Adapting to technology advances and end of life announcements for current measurement technologies

As technology advances and manufacturing processes evolve, electronic components and subassemblies are replaced by updated, generally more capable components and subassemblies. After a period of dwindling supplies of the outdated parts, the component or subassembly is discontinued. The first warning is generally an “End of Life” announcement to permit the clients dependent on the part to make other arrangements. The need to adapt to these changes can present a significant challenge to small companies, making limited runs of product depending on a stable supply of parts and there are several strategies that can be employed to minimize the disruption and maximize the benefit of the upgraded part replacement.