Choosing suppliers for the long haul

Obsolescence is often treated as an engineering or component availability issue. But one of the clearest messages from the recent webinar from the International Institute of Obsolescence Management (IIOM), “Choosing suppliers for the long haul: Managing risk, obsolescence & assurance”, was that obsolescence is also a supplier selection, assurance and relationship management challenge.

For organisations operating in long-life industries such as aerospace, defence, rail, medical and aviation, supplier decisions made today can have consequences for decades. The right supplier can support continuity, resilience and long-term value. Equally, selecting a supplier whose capabilities, capacity or long-term plans don't align with your requirements can increase exposure to unexpected redesigns, requalification costs and supply chain disruption.

From my perspective, the discussion highlighted five practical takeaways for organisations looking to proactively manage obsolescence.

1. Supplier selection must look beyond cost and availability

When organisations are responding to obsolescence-driven challenges, it can be tempting to focus on immediate availability or price.

However, long-term supplier suitability depends on much more than how quickly a part can be sourced.

Buyers need to consider quality certifications, traceability, counterfeit risk, lifecycle monitoring capability, responsiveness and the supplier’s overall ability to support long-term requirements.

In industries where products and systems remain in service for many years, supplier selection should be based on long-term reliability as much as short-term fulfilment.

2. Obsolescence costs need to be understood earlier

One important question raised in the webinar was around the cost of obsolescence and whether cost sharing is a viable concern.

The answer is yes.

Obsolescence can create significant unplanned costs, including redesign, requalification, and operational disruption. Yet these costs are often absorbed reactively across engineering, procurement, inventory and support teams, making the true financial impact difficult to measure.

A more mature approach includes discussing cost ownership earlier and clearly defining responsibilities between OEMs, suppliers and end users. This helps ensure obsolescence risks are managed collaboratively rather than passed down the supply chain unexpectedly.

3. Visibility into lower-tier suppliers remains a major challenge

Another recurring theme was the difficulty end users face when trying to access component-level information from major suppliers and their sub-tier.

Without this visibility, obsolescence notifications may not reach the organisations that ultimately depend on those systems.

This is where stronger contractual requirements, clearer data-sharing expectations and structured reporting processes become essential. Organisations need to understand not only who their direct suppliers are, but also where critical dependencies exist deep in the supply chain.

The obsolescence management challenge becomes much harder when critical information is held several tiers away.

4. Inventory decisions should be based on risk, not habit

The question of what parts and raw materials to keep in stock is especially relevant for organisations managing limited warehouse capacity.

The key is to prioritise based on risk.

Items should be assessed against operational criticality, long-term programme support, obsolescence risk, lead time, certification or requalification cost, forecast demand and customer contractual obligations.

This helps organisations make more informed decisions about what to retain, what to rationalise and where stockholding is genuinely protecting operational continuity.

5. Strong supplier partnerships are essential

Perhaps the most important takeaway was that effective obsolescence management depends on partnership.

No single organisation can manage obsolescence risk in isolation. OEMs, suppliers and Buyers all hold different pieces of the picture.

Proactive communication, shared information and a clear understanding of customer needs are essential to managing risk effectively. The organisations that are best placed to respond are those that treat suppliers as long-term partners, not just transactional sources of supply.

Managing obsolescence for the long term

The webinar reinforced a vital message: obsolescence management is not just about reacting when parts become unavailable.

It is about building the supplier relationships, assurance processes and visibility needed to anticipate risk sooner and respond in an effective manner.

For long-life industries, choosing suppliers for the long haul means looking beyond immediate supply. It means asking whether suppliers have the capability, transparency and resilience to support the organisation over time.

Because in complex supply chains, long-term assurance is not only about what a supplier can provide today.

It is about whether they can still support you tomorrow.