Viewpoint: Why obsolescence management processes are crucial to corporate strategy
Author : Tania Scroggie | Business Development Executive | GCDA
01 February 2021
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Legacy equipment & COTS obsolescence management expert, GDCA works closely with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to better understand & deal with the impact of low-performing older designs. Working with teams throughout these companies has highlighted just how common it is for each department to be pulling resolutely in their own direction. In many respects, this makes sense—until it does not...
The full version of this viewpoint was originally featured in the February 2021 issue of EPDT magazine [read the digital issue]. Sign up to receive your own copy each month.
GCDA Business Development Executive, Tania Scroggie talks to Holger Wußmann, CEO of embedded computing technology specialist, Kontron Electronics…
Although CEOs are skilled drivers, tasked with guiding their companies to successfully reach their business objectives, they rely on their departments to move the work forward. Because GCDA has a unique position advising OEMs on long-term product sustainment practices, it frequently witnesses how individual departments, positioned to meet their own objectives, can inadvertently undermine larger company goals.
Unfortunately, the reality is that if departments don’t have the policies and processes in place to support them working together, the company’s journey toward successfully reaching their business objectives will be problematic, slow and frustrating. For example, Manufacturing’s main concern is throughput, while Sales’ is to get a purchase order (PO), regardless of the difficulties and resources Manufacturing must handle to build the order.
Recently, I worked with a company in which Sales kept “winning” POs for such low volumes of obsolete products that the company was consistently losing money on the deals. Most folks I share this story with can’t understand why a company would allow itself to accept such an upside-down order. On the face of it, it makes no sense at all. However, if you look a bit more closely at how these POs are accepted, it starts to make more sense.
Read the full article in EPDT's February 2021 issue...
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