LCE Partners with MTA Long Island Rail Road to Manage Obsolescence

LCE Partners with MTA Long Island Rail Road to Manage Obsolescence

The Issue

The M7 railcar vehicle is mid-way through its intended service life. The Obsolescence Management (OM) Program provided LIRR Maintenance of Equipment (MofE) Department with the knowledge, strategy, and processes to prepare for potential obsolescence issues due to the unavailability of parts.  The program was designed to help the railroad become proactive in tracking and reviewing parts for potential obsolescence.

Together with LIRR MofE, the Project Team formalized a proactive obsolescence strategy defining organizational roles, actions, and responsibilities to deal with the actual and potential parts, component, and software obsolescence.  The OM Program helps MofE make informed decisions that balance operating and capital investments, asset performance, and the supply chain risk inherent in managing our assets.

LIRR objectives for the Obsolescence Management program were very similar to the fundamental goals of the larger MTA Enterprise Asset Management Information System (EAM-IS) Program:

• Connect strategic goals with operating and capital planning, investment decisions, and delivery.
• Maximize the use of holistic and systematic strategies, processes, competencies, information, and technologies that are appropriately standardized and coordinated within and across agencies.
• Make decisions in a manner that optimizes the use of information and the management of assets and asset systems.

The ultimate goal is to achieve improved safety, reliability, capability, and maintainability of services while ensuring best value and overall reduction in whole lifecycle costs.

MofE recognizes that the management of obsolescence is critical to improved reliability and maintainability and helps ensure the lowest whole lifecycle asset management cost.  With OM, MofE will improve asset availability and costs over the equipment lifecycle by developing strategies for the identification and mitigation of potential obsolescence impacts.

Our Solution

LCE is a leader in the field of Obsolescence Management. Since 2003, LCE provides development, execution, and program management to address Obsolescence Management for most Navy vessel and submarine Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HM&E) asset systems. As a result, LCE has developed a unique and deep set of obsolescence management processes, procedures, tools, and knowledge based upon recognized standards such as IEC 62402, DoD SD22 – Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages Best Practice Guidebook, and others.  For LIRR, LCE assembled a team that included The Woodhouse Partnership Ltd and MTA-certified DBE to deliver the scope of work.

The Results

LCE’s typical deliverables in an Obsolescence Management engagement will include the following:

(LIRR processes prohibit posting of detailed engagement deliverables in situations where the Railroad maintains the rights, so the below examples are general examples rather than specific deliverables.)

Obsolescence Management Reference Library Guideline Implementation:

• Client Obsolescence Program guide, 2017.
• IEC 62402, “Obsolescence Management – Application Guide,” International Electrotechnical Commission, 2007.
• SD22 Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS).
• DMSMS ACQUISITION GUIDELINES Rev 3.0, “Implementing Parts Obsolescence Management Contractual Requirements”.
• PROGRAM MANAGERS HANDBOOK Rev D, “Common Practices to Mitigate the Risk of Obsolescence”.

Obsolescence Management Strategy (OMS):

• Identification of key stakeholders, objectives, and responsibilities. Based on ISO 55000 series publications, and consultant experience and recommendations for the client organizational structure and culture.

Obsolescence Management Plan (OMP):

• Risk based Proactive and Reactive actions based on ISO IEC 62402 Obsolescence Management Application Guide.

Obsolescence Management Procurement Strategies

• Recommendations for proactive obsolescence management concepts and suggested contractual specification Language for LIRR procurement for Parts, Components, and Component related Software. Typically this includes internal coordination processes during design phases, defined supplier obsolescence management responsibilities, and recommended procurement methods to avoid future obsolescence issues.

Subset (Proof of Concept) Implementation, Training, and over-the-shoulder coaching

• A proof of concept, executing the tailored Obsolescence Management Plan on a system subset of the Asset Registry in order to ‘burn-in’ the capability across the organization.

About LCE

Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) provides consulting, engineering, information technology and education solutions that deliver lasting results for private industry, the Department of Defense and other government organizations. The quality, expertise and dedication of our employees enable Life Cycle Engineering to serve as a trusted resource that helps people and organizations to achieve their full potential. Founded in 1976, LCE is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina with offices across North America and experience around the globe. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube for company updates.

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please visit the Life Cycle Engineering website.