System Design for products in Long Lifecycle (LLC) markets
Products whose lifecycle is shorter than 5 years are called short lifecycle products. Products like computers, laptops, cell phones are examples of products in short lifecycle markets. Products whose life is 5 to 25 years are called Long Lifecycle (LLC) products. Telecom, Automotive, Medical, Defense industries have products that have a life cycle greater than 5 years and require special attention during the design process. For LLC markets, volumes may not be high, but their design must address future requirements needs, enhanced reliability and a supply chain that can support them for the life of their products.
What matters the most – Short Lifecycle products vs Long Lifecycle products
| Short Lifecycle | Long Lifecycle | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Time to Market | Time in Service |
| Cost | Cost of Product | Cost of Maintenance |
| Functionality | Fixed Functionality | Evolving Functionality |
| Parts | How SOON parts will be available | How LONG the parts will be available |
| Features | Missing features pushed to next product launch | Missing features added to upgrades in the field |
Enhanced Reliability
Requires extended lifetime under extreme operating conditions. Most semiconductor IC parts used in LLC products are designed for SLC products and rated for only five years. LLC products require 5 to 20 years of service. Maintenance costs and customer satisfaction are significant issues.
Supply Chain Management
Requires IC parts to be available during the long production lifecycle of LLC productsi n the face of vendor churns and IC part obsolescence. The LLC product’s IC parts churn every 2 to 3 years leading to end-of-life obsolescence notices. Without intervention, product viability puts at risk with very few alternatives.
Specification/Functionality Evolvability
Requires upfront design consideration to allow for future feature and performance enhancements and ease of serviceability. LLC products need to EVOLVE over time as the external context changes over 5, 10, 20 years. Without thoughts on evolvability, either system function cannot keep up with requirements or upgrade costs skyrocket.
How to solve these three problems?
Design For LifeTime Profitability: Using below techniques Anew addresses the need for Enhanced Reliability, Supply Chain Management and Specification/Functionality Evolvability with:
AI Enablement
Design PCB Systems with AI enabled parts selection.
LLC System Design Flow
Manage evolvability, reliability, and obsolescence concurrently with other design parameters.
Dynamic Reconfiguration
Automatically introduce and manage redundancy to enhance LLC properties.