Industry and obsolescence
In the industry, the management of obsolescence of a machine park has become in a few years a key success factor for the management of a production.
This concept has led to the creation of positions in the largest industries in order to create (repetition) strategic management to reduce downtime.
Because what's more unpleasant for a company to be stopped for several days or even months on a production machine. As long as it is not a strategic part of the production chain, the amount of inactivity can be very fast.
Thus, without obsolescence management, we must face a loss of production, financial impacts, unused employees, stress and even a lot of stress.
At this point, panic invades us, spreads to all departments of the company and creates a climate of extreme tension. The requirements vary greatly from one type of industry to another but in certain areas such as chemistry or pharmaceuticals, some products must be used within a very short period of time, otherwise they will have to be destroyed after this period of expiry.
We have all known this case, this production stop (always at the worst time) with the key obsolete equipment failed.
Our duty is to act. I said act and not react. Stop this pressure or the maintenance department is faced with the fact accomplished with little or no solution in the very short term.
Taking action effectively involves allocating a start time to the implementation of this obsolescence management. No matter the size of the company, this approach applies to everyone.
Step by step management of the obsolescence of a machine park
1 - Cartography
The first step is to classify its machines from the most strategic in the production line to the least strategic. This will define the thread of the gait.
Then it is a question of listing all the electronic elements of the machine (this service actually takes time to realize but this map is the essential starting point for the approach). During this phase we must note the manufacturer's references, the manufacturer's marks and the versions (at least software) if available.
This cartography makes it possible to obtain a real detailed overview of its machine park.
2 - Survey study
The next step is to study this survey, evaluate the position of each element in its life cycle, thus separating the obsolete or end-of-life elements from the manufacturers of the others. We are also studying the availability of this equipment on the obsolescence market, the quantities available, the evolution of its price and assess when possible short and medium term availability trends. This step is often delegated to third parties with a global view of the market and an increased knowledge of the obsolescence of industrial electronic equipment.
3 - Cross analysis
Once the complete study has been carried out on the entire machine park or on several production factories, we can go on to the next step: create a library of equipment by cross-referencing all the data collected. This allows us to obtain a complete view with the number of identical equipment installed on several machines or production sites. During this phase in order to recategorize the elements, we can add a piece of data that is to rate the criticality of a product in its obsolescence. This step is relatively important because it makes it possible to emerge short, medium and long term strategies of investment and creation of strategic stocks.
4 - Implementation of strategy
Finally the study being finished you now have a complete tool for mapping your machine fleet and its obsolescence. You can put your stocks in parallel to verify that on the most sensitive and critical elements you have basic security. Now remains to put in place one or more strategies to combat equipment obsolescence:
- Strategy to create a security stock on positions that do not exist in current stock
- Inaction and just-in-time strategy
- Strategy of revamping a machine
- Electronic Elements Modernization Strategy
- Outsourcing and Security Stock Management Strategy
trategy for creating a security stock on positions that do not exist in current inventory
This strategy is the most comfortable when you want to keep your machines obsolete. Indeed, it allows to obtain a total control of its obsolescence, to react very quickly in case of breakdown and to be in total autonomy. However, this choice is often decried within industries because the solution proves to be relatively expensive (purchase of parts, storage costs, logistics management cost), and does not seem to be a solution to all the tests in the long term (indeed some electronic components deteriorate with the years and can lead to a non-functioning of the equipment). Also, the investment may never be used (if no failure occurs on the machine), it also requires technical skills in some cases (reprogramming module for example).
Inaction and just-in-time strategy
This strategy is the best from a financial point of view because finally no investment is necessary and everything rests on 2 factors: the daily maintenance of your tools of production and luck. In addition, it avoids all the internal problems of storage and logistics. It can be very dangerous because the day when the breakdown occurs then often begins a panic. Without obsolescence study beforehand we can very quickly find ourselves in a tense situation with few or no technical solutions, we put ourselves at the mercy of delays sometimes very long and fluctuations in purchase prices. I think this strategy is to apply to all non-strategic and non-critical elements in the obsolescence market.
Retrofit strategy of a machine
This strategy is surely the most comfortable but requires a significant financial investment and not all the time justified to the views of the use of the machine that you need.
Certainly you eliminate the obsolescence and often you cleared for a few years of the management of breakdowns of this new machine since the manufacturers offer maintenance contracts (paid or not). However, obsolescence alone should not be the only criterion for motivation to change, especially if the equipment meets the expectations of the manufacturer. It must be motivated by more elements such as additional automation of the process, a financial gain in the medium / long term, a gain in productivity, ...
Modernization strategy for electronic elements
The strategy of modernization is a good alternative because it makes it possible to compensate for the electronic obsolescence of a machine while preserving its mechanical part which so well maintained makes it possible to continue for long years. The modernization of the electronic part, however, is not always as easy to implement as hoped and in some cases does not represent a financially viable alternative. Modernizing means in some cases redoing a program and very quickly it will have a significant financial impact. As for revamping, this solution must be motivated by more elements than its obsolescence alone as an additional automation of the process, a financial gain in the medium / long term, a gain in productivity, ...
Outsourcing and Security Inventory Management Strategy
This strategy is part of these new and exciting alternatives. Indeed, the industrialist no longer has to manage his stocks and to worry about the obsolescence of his equipment. Everything is decentralized to external partners who will manage the obsolescence of a machine park, storage and thus bring a vision and concrete solutions in the short, medium and long term. This alternative is a very good financial compromise and gives certain visibility to industries to allow them to adjust and use budgets for other projects.
In conclusion, we realize that the electronic obsolescence of a machine park enters a strategic dimension for the industrialist that should not be neglected. In-depth work is needed and can lead to real results and improvements. It also allows you to ask the right questions upstream, to prepare simple strategies and especially not to be faced with a fait accompli in a breakdown but to have a proactive attitude.
I will finish this post by quoting two men:
- Emile de Girardin who said "Governing is planning"
- Henry Fayol who said "foresee, it is at the same time calculate the future and prepare it; foresee is already act"
I hope I have aroused your interest and questioned how obsolescence in industrial electronics can be treated
Did you like this article? Want to know more ? Do not hesitate to contact us on our website : www.plswiss.com
