How to manage the obsolescence of industrial parts: a complete guide

A component at the end of its life, unable to be found at the time of a breakdown: this is one of the major causes of prolonged production shutdowns in industry. And the cost of a stopped line almost always exceeds the price of the failed part.

The problem today goes beyond electronics: it affects electricity, electromechanics, lifting and taps. Systems are designed to be operated for a duration that generally exceeds that of their components, resulting in a growing gap between the lifespan of the equipment and that of its parts. Managing obsolescence, it is to manage this gap instead of suffering it.

This guide describes what obsolescence is, its types, and a 5-step plan to control it, aligned with the IEC 62402 standard.

What is obsolescence management?

There obsolescence management is the process which makes it possible to anticipate, detect and treat the end of life of components and equipment, to avoid production stoppages and control life cycle costs. It applies from design and throughout operation, as defined by the IEC 62402 standard.

In industrial practice, obsolescence is no longer limited to electronics. It affects a growing number of equipment (electricity, electromechanics, lifting, valves) and complicates the maintenance of long-life systems. Company buyouts, market developments and regulatory tightening are accelerating the phenomenon, while economic constraints are pushing to extend the operation of installations. Result: cases of obsolescence increase, and with them the risk of shutdown.

Obsolescence, a double-edged sword

Obsolescence is a direct consequence of innovation. On the manufacturers' side, each generation of product replaces the previous one, with a shorter life cycle: maintaining a stock of parts for old series is expensive, so the shutdown is planned.

On the industrial side, the objective is the opposite: to operate the equipment for as long as possible to make the investment profitable. These two logics are directly opposed. Obsolescence is therefore inevitable, but unlike a breakdown, it is predictable, therefore pilotable.

What are the 4 types of obsolescence?

There are four types of obsolescence: technical (the part is no longer manufactured or supported), functional (the equipment no longer meets the need), scheduled (lifespan limited by design) and cultural (renewal dictated by fashion).

In industrial maintenance, two types dominate: technical and functional. It is the disappearance of parts and the end of manufacturer support that causes the shutdowns. Identifying the type involved determines the answer: replacement, reconditioning or modernization.

Why anticipate obsolescence? The true cost of production shutdown

Anticipating obsolescence prevents a single unfound component from blocking an entire line. The real cost is not measured by the price of the part, but by the production hours lost and the downtime that continues until a solution is found.

This approach is complementary to your stock policy: this is the role of stock management of spare parts, which addresses “how much to store” when obsolescence addresses “what to do when the part disappears.”

The financial impact of an unplanned machine stop (Downtime)

Unplanned downtime is measured in lost production hours, not cost per part. The loss of profit from a stopped line often far exceeds the value of the failed component itself.

The opposite excess also costs: overstocking all references ties up cash flow and causes equipment to age which will in turn become obsolete. The right answer is not “stock everything”, but target the critical parts, the ones whose absence actually stops the line.

The IEC 62402 standard: the reference framework

There IEC 62402:2019 standard is the international standard for obsolescence management. It sets the requirements applicable to any organization dependent on a third party for its components, over the entire product life cycle.

It structures the approach around concrete axes: establishing an obsolescence management policy, developing a obsolescence management plan (OMP), minimize obsolescence from the design stage, then measure and improve the system. Align with this official normative framework IEC 62402 which makes the whole process more reliable. Also, the article Management of equipment obsolescence, signed by the president of the AFNOR standardization commission, details its application.

How to build an obsolescence management plan: the 5 key steps

A proactive plan is based on five actions: anticipating purchases, maintaining preventively, training teams, securing targeted stock, and supporting inevitable obsolescence. The guideline: moving from a strategy reactive (act when the breakdown occurs) to a strategy preventive (anticipate before the breakup).

1. Implement a purchasing strategy (and Last Time Buy)

Check the actual lifespan of equipment before purchasing it, and monitor end-of-life (EOL) notifications from manufacturers. Buying equipment that is already close to being sold means planning its replacement in the short term.

When a manufacturer announces the discontinuation of a component, apply the Last Time Buy (LTB) : the last purchase in volume before the end of production, calibrated to cover the maintenance needs of the following years. This is often the most economical response to announced obsolescence.

2. Establish preventive maintenance

After the useful life of equipment, failure rates and costs increase, and a single failed part can shut down the plant. Preventive maintenance aims to intervene before this tipping point.

Start with an audit of the fleet: qualify the condition of the systems, identify equipment that is already obsolete, assess the availability of components on the market, prioritize by risk. These two steps (detection Then allocation of priorities) concentrate effort where the risk of shutdown is highest.

3. Train teams in the field

A strategy is only as good as the technicians who apply it. The maintenance of old equipment requires specific expertise at each phase of the equipment's life cycle.

Many companies no longer have internal experts to pass on this know-how on old series: the use of external resources then becomes justified. A trained team acts directly on the indicators: downtime, availability rate, scrap rate.

4. Maintain a strategic stock of critical parts

Stock has a cost, but remains the most effective preventative means against the obsolescence of a critical part. The mistake would be to store hundreds of references “just in case”.

The method: target critical parts (those whose unavailability stops production) and take advantage of each replacement of an obsolete component to constitute a temporary reserve of repair parts. A stock driven by criticality, neither bloated nor undersized.

5. Support obsolescence when it becomes inevitable (repair, modernization, reconditioning)

Obsolescence eventually arrives. The case of the range Siemens SIMATIC S5 illustrates this: after more than 40 years of service, its life cycle ended on September 30, no more spare parts or manufacturer repairs for the S5 family.

Two possible answers:

• Replacement : source the part from specialists with new, obsolete or certified reconditioned stocks (you can find obsolete or remanufactured Siemens parts to keep the installation in service.

• Retrofit : modernize to a recent generation (SIMATIC S7) when the original part is definitely not found and the cost/duration calculation justifies it.

FAQ: Management of industrial obsolescence

What is Last Time Buy (LTB)?
The last volume purchase of a component, made when the manufacturer announces its end of production, to constitute a reserve covering future maintenance needs.

• How do you know if equipment is obsolete?
  Typical signs: increasing downtime, parts increasingly difficult to find, end of manufacturer support, end of life (EOL) notification. A periodic audit of the fleet detects them before they become critical.

• Should it be replaced or modernized (retrofit)?
  Depending on availability and cost. Certified refurbished offers immediate availability at a lower cost; the retrofit is justified when the original part cannot be found and the modernization extends the line sustainably.

Obsolescence cannot be eliminated, it can be managed. A structured plan — anticipation of purchases (Last Time Buy), preventive maintenance, trained teams, stock targeted on criticality, reconditioning or retrofit at the end of the run — reduces the risk of downtime and the cost of the life cycle. This is a cost-effectiveness decision, not just a maintenance one.

A critical part at the end of its life on your fleet? Consult Spare-Place's catalog of new, obsolete and reconditioned parts to source it, or anticipate your next Last Time Buy.