Abstract:

Changes in the electronics marketplace have led to discontinuances of many of the parts needed to meet specialized needs of low-volume equipment suppliers. In some cases, specialized parts are available, but only from smaller manufacturers whose products may not quite conform to the equipment supplier's quality and integrity requirements. However, considering the high costs associated with alternate source development and the cost of missed deliveries to the customer, the equipment supplier may still have to buy parts from such a manufacturer. To ensure the quality and integrity of such parts, some form of intervention may be required. The role of equipment supplier intervention in the overall scheme of parts management, methods, cost and schedule implications, and a case study are discussed in this paper.

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