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Obsolescence management in German SMEs

The technical progress of the industrial sector enables rapid product developments, efficient production processes and individual automation technologies. However, Industry 4.0 conceals a dark side with significant effects on long-term investments in German SMEs. As a result of the development, a long-term planning horizon becomes more difficult: components are discontinued, spare parts are no longer available and the product life cycle no longer meets the needs of industries that rely on durable and high-quality capital goods. Manufacturers are not the only ones to blame for the shortage of components and spare parts; environmental considerations or megatrends such as IoT are also among the triggers of shortened product lifecycles.

To counteract this change and ensure maintenance, obsolescence management is becoming a ubiquitous topic in German SMEs. The future trend is increasing. Due to an increase in industrial development and product innovations, the product life cycles of machines are becoming shorter and shorter.

Affected industries of obsolescence

The core issue of discontinued components is the long-term impact on the entire production and supply chain. The complication here is obvious: international manufacturers are discontinuing spare parts for machines for a wide variety of reasons. While active maintenance management has been present for years in sectors such as defense technology or the railroad industry, the effects of obsolescence are now spreading across a wide range of industries. The long-term capital goods affected are omnipresent in manufacturing companies in the German SME sector. "The discontinuation of individual parts poses an economic and ecological dichotomy for small medium-sized companies as well as large industrial enterprises. Fully functional machines have to be shut down due to a lack of spare parts. In order to create a sustainable solution to this problem, we manufacture adequate components for our customers. In this way, machines can be upgraded for continued operation," explains Andreas Klatt, Technical Manager at VWH GmbH. In particular, the sectors of energy utilities, construction technology, aviation technology or industrial manufacturing have to struggle with the consequences of obsolescence. These industries rely on maintaining purchased machinery for up to 20 years. While continuous operation must be guaranteed on the shop floor, obsolescence management does not only affect internal processes. Throughout the entire supply chain, spare parts availability should be ensured, which can also be fulfilled over a long-term period.

Problems of international component availability

In order to ensure a universal basis for overarching obsolescence management, long-term provision is regulated for Germany by VDMA 24903 and for Europe by the DIN EN 62402 standard. Since many of the international suppliers and manufacturers are located abroad, it is nevertheless impossible to prevent them from discontinuing their components without further information. Medium-sized companies are left alone with this issue. In order to avoid costs and to be prepared for emergencies, obsolescence management serves as an instrument for planning security. The discontinuation of a component is usually not a step that occurs abruptly; in an advance notice there is sufficient time for precautionary planning. On the user side, the challenge of obsolescence must be met with efficient planning. Here, a distinction is made between reactive and proactive obsolescence management. While reactive action is direct action to solve the problem that has occurred, proactive obsolescence management is the key to worry-free availability of components and spare parts.

The operational implementation of obsolescence management

For the ongoing maintenance of long-lived capital equipment, it is incumbent on the affected company and an operational partner to work together systematically to develop an obsolescence plan. Re-engineering and the subsequent reproduction of components require careful planning of the approach. For this purpose, documentation of the discontinued components should be prepared, which makes it possible to identify problem areas that may arise in the future. Based on the documentation and the associated character sets, the production process can be derived. Starting with a re-design or re-engineering, VWH GmbH guarantees a wide variety of solutions in different production forms. "We have a high value chain in-house to meet the complex requirements of our customers. Our range of services includes, among other things, special machine and tool construction," Andreas Klatt, Technical Manager at VWH GmbH points out. If drawing sets are not available, a component can be traced by optical or tactile measurement. Reproduction is then carried out in the company's own production facility, thus ensuring that the components can be produced for decades. Appropriate quality control is also guaranteed after production. Continuous support is additionally ensured by the required spare parts logistics.

Maintenance management of VWH GmbH

 

The global trend of technical development is increasing and product life cycles are becoming shorter. Obsolescence management is becoming a relevant core strategy in a changing industrial goods market. As a consistent partner, VWH GmbH offers suitable solutions for reactive and proactive maintenance management. With cross-industry expertise and a comprehensive service for discontinued components and spare parts. Logistical challenges are also solved through fast response times and close cooperation.