OMaaS provides continuous component lifecycle monitoring and BOM health management
ByteSnap Design, an embedded electronics consultancy, has launched Obsolescence Management as a Service (OMaaS), a monthly subscription service that provides continuous component lifecycle monitoring and Bill of Materials (BOM) health management for manufacturing companies
OMaaS has been designed to deliver proactive monitoring, impact assessment, and strategic recommendations before obsolescence events can disrupt production.
Dunstan Power, technical director at ByteSnap Design, said, "Technical directors tell us the same story repeatedly: their factory emails about component status changes, pulling engineers away from innovation to investigate whether a parts notification actually matters. Sometimes action is needed. Often, it's noise. Either way, it consumes valuable technical leadership time that should be focused on next-generation development, not administrative parts checking."
The challenge
Component and software obsolescence are ongoing challenges for manufacturers supporting products with long lifecycles. Supply chain disruptions, discontinued parts, and unsupported platforms can disrupt production continuity, with manufacturers spending around five to 15 engineering hours a month per product to investigate component and supplier alerts.
This problem is particularly pronounced for companies that have experienced turnover among their key technical staff or lack dedicated production resources.
How it works
Stage 1: Product understanding – ByteSnap's engineering team analyses customers' schematics and BOMs to understand component relationships, criticality, and potential risks. They then create a monthly monitoring quote based on the component count and complexity.
Stage 2: Continuous component tracking – Customer BOMs are uploaded into ByteSnap's component tracking system, with alerts set up for changes in lifecycle status. Supply chain relationships with distributors provide early insight into changes in component availability.
Stage 3: Impact assessment and recommendations – When the status of a component changes, ByteSnap evaluates the impact on specific designs, researches alternative parts and their market availability, and then provides strategic recommendations. Customers are only contacted when decisions or actions are necessary.
Power said, "We don't just forward notifications. We assess impact and recommend action only when customers' expertise is needed. Minor equivalent changes that don't affect designs? We handle it internally. Critical parts requiring board respins? Customers receive detailed assessments with options and cost implications. It's about filtering signal from noise so technical directors can focus on strategic work."
Service details
OMaaS offers a month-to-month subscription with no long-term contracts. Monthly monitoring fees depend on product complexity and component count. Redesign work, like PCB layout changes or firmware porting, is quoted separately, and customers can choose to work with ByteSnap or other providers for implementation.
The service is suitable for technical directors managing multiple products without dedicated resources, companies facing key staff turnover, and engineering teams overwhelmed with administrative tracking, as well as organisations seeking proactive obsolescence management.
Power said, "We've invested in tools and processes specifically for component lifecycle monitoring, capabilities most manufacturers can't justify building internally. Our goal is simple: help technical directors protect their products' viability whilst freeing their teams for the innovation work that actually grows their businesses."
