Developing proactive, resilient, and cost-optimized supply chains is critical for long-lifecycle products (LLCPs), those with active production lives exceeding five years. Sectors like aerospace and defense (A&D), automotive and transportation, large-scale capital equipment, and medical and life sciences rely on component availability and product support for five to twenty or more years. However, redesigning to address obsolescence can be costly and disruptive. By proactively managing component specifications and obsolescence, Benchmark ensures a steady supply for LLCPs.
Navigating Modern Supply Chain Challenges
Adapting to Global Disruptions and Technological Advances
Establishing and managing the supply chain for any manufactured product requires extensive planning and preparation. Recent global challenges have highlighted the vulnerabilities of component supply chains, particularly for critical commodities like semiconductors, which are often produced in just one production facility.
Designing LLCPs, which often include single-sourced, custom, or semi-custom components, adds additional complexity to supply chain planning and production. Traditionally, maintaining a robust, adaptable, and cost-efficient supply chain for complex LLCPs facing fluctuating demand required significant investment in maintaining large inventories of components or entering into "last-time buy" arrangements. This approach negatively impacted cash flow, inventory turn performance, and warehousing requirements while introducing obsolescence risk. Even for manufacturers maintaining large inventories, pandemic-related disruptions caused global semiconductor device shortages, affecting a wide range of products, applications, and industries.
Notably, one of the most severely impacted applications by component shortages was Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which resulted in delays in global automobile production, drove up vehicle prices and insurance rates, and significantly contributed to global inflation. Heightened manufacturer and consumer demand from "double or triple ordering" panic buying practices further complicated the response to chip shortages and reduced production capabilities. This inadvertently created a whipsaw effect on the semiconductor supply chain and downstream users, exacerbating the challenge of securing mission-critical components and intensifying global inflationary pressures.
Designing Resilient Supply Chains for Sustainability and Cybersecurity
As manufacturers evaluate product supply chains, they consider not only the cost of components but also their availability over time, environmental impact, and suppliers' cybersecurity posture. Manufacturers seeking sustainable designs, for example, tend to select biodegradable, durable, and recyclable circuit materials. The environmental impact of supply chain components may stem from the materials they are based on and how the components are transported and distributed from suppliers to manufacturing locations.
Manufacturers establishing and managing LLCP supply chains must also remain vigilant against cybersecurity threats to protect product design and manufacturing data. Suppliers may need to store, transmit, and destroy product design data properly for 20 years or more for an LLCP. Procurement teams must align and work closely with suppliers to establish and validate strong cybersecurity practices and collaborate with Information Technology (IT) teams to ensure suppliers' systems meet manufacturers' and regulators' requirements. Protecting against cyber threats requires educating all suppliers and team members about the latest cybersecurity risks, especially concerning product design and Bill of Material (BOM) information.
Embracing Automation and Advanced Manufacturing for Future Readiness
Modern manufacturing methods, such as computerized pick-and-place machines working with very small surface mount technology (SMT) components, can broaden potential component options. Through automated assembly techniques and the ability to design multilayer printed-circuit boards (PCBs), it is possible to develop a more flexible and sustainable BOM for even the most advanced electronic products. With a durable supply chain designed for automated assembly and miniaturization, LLCPs can also meet demands for reduced size, weight, and power (SWaP), which is essential for many A&D, automotive, and healthcare applications.
Intelligent Solutions
A well-designed and managed supply chain must coordinate product lead times with customers and proactively anticipate and contribute to meeting cost targets over time. Through thoughtful analysis, foresight, and planning, starting at the design stage of a product, Benchmark’s engineers work collaboratively with customers to establish optimized supply chains for that product. We invest the necessary time to achieve stable, reliable, and scalable supply chains that are flexible enough to support high-volume and lower-volume, high-mix, high-complexity production lines without compromising product quality or performance.
In some production and demand situations, modest buffer stocks or safety production purchases defend against production disruptions when the supply of parts shrinks or is abruptly cut off due to extraordinary circumstances. By following a Design for Supply Chain strategy (DFSc), Benchmark’s design and manufacturing teams plan for an adequate supply of components even in the event of unforeseen production shortages or unplanned upside demand. We practice a product realization approach that integrates intelligent supply chain management with engineering design, test development, and design for manufacturing and serviceability. As a result, LLCPs are well-planned and fueled by consistently available components, devices, and technologies. By predicting technological changes and working closely with component manufacturers, Benchmark’s production teams can efficiently manufacture advanced designs throughout the lifecycle of a customer’s product.
Coordinating demand, supply, production, and finished product fulfillment requirements across the supply chain can be achieved through close collaboration with suppliers, customers, and the end user. This is especially true for products supporting the A&D, communications, critical infrastructure, automotive & transportation, and medical and life sciences markets. Data-driven automated planning and production systems also play a crucial role in maintaining a robust and reliable supply chain for customer products without causing delays or compromising the quality of the final product. Benchmark’s supply chain and production processes are supported by advanced information tracking systems and specialized custom and commercial software, from product development design to production, inspection, testing, and fulfillment. The software is often customized to support each customer’s unique requirements to minimize risk and total BOM landed cost.
Delivering Excellence When It Matters
Although no system is foolproof for anticipating and managing the uncertainty of supply chains for complex electronic products, Benchmark’s proactive and holistic approach to product development, component engineering, and supplier management dramatically improves supply chain continuity for our customers. Benchmark’s 45 years of product development and manufacturing experience ensures that even the most complicated products are designed, sourced, and manufactured sustainably with quality and consistency over the product’s lifetime.
Partnering with Benchmark to design and produce long-lifecycle products is the first step to creating a resilient and predictable source of high-quality products delivered on time at a competitive cost. Contact us today to explore how our expertise in supporting LLCPs can benefit your business.
