- Pickering Interfaces, a provider of modular switching and signal simulation solutions for electronic test and verification, announces a formal approach to protect its customers from obsolescence, one of the most costly challenges test engineers face when maintaining automated test equipment (ATE).
“Critical products with long life cycles use components that need to be tested decades after they were manufactured and their test systems were originally designed,” said Keith Moore, CEO of Pickering. “When instrumentation suppliers stop delivering components for these test systems, these companies, most often operating in the aerospace, defense, rail or energy sectors, are left without a solution. They must try to find an alternative or face an impending and costly redesign of their test systems. ”
In addition, for highly regulated industries such as defense, changing important components, software or processes in a test system can trigger a request to recertify the system. This can require considerable investment.
To help its customers manage obsolescence and minimize the risk of it occurring, Pickering implements an obsolescence strategy that is based on the following:
- Obsolescence planning during the design phase: Pickering’s engineering teams evaluate complete designs and anticipate future industry challenges to ensure there is a test solution to meet all demands.
- Use of standardized platforms: By supporting and maintaining over 1000 PXI and LXI modules and thousands more iterated from them, Pickering offers standard solutions that are easier to scale.
- Provide very long-term support: Pickering is committed to supporting modules designed into the customer’s system for the entire product lifecycle, even redesigning modules as necessary.
If customers previously standardized test systems with competing platforms and are now faced with obsolescence, Pickering can most often adapt the modules and adjust them to the function of the original hardware.
