The acceleration of innovation cycles affects all sectors and is hastening the obsolescence of electronic components. Beyond the supply chain challenges caused by the rapid phase-out of certain component families, companies face significant operational and security risks, particularly in the industrial, defence, aerospace, and transportation sectors. In this article, we will address some issues our clients have faced and the solutions we have implemented to help them overcome these challenges.
One of our clients, an international leader in the aluminum industry, sought our services to address a major challenge: upgrading the electronic components of the AC/DC converters built into some of its production equipment, which is essential to the operation of an aluminum smelter.
The challenge laid in replacing electronic circuit boards based on obsolete technology embedded in large pieces of equipment that were about 30 years old but still fully functional.
This project illustrates the discrepancy between the service life of equipment and that of its components, a phenomenon frequently observed in sectors where power electronics are widespread. Besides, the mechanical design of this equipment, which has been engineered to last for several decades, often makes it difficult to maintain or replace the electronic components.
In this case, our approach consisted of:
By focusing on the electronics, the chosen solution avoided the replacement of the electromechanical system, which had not yet reached the end of its useful life—a replacement that would have required investments of several million dollars.
The project involved upgrading radio communication equipment that operates using application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). These integrated circuits offer excellent performance and play a vital role in devices that require speed or energy efficiency. However, manufacturers were no longer producing the ones used in our client’s radio equipment, forcing them to find an alternative.
Rather than redesigning the product, which can be a complex and costly process, our team recommended implementing equivalent functionality using programmable digital circuits.
In fact, unlike application-specific integrated circuits, programmable digital circuits (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGAs) are microchips that users can program after manufacturing to perform customized digital functions.
Choosing this solution allowed Cysca’s engineers to replace an obsolete ASIC with a modern FPGA configured to perform the same functions. This minimized the required changes to the printed circuit board.
A global company in the aerospace, military and civil defence sectors was looking to improve the performance of one of its systems, used for quality control of projectiles.
Our initial mandate was to produce and test certain circuits within the system, but it turned out that the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodiodes used were no longer available on the market. In addition to identifying new replacement LEDs and photodiodes, we improved the circuit’s layout and mechanical design to better suit the operating environment.
By introducing redundancy into certain critical circuits and reinforcing the printed circuit board, our teams helped improve the equipment’s reliability while reducing costs associated with parts obsolescence.
In this case as well, our structured obsolescence management strategy made it possible to avoid the costly replacement of strategic equipment.
Among the many projects we are undertaking to address similar challenges, these three examples illustrate the ability of our systems engineering and electronic design teams to extend the lifespan of your systems.
Lifecycle analyses, electronic design reengineering, and replacement and validation strategies are effective approaches to addressing electronic obsolescence and letting you continue your operations safely while meeting your operational and budgetary constraints.
