Life Cycle Management

The occurance and impact of obsolescence events is closely coupled with the life cycle of the assembly, product or system of interest. The following example uses a time index from 0 to 99 as a means of indicating the points in the life cycle at which these events are most likely.

Update of Life Cycle Data

  • Use life cycle data for communication to manufacturers and customers
  • Use data to plan and update life cycle of products and services

Life Cycle Updates 

The life cycle of each item is unique in terms of its length, start date, and profile. Each life cycle is asynchronous with other items in the product structure. 

smartPCN uses a standard way to represent the life cycle of an item. Apart from key events like Start of Production, End of Production, End of Sales and End of Service and Repair there is also a life cycle index from 00 to 99 on the time axis. The current life cycle status of an item may be described by a number in this range. 

The dates of past key events in the life cycle can be added to the smartPCN record. Predicted dates for future key events can be added and be updated with emerging information as time goes by.