Proactive Obsolescence Management

May 20, 2025

This series focuses on design for obsolescence and long-term supply-chain management.

Related To:

Ethan Plotkin is the CEO at GDCA, a manufacturing company that specializes in legacy manufacturing and sustainment engineering for obsolete electronics. This series focuses on design for long-term support, addressing issues such as obsolescence and supply-chain management.

Installing an electronic component into a military helicopter

Boards

The Missing Piece of the Supply Chain

Supply-chain disruptions are a constant threat, but some vulnerabilities are hidden in plain sight. Discover how obsolescence undermines even the strongest supply chains and what...

Industrial

Changing Our Approach to Product Lifecycles

Electronics obsolescence is a slow apocalypse, with changes so small and incremental that by the time its effects can’t be ignored, it’s long past its breaking point.

About the Author

Ethan Plotkin | CEO

Ethan Plotkin is the CEO of GDCA Inc. (“Great Designs Continued Always”), who used his experience in supply-chain risk management (SCRM) to lead the company from its early days as a small OEM into becoming a trusted legacy equipment manufacturing partner for defense and related OEMs across the country. GDCA originally partnered with OEMs as a source for EOL or obsolete circuit boards, but found that they were just a surrogate for obsolescence in the supply chain.

Together with his team, Ethan built on his experience in SCRM to create a systematic approach to sustain and manufacture obsolete electronics—a much bigger mission that’s much more achievable. Under his management, GDCA has become an entirely new type of business—a legacy equipment manufacturer (LEM).

Ethan has also worked extensively with the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) and currently leads the Supply Chain Network Committee, which facilitates collaboration between government, industry, and other NDIA divisions to strengthen National Security through industrial supply chains. His work in obsolescence management has brought a unique perspective to the many different factors that influence supply-chain challenges and how manufacturers can overcome them.