Obsolescence Management- Unknown Parts

Abstract

In an aerospace program, an opportunity to improve the obsolescence process was identified. The DMAIC methodology was implemented. The Bill of Materials was evaluated and it was found that there are parts with Unknown status that represent a risk of obsolescence. Program management and team performed a Risk Analysis to identify potential risks and mitigate or avoid them. The root cause was identified: suppliers do not participate to provide alert to companies in charge to maintain an external database that manages the internal obsolescence tool. The Component Engineer contacted the supplier to get the current part status in the market. The supplier’s responses were used as an evidence to change the part status in the Bill of Materials. The team implemented a SharePoint file to save all suppliers responses with the new part status data. Key Terms ⎯ Obsolescence Management, DMAIC, Program management, Risk Analysis.