What is Obsolescence Management (OM)?

Traditionally, obsolescence mitigation (OM) has been and continues to be a reactive and corrective activity by military, aerospace and hi-rel industrial electronics systems OEMs to overcome the relatively short-term availability of essential components needed for long-term product support. It is a process which leaves systems users at risk from poor quality, counterfeiting and/or incurring excessive price premiums.
 

What's missing from traditional OM?

OM is a disruptive, time consuming, costly headache. What’s missing in OM are a range of preparations and services essential to secure long term continuity and quality of supply at a predictable cost. What OM doesn't do, is to prepare for the inevitable, it waits for it to hit and then measured the bruise.
 

What is semiconductor lifecycle management?

Semiconductor lifecycle management (SLiM™) is nothing less than an entirely new approach to securing the supply of semiconductor solutions, products and services for high reliability commercial semiconductor and military/aerospace electronic systems markets. It also supports companies who require on-going long-term supply of associated goods and services enabling platforms to effectively and efficiently remain viable for decades.

This approach offers a range of  activities, which can be selected dependant upon the postion of the system in its lifecycle, from the design of new semiconductor components for new systems, to the management of last time buy stocks already purchased for existing programs. 

It is a rational, orderly, predictable and strategic approach to delivering a long term secure supply chain.
 

How does SLiM™essentially differ from OM?

SLiM™ pro-actively plans and prepares for the inevitability and eventuality of long-term supply by setting up relationships, investments and capabilities to secure predictable, cost controlled availability for the full length of a program.

OM responds to an obsolescence situation as it occurs and attempts to resolve it. It is therefore time consuming to do well, inherently risky, potentially unreliable, risks introducing counterfeit goods, offers no cost controls and at worst fails to respond.
 

How is SLiM™ provided?

The SLiM™ process accesses a range of specialisations.

At it's most basic is the secure supply of product from the banking of wafers, sourced from a range of foundry partners engaged early in the product’s life. These must be securely stored in controlled environments for wafer integrity.

Wafer banking is one of the safest, easiest and cost effective ways of extending the lifetime of semiconductor products. However, it would sacrifice efficiency without the integrated, captive secure facilities to finish, assemble and test products to mil/aero standards. This is particularly important for components using older technologies where processes and equipment must be kept and maintained long enough to support these older technologies.

Additional services, including new product design, packaging, assembly, re-engineering, re-design, testing and screening processes are also required. These should be combined and coordinated under a single control and into a single facility, not farmed out to myriad subcontractors due to potential security and inherent logistical problems for a process which must remain robust over 10s of years. The facilities should be certified and fully qualified by the major certification agencies, such as the US Department of Defense and the European Space Agency to the most demanding quality standards. These include: AS/EN9100 and QML Class Q and V standards. 

Stability and continuity are key to providing SLiM™. Uninterrupted, secure supply including quality levels, availability of required high-reliability packaging types and warrantees to original specifications all combine to create the desired net effect of SLiM™ for mil/aero OEMs.