story does not end here. Connecting external service providers creates new business models. If, for example, repair service providers are connected, they can act proactively on the basis of forecasts and probabilities of possible component failures and knock on the customer’s door before the component in question fails. On the other hand, the customer (the industrial company) learns that a component that could potentially fail could also be repaired by a repair service provider. Instead of being replaced, it is repaired, which saves immense costs.
Logistics service providers could also dock onto the ‘magic’ database. This would allow them to find out at an early stage where and with whom there is an acute and imminent need for spare parts and they can then deliver immediately.
Other new business areas
Banks and savings banks as well as leasing companies that finance a machine (e.g. a CNC machine for a joinery) are interested in ensuring that this machine is equipped with the latest components.
This also applies to insurers who insure the breakdown of the machine or the entire loss of production.
In future, INspares can take on the role of an ‘obsolescence’ assessor for planned or installed components and machines.
