In some ways buyers at cell phone manufacturers and notebook computer companies are lucky.

The products their companies make have relatively short life cycles with newer versions coming out every six months to three years. That means buyers for those companies don't have to worry about sourcing older obsolete parts.

However, part obsolescence is a big issue for buyers at defense and aerospace companies, medical OEMs, industrial equipment manufacturers and high-end computer makers. Those OEMs make systems that can be in the field for 10 to 30 years. Unfortunately, many of the parts that those systems require often go out of production while the systems are still in use. That means buyers for those systems have to find other reliable sources for those obsolete parts.

First, though, they have to be sure the part is actually obsolete, that the replacement part isn't counterfeit and that the documentation for the replacement part isn't fake.

One company that deals with the issue of component obsolescence daily is Sun Microsystems, based in Santa Clara, Calif. Sun has to build or service systems in the field for years because of customer demand.

"We still have demand for Sparc 5 and 10 workstations," says Bob Reitinger, program manager for remanufactured supply. Sun replaced those systems with more sophisticated systems in 2000, but will still build and ship the older workstations when it gets orders for them.

However, sometimes it will be hard to source a memory module or a disk drive for the systems. Or, the hard-to-find part could be a simple power cord or bracket that may no longer be manufactured. "It is a daily occurrence that we run into parts that seem impossible to find," says Reitinger.

Sun handles the problem of obsolete parts in several ways. One way is through lifetime buys. When a component manufacturer decides to stop making a part, it will send out an end of life (EOL) notice that specifies a date when the part will cease to be produced. Companies that need the part will then make lifetime buys. They forecast how many parts they will need in the future and place an order for them with the component manufacturer.

Sun used to make five-year lifetime buys, but then found it had too much excess inventory of old parts, says Shelley Breton, program manager, alternately sourced field-replaceable units.

"Now instead of buying the full five years, we may buy two or three years' worth and try to recover some product through asset recovery from returns," she says. Sun will take parts from units that have been returned and use them in systems being built.

However, sometimes the lifetime buy runs out and there aren't enough parts from returns.

"That's when we have to go out to the market and buy some of this older product. It could be a dual in line memory module (DIMM) or a drive," says Breton.

Reitinger says Sun will first go to the original part manufacturer or a contract manufacturer that used the part. If Sun can't source the part from those sources, it will go to independent resellers.

"We have a good reinforcement of suppliers that we work with," says Reitinger. "They are knowledgeable in the secondary marketplace. Some of them are strong in drives. Others are good in memory and others in complete systems," he says.

Timing is a big issue in sourcing obsolete parts, says Reitinger. If Sun has an order, the lack of a simple part that may be obsolete can delay shipment.

"If you are short a cable, and you find the contract manufacturer doesn't make it anymore, that's when the scramble begins," he says.

One way buyers find obsolete parts is through authorized and independent non-franchised distributors. Some specialize in obsolete parts. Case in point: Rochester Electronics, based in Newburyport, Mass. Rochester is a franchised distributor for 30 semiconductor companies. It has 500 million parts in stock and manufactures 15,000 devices for customers. Other broad line distributors such as Avnet partner with Rochester because of Rochester's huge inventory and ability to make discontinued parts.

Rochester is one solution in Avnet's "suite of responses" for obsolete parts, according to Bryan Brady, vice president/director of the defense/aerospace division of Avnet Electronics Marketing. Those responses center on two problems that buyers face: filtering out EOL parts and sourcing them.

"There is the traditional last-time buy execution and then we get into obsolescence services," he says. Avnet's Promiere suite of supply chain management tools helps manage the issues concerning a part during its entire lifecycle, including end of life.

The tools give buyers the ability to manage their bill of materials to make sure they understand what their risk is in using the part. The tools also help buyers make sure they get EOL notices for parts when they are managing their bill of materials for a program or project.

And, the tools also show to what degree other companies are using the part in high volumes. The more companies that use the part, the less likely it will go obsolete.

In extreme situations, when the company can't find a part, Avnet can have the part replicated. "We have the ability to reverse engineer and emulate a part in the form of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)," says Brady.

Of course, such services can be costly and most buyers would prefer to buy parts from existing inventories of component manufacturers or distributors. Often buyers will buy from independent distributors, many of which stock obsolete parts.

"Cost is an issue," says Brady. "That is why sometimes you will find product on the gray market that is cheaper. It's not necessarily wrong to buy a much cheaper product on the gray market as long as buyers operate with purchasing disciplines to protect themselves from bad product," he says.

By bad products, Brady means counterfeit parts. "A lot of counterfeiting is tightly linked to obsolescence," he says. "Obsolete parts are often the target of counterfeiters so buyers have to beware if they look for mature parts on the open market."

He says the Internet is contributing to the problem. "With the Internet, the demand for an obsolete part is known instantly, globally. A counterfeit operation can easily gauge the level of desperation for a part and respond," Brady says.

It's not only bogus obsolete parts buyers have to worry about. Buyers may soon have to deal with counterfeit EOL notices, says Cliff Frescura, president of IHS Inc. in Englewood, Colo. The company provides services to help buyers manage EOL and product change notices.

Counterfeiters will get a logo off a component manufacturer's website and then create a fake EOL notice for a part and send it out, he says. The bogus notice creates more demand for products being counterfeited.

"This has already happened in terms of certificates of compliance," says Frescura. "Parts brokers are receiving these documents saying the parts have been tested and they are what they say they are when in fact the parts have been counterfeited."

One service IHS provides is document tracking and verification. "We have traceability of the documents," says Frescura. "We have relationships with manufacturers and we have the ability in terms of watermarking and tagging documents so we can say the document is authentic."

He says the issue of counterfeit documents will become more prevalent because it is easy for counterfeiters to do. "It is easier to create a fake EOL document than printing a $50 bill and there is less risk," says Frescura.

Of course dealing with genuine EOL notices is a challenge for many buyers at companies that build long-lifecycle equipment. The number of EOL notices increases each year. For instance in 2000, 240,000 EOL notices were issued by suppliers. In 2006 that figure increased to 1.88 million and this year more than two million will be issued.

"We have always said a lot of EOLs are determined by chief financial officers (CFOs)," says Frescura. "It may not be a matter of technology." He means that a CFO at a component supplier may want a part to stop being produced because the company does not make enough money on the part.

Being able to monitor all of the EOL notices is important, but buyers can't just receive the notice from every supplier. The problem for buyers is sorting through the EOL notices of parts that are on the buyer's bill of materials. IHS and other companies including distributors provide services that keep track of EOL notices.

However, buyers also have to be concerned about product change notices (PCNs). In some cases, a PCN can actually mean a product has stopped being produced.

For example when component manufacturers stopped using lead in parts so the components could comply with the European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances law, many issued PCN notices rather than EOL notices even though the leaded parts were obsoleted.