Joachim Tosberg, Life Cycle Manager at developer and producer of electromechanical components and systems for human–machine interaction, RAFI, has been re-elected a Board Member of the Component Obsolescence Group Deutschland (COGD).
Since 2017, RAFI has been a member of the association, which currently comprises more than 160 companies. The COPD works on recommendations for action and guidelines for best-practice solutions in dealing with obsolescence. “The current focus is increasingly on the topic of sustainability”, explained Tosberg. “With the SCIP database, the EU has further tightened the requirements according to RoHS and REACH, obliging manufacturers to report the use of substances of concern in a Europe-wide database. This not only concerns electronic components, but also synthetic materials, metals, paints, and much more. It is therefore all the more important to counteract the accelerated discontinuation of components and materials through proactive selection of the most durable, permanently available materials and components possible. Through our involvement in the COGD, we can help shape the conditions and structures for sustainable obsolescence management in association with other industry players and make product development more resource-efficient overall.”
One of the key tasks of COGD, which leading industrial companies as well as numerous component manufacturers and distributors belong to, is to develop strategies and methods for proactive obsolescence management to be able to adapt products and production processes at an early stage where there are discontinued components and make alternatives available. Apart from exchanging information in seminars, workshops and lectures, the association is also involved in standardizing obsolescence management and has introduced Smart-PCN, an overarching standard for the communication and automatic processing of product discontinuations.
