Project Versioning & Lifecycle Management

Frequently asked questions

What is obsolescence management in electronics?

Keeping track of which components in your products are approaching end of life, have been discontinued, or depend on a single source, and acting before the shortage stops a line. It covers lifecycle status per part, early warning, and a qualified replacement ready when the original becomes unavailable. On a standing order the timing is what counts: the discontinuation is reported as soon as it is known, not at the next call-off. An EMS provider does not do the development and cannot redesign the assembly itself, so the time gained is the real value. It can settle the question with its own customer while the original is still available.

Obsolescence or planned obsolescence: which one is meant here?

The industrial one. This is about a component the manufacturer discontinues, not about the lifespan a finished device is designed for, which is what the consumer debate calls planned obsolescence. The question here is the capacitor that will no longer exist in eighteen months, and whether a qualified replacement is already on file for it.

How do I find an electrically equivalent replacement for an obsolete MPN?

Through parametric search rather than part-number string matching. PCBoffer normalises manufacturer data to SI base units, farad, ohm, henry, and stores it in one consistent notation, so a substitute is found by its electrical values, tolerance and package. That finds parts a text search on the part number never would.

How are RoHS and REACH / SVHC status tracked?

Per component, alongside the lifecycle and obsolescence data. RoHS status and REACH / SVHC declarations are carried with the part, so a compliance question about a finished assembly is answered from the same record that produced the quote.

What happens to older versions of a bill of materials?

They are kept. Versioning and change history stay with the product, so it can be established later which parts were fitted to which build, the prerequisite for a recall, a field failure analysis, or an audit that asks about a batch produced two years ago.