The Challenge
Our client is responsible for a service that is integral to the support of combat aircraft in service by the UK Ministry of Defence. In delivery of this service to the Ministry of Defence, our client utilised a number of modified consumer electronic components. The nature of the support provided to combat aircraft squadrons was both incredibly important and incredibly sensitive. Both the client and the Ministry of Defence needed to be sure that the systems could be supported and maintained for extended life cycles which lead to CMCA(UK) being asked to develop a bespoke strategy to manage their obsolescence risk.
The Solution
The client understood that to continue to be effective in their support of the Ministry of Defence, they needed to implement a comprehensive Obsolescence Management Plan (OMP). This would allow them to mitigate the risks posed by obsolescence and effectively manage the supply of their critical components.
Due to the critical nature of the items in need of support, the Ministry of Defence had requested to be made aware of any risks posed to their assets, specifically in this case, by obsolescence risk to components of the client’s equipment. The client specified that the information was proprietary to them and requested that the information was not shared outside of the company, however, the Ministry of Defence had specified that they needed to be made aware of any changes to the availability of the product being provided to them. To accommodate these requests, CMCA(UK) developed a bespoke strategy that included monitoring of specific items for the client with a detailed set of reports produced, and high-level reporting to the Ministry of Defence so as to raise any issues they needed to be made aware of, whilst not including any details that would compromise the client’s privacy and security status. The result of this was that the client maintained visibility of the availability of components and could continue to produce the required items for the Ministry of Defence, and the Ministry of Defence were made aware of any obsolescence risk associated with their items and were able to effectively support mitigation plans to avoid any adverse effects.
All parties involved signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement to facilitate a more effective working relationship and allow CMCA(UK) to develop the monitoring capabilities required.
A strategy was devised whereby CMCA(UK) would receive a list of components from the supplier, from which reports on specific components could be generated for the client, and high-level reports could be generated for the Ministry of Defence. This ensured that the obsolescence risk was effectively managed and all parties involved received usable information.
The Benefits
Why Choose CMCA(UK)?
Clients choose CMCA(UK) for many reasons, the most compelling of which are:
- We are a company that specialises in Obsolescence Management, Procurement and Long Term Storage solutions. It is our business to provide cost-effective, knowledgeable advice to our clients: after all, our excellent reputation depends on it.
- When it comes to Obsolescence Management, we pride ourselves on being innovative and progressive in our quest to develop practical, bespoke solutions.
- The client has access to market-leading strategic and tactical Obsolescence Management advice. This allows their In-Service Support team to focus its attention on the plethora of other engineering challenges, safe in the knowledge that obsolescence is being managed by the experts.
