Materials, substances, software, electronic components, and other replacement parts that have been discontinued or are suddenly no longer available on the free market for other reasons repeatedly cause considerable restrictions in production and maintenance for German industrial companies, particularly in the area of durable goods.
The non-profit industry organisation COGD (Component Obsolescence Group Deutschland) e.V. assumes that this trend could intensify massively in the coming years due to current geopolitical developments and other regional and supra-regional influencing factors.
At the first COGD Quarterly Meeting 2025, the Board of Directors was re-elected for a two-year term, consisting of Chairman Axel Wagner (Corporate Lawyer Asteelflash Holding and Director International Institute of Obsolescence Management IIOM), Deputy Chairman Martin Steinleitner (Partner Syliom Unternehmensberatung, CTO International Institute of Obsolescence Management IIOM), Treasurer Oliver Hoffmann (General Manager EMEA Z2Data), Janine Keller (Obsolescence Manager, OneSubsea), Stefanie Kölbl (Head of TQ-Embedded, TQ-Systems), Frank Mützner (After Series Manager, Plastic Omnium Lighting Systems), Dieter Paatsch (Electronic Components Management, Festo) and Sven Sander (Obsolescence Manager, Schaeffler Automotive Buehl).
They see major challenges in terms of supply chain security, especially for companies that only produce in Europe or Germany. Axel Wagner points out that since COGD was founded two decades ago, many strategies and measures have been developed together with the current 175 member companies to efficiently contain or ideally even prevent obsolescence. In addition to the intensive exchange of information and data with manufacturers, associations and organisers, examples of this include seminars and workshops on obsolescence management or initiatives to internationalise the smartPCN standard in IEC 62402, the SCIP cooperation with the law firm ReachLaw or the joint initiative of COGD, FED (Fachverband Elektronikdesign und -fertigung e. V.) and FBDi (Fachverband der Bauelemente Distribution) to reduce bureaucracy in the electronics industry.
However, the awareness of potential supply chain risks, which is still often far too weak in many industrial companies outside the COGD, can only partially make up for this.
Axel Wagner believes that looking at the issue of obsolescence in isolation is only partially effective anyway. The Chairman of COGD is convinced that continuous, highly effective communication along the entire supply chain is also crucial for a sustainably successful procurement strategy. In an extremely dynamic world such as the one we are currently experiencing, the ability to quickly anticipate potential risks of any kind and to strengthen the resilience of one’s own supply chain accordingly in the long term is becoming increasingly vital.
“The resilience of a supply chain is based on a dynamic interplay of risk analysis, proactive planning and diverse partnerships. By becoming more active in their risk analysis and intensifying comprehensive collaboration within the supply chain, companies can react better to unforeseen events and increase their resilience to future crises. In a constantly changing world, this is not a luxury, but essential, as is the introduction of proactive or strategic obsolescence management,” says Wagner.
COGD offers companies a wide range of support for this process. In addition to quarterly member meetings with specialist presentations by external experts from a wide range of disciplines, reports from internal working groups and discussion groups, interested parties have access to a variety of other platforms for the direct and indirect exchange of information on all aspects of obsolescence prevention and management. Interested parties can find detailed information on the Component Obsolescence Group Deutschland e.V. on the association’s website at www.cog-d.de.
