TacTech provides program offices with early warning system for obsolescence

Feb. 1, 2000
YORBA LINDA, Calif. — A parts-tracking tool called Tactrac is saving the U.S. military and industry millions of dollars in obsolescence costs.

By John McHale

YORBA LINDA, Calif. — A parts-tracking tool called Tactrac is saving the U.S. military and industry millions of dollars in obsolescence costs.

The Tactrac tool, from TacTech Inc. of Yorba Linda, Calif., tracks every semiconductor part made in the world and warns design engineers when a part is going obsolete, claims Malcolm Baca, chief operating officer at TacTech.

Tactrac combats obsolescence by identifying where components are used, how many are used, and in what systems and equipment they are used.

Baca claims that Tactrac has saved the officials at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., about $20 million on the B-2 Bomber program, engineers at Lockheed Martin working on the U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter aircraft approximately $45 million, and officials at the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division at Port Hueneme, Calif., an estimated $150 million by preventing possible obsolescence problems with Tactrac on the Aegis program.

Tactrac "tracks every semiconductor part from cradle to grave for users of semiconductors worldwide and sends out flags for users when one of their parts is going obsolete" due to a lifetime buy, notice of discontinuance, cost overruns, production delays, etc., Baca explains.

They system then automatically provides alternative supply solutions instantly, thereby saving "many hours of engineering tasking," Baca claims. Tactrac performs on average about 500 changes in availability each day, Baca adds.

TacTech`s information tools analyze a client`s specific configuration design identity using the Tactrac Health Model. The model uses automated indenturing fueled by real-time availability updates, to assemble the information necessary to make proactive obsolescence management decisions, TacTech officials say.

The Tactrac Health Model stimulates early intervention and decision making based upon the TacTech library, TacTech officials claim.

Common component usage within corporate structures or among program team members designers amortize solution costs, workload distribution, and common baseline standardization, TacTech officials explain.

In the future military weapons system program offices can work together on parts selection using tools like Tactrac, Baca explains. Instead of every program doing the same thing separately, they can split tasks and use Tactrac to communicate and track their parts, he explains.

TacTech tools can also perform risk analysis. Each risk report provides: microcircuit life cycle modeling, modernization forecasting, single source vulnerability, program level source matrix, source depth modeling per line item, mil-spec standardization, alternate source recommendations, availability projection, and potential sourcing issues assessment.

The cost of risk analysis is on a per part basis, depending on the number of parts in the bill of materials, TacTech officials say

For more information on Tactrac and TacTech contact Malcolm Baca by phone at 714-974-7676, ext. 12, by fax at 714-283-3213, by mail at TacTech, 22687 Old Canal Road, Yorba Linda, Calif. 92887-4608, e-mail at [email protected], or on the Web at http://www.tactech.com.

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