Obsolescence, second source, and reshoring
Obsolescence is a condition, not an industry. The mechanism already exists, the volume is known, the price is known, and something outside engineering has forced a change: a part went end-of-life, a supplier's quality moved, a minimum order or a lead time stopped working, a cost target landed, or domestic content became a requirement. The engineering problem is to change the drive without reopening the qualification of everything around it, which means knowing exactly which properties of the incumbent the mechanism actually depends on.
The clusters
Mechanisms that share a load model, not markets that share a trade show.
- A drive that went end-of-life mid-program
- An incumbent whose quality or delivery moved
- A minimum order or lead time that stopped working
- A cost-down with an unchanged qualification
- Domestic content and supply security requirements
Each of these issues is a different physical quantity wearing the same word.
The middle column is what the issue actually is. The right column is where it gets decided, which is usually earlier than the motor selection.
| Issue | What it actually is | Where it is decided |
|---|---|---|
| Discontinued parts | A drive that can no longer be bought, in a mechanism that cannot be redesigned. | Which properties of the incumbent the mechanism actually depends on. |
| Supplier quality | Variation that was always there and has now moved outside what the process absorbs. | A measured distribution, not a typical value. |
| Minimum order quantity | Inventory carried against a build rate that no longer matches it. | Configuration and stocking arrangements, not a different motor. |
| Late delivery | A schedule risk that engineering is being asked to solve with a substitution. | A second source qualified in parallel rather than in a hurry. |
| Cost down | A target set against a part whose qualification cannot be reopened. | How much of the existing evidence a substitution preserves. |
| Domestic content | A requirement tied to a specific configuration and revision, not to a brand. | What is actually stocked, inspected, configured, assembled or machined here. |
| Shorter lead time | Usually a stocking and configuration problem rather than a manufacturing one. | Which operations sit on the critical path for the specific configuration. |
| Supply security | One source, one route, one revision. | A second source with its own evidence, qualified before it is needed. |
Four roles, four different questions
A product page and a project record have to serve all four without becoming four separate websites. What each one needs before they will make contact is not the same information.
| Role | What it needs before contact | What it converts on |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanical engineer | Envelope, shaft and mounting, torque and speed at the real operating point, load model, life definition, noise. | A saved candidate, CAD, a drawing, or an application review. |
| Electrical or controls engineer | Voltage, current at the operating point, the torque-speed characteristic, driver requirements, feedback fit, thermal margin. | A curve, a calculation, or a feedback and control review. |
| Sourcing or procurement | Availability, sample status, minimum order, lead-time band, origin, cost drivers, and a second-source path. | A cross-reference, a supply-chain review, or a volume quotation. |
| Quality or reliability | Variation, life evidence, traceability, failure modes, and how change is controlled. | A failure analysis, a qualification plan, or a test report. |
The applications in this wedge
2 of the 10 pages in the library. Each one is a load model with the arithmetic shown.
The full published set, because a second-source problem is bounded by what the incumbent does rather than by an envelope band.
32 of 32 published configurations. Continuous output torque is calculated from the motor's rated torque through the ratio and the typical stage efficiency. The gearhead limit is a maximum, not an operating point, and 29 of 32 published configurations can stall above it.
| Configuration | Class | Diameter | Ratio | Rated output speed | Continuous output torque | Gearhead limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MM-C0817-P02560-030A | Coreless brushed DC | 8 mm | 256:1 | 53.1 rpm | 22.3 mN·m | 80 mN·m |
| MM-C1017-P00311-060A | Coreless brushed DC | 10 mm | 31.12:1 | 366.3 rpm | 4.4 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1017-P10240-024A | Coreless brushed DC | 10 mm | 1024:1 | 8.7 rpm | 63.4 mN·m | 147 mN·m |
| MM-C1024-P00640-030A | Coreless brushed DC | 10 mm | 64:1 | 141.3 rpm | 40.3 mN·m | 98.1 mN·m |
| MM-C1025-P00311-030B | Coreless brushed DC | 10 mm | 31.12:1 | 334.2 rpm | 10.1 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1025-P02560-045B | Coreless brushed DC | 10 mm | 256:1 | 47.3 rpm | 57.2 mN·m | 147 mN·m |
| MM-C1213-S00523-030B | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 52.25:1 | 216.3 rpm | 3.4 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1213-S01440-030B | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 143.99:1 | 78.5 rpm | 8.3 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1219-S00523-045A | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 52.25:1 | 136.1 rpm | 10 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1219-S00720-030B | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 71.99:1 | 117.2 rpm | 9.3 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1226-S00523-060A | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 52.25:1 | 130.1 rpm | 10.1 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1226-S01002-120A | Coreless brushed DC | 12 mm | 100.22:1 | 100.8 rpm | 9.3 mN·m | 24.5 mN·m |
| MM-C1321-P00191-060B | Coreless brushed DC | 13 mm | 19.13:1 | 404.6 rpm | 15.5 mN·m | 196 mN·m |
| MM-C1321-P03661-030A | Coreless brushed DC | 13 mm | 366.12:1 | 16.7 rpm | 120.8 mN·m | 294 mN·m |
| MM-C1329-P00191-120B | Coreless brushed DC | 13 mm | 19.13:1 | 417.7 rpm | 23.2 mN·m | 196 mN·m |
| MM-C1329-P00777-120C | Coreless brushed DC | 13 mm | 77.66:1 | 123.6 rpm | 113.4 mN·m | 294 mN·m |
| MM-C1626-P04552-240A | Coreless brushed DC | 16 mm | 455.19:1 | 23.5 rpm | 191.8 mN·m | 490 mN·m |
| MM-C1626-S00311-060B | Coreless brushed DC | 16 mm | 31.06:1 | 193.8 rpm | 12.1 mN·m | 29.4 mN·m |
| MM-C1636-P00203-060B | Coreless brushed DC | 16 mm | 20.25:1 | 269.1 rpm | 19.6 mN·m | 49 mN·m |
| MM-C1636-P04552-240A | Coreless brushed DC | 16 mm | 455.19:1 | 24.4 rpm | 191.8 mN·m | 490 mN·m |
| MM-C1726-P00203-060A | Coreless brushed DC | 17 mm | 20.25:1 | 297.8 rpm | 20 mN·m | 49 mN·m |
| MM-C1726-P01575-120A | Coreless brushed DC | 17 mm | 157.46:1 | 36.9 rpm | 150.2 mN·m | 392 mN·m |
| MM-C1736-P00292-240C | Coreless brushed DC | 17 mm | 29.16:1 | 192 rpm | 84.7 mN·m | 294 mN·m |
| MM-C1736-P02560-060B | Coreless brushed DC | 22 mm | 256:1 | 14.5 rpm | 319.2 mN·m | 785 mN·m |
| MM-C1837-P00226-240C | Coreless brushed DC | 22 mm | 22.56:1 | 359.9 rpm | 87.6 mN·m | 392 mN·m |
| MM-C1837-P00903-120D | Coreless brushed DC | 22 mm | 90.25:1 | 93.1 rpm | 234.4 mN·m | 588 mN·m |
| MM-C2137-P00226-240C | Coreless brushed DC | 22 mm | 22.56:1 | 291.7 rpm | 124.2 mN·m | 392 mN·m |
| MM-C2137-P00903-120C | Coreless brushed DC | 22 mm | 90.25:1 | 19.7 rpm | 234.4 mN·m | 588 mN·m |
| MM-C2432-P00190-240A | Coreless brushed DC | 24 mm | 19:1 | 401.6 rpm | 160.5 mN·m | 392 mN·m |
| MM-C2432-P00760-090A | Coreless brushed DC | 24 mm | 76:1 | 109.5 rpm | 236.8 mN·m | 588 mN·m |
| MM-B2419-P03610-120A | Brushless DC | 24.2 mm | 361:1 | 14.4 rpm | 304.3 mN·m | 785 mN·m |
| MM-B2419-S00325-240A | Brushless DC | 37 mm | 32.5:1 | 212.3 rpm | 58.1 mN·m | 196 mN·m |
Where this resolves
Two routes carry almost every second-source and obsolescence problem. The first identifies what can replace the incumbent. The second establishes what can be stocked, configured or made domestically, and what that does to the existing qualification.