Strategies to the Prediction, Mitigation and Management of Product Obsolescence

2.4 CHANGE-NOTIFICATION

Several key standards and authorities guide the notification processes for semiconductor part changes. However, change notifications can propagate a number of different ways through the supply chain, and, despite the presence of industrywide standards, exact policies and procedures related to change-notification vary.

2.4.1 Industry Standard Process Change-Notification

There are several standards that have been developed to bring uniformity to change-control and notification processes. Industry standards have been developed by organizations such as EIA/JEDEC, which form the basis for most change-control and notification procedures. The U.S. military also has specifications on change-control for military electronics. However, they are increasingly adopting industry standards as the number of military specification parts being manufactured continues to decrease.

Manufacturers of electronic parts customarily decide the content, recipients, and frequency of product change notices. Some equipment manufacturers complain that they are not kept fully informed of changes that affect the functionality of final products. At the other extreme, other equipment manufacturers complain that they are burdened with too many—often trivial—change notices that do not add value to their products and processes. Users and manufacturers need to come to a mutually beneficial, technologically feasible, and contractually enforceable agreement regarding the issuance and delivery of ...