GDCA Inc. partners with Abaco Systems to help avoid embedded end-of-life, support legacy systems

2019-02-04 Courtney E. Howard
Aerospace and defense, industrial automation and robotics, rail transportation, and other organizations which often struggle to support long-life platforms and systems stand to benefit from a new approach to obsolete and end-of-life (EOL) components. GDCA Inc. in Livermore, California, is working with Abaco Systems Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama, “to provide a sustainment path for customers with very long equipment life cycles,” GDCA CEO Ethan Plotkin explains.
 
“These customers absolutely need a reliable source of supply for very old embedded board designs,” Plotkin adds. “We’re still supporting products that were designed in the ’80s, and I consider making sure that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have happy customers to be a core competency.”
 
Aerospace and defense, industrial automation and robotics, rail transportation, and other organizations which often struggle to support long-life platforms and systems stand to benefit from a new approach to obsolete and end-of-life (EOL) components. GDCA Inc. in Livermore, California, is working with Abaco Systems Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama, “to provide a sustainment path for customers with very long equipment life cycles,” GDCA CEO Ethan Plotkin explains.

GDCA, specializing in manufacturing obsolete embedded computer equipment, has joined forces with Abaco Systems, maker of rugged embedded computing solutions. Together, the companies have completed the transfer of 13 VME I/O product lines from Abaco to GDCA. Customers of the transferred product families now have a path to product availability for as long as needed, officials say, and can take advantage of GDCA’s life cycle assurance services to support particularly long life cycles.


Read more from SAE International on product life-cycle management (PLM).

 
GDCA services customers of legacy products that have become a burden for embedded board and system OEMs to continue supporting. Since its founding in 1987, GDCA has served as a new source of supply for more than 2,500 companies worldwide.
 
GDCA’s PLM+ methodology provides long-term customer support and sustainment for end-of-life commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) and custom embedded computer boards and systems by using OEM-authorized intellectual property to offer legacy manufacturing, life cycle planning, life cycle assurance, and legacy engineering.
 

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Courtney E. Howard is editorial director and content strategist at SAE International. Contact her by e-mail at courtney.howard@sae.org. 
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