1. Purpose of the gate
Customers are given a last chance to order before the product or a key component is discontinued, with a notice period and migration path that suit long-life installations.
This gate decides and announces a last-time buy. Reviewers check that the obsolescence assessment considered alternatives, that the notice will be issued within the agreed period, that customers have a migration path, and that certificate holders and authorities are told where required.
For industrial and energy customers, a last-time buy is a serious event. They may need to buy spares for many years of installed systems, requalify a replacement, or redesign their own equipment. The notice must give them the time and information to do so.
The end-of-life route decision is taken here: a last-time buy sized for the installed base and spares, a redesign around the obsolete part with reassessment, a qualified second source, or a successor product with a migration path. Each has a safety and certification cost. A redesign or second source is a modification that needs an impact analysis on the FMEDA and safety case and, where certified characteristics change, the bodies' agreement. A successor product may need customers to requalify their own systems. A last-time buy defers those costs but ties up stock and relies on storage that preserves the parts.
The gate is also a check on the supply life commitment published at production release. If the commitment cannot be met, customers must be told plainly and early, and the business must decide whether to fund a bridge, such as a larger buy or a redesign, to honour what was promised.
11 more sections for registered members.