Product Life cycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire life-cycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. ZT Technology Solutions offers extensive research and a practical approach to technology product life-cycle management with a team of engineers and support experts.
Market Evolution is a process that parallels the product life cycle. As a product category matures, the industry goes through stages that mirror the five stages of a product life cycle:
1. Introduction – latent demand for a product category is awakened with the introduction of the new product
2. Growth – additional companies enter the market and more consumers become aware of the product category
3. Maturity – the industry is subdivided into numerous well populated competitive groupings as too many firms enter
4. Decline – firms start to leave the industry due to stiff competition, falling prices, and falling profits
5. Exit – consumers no longer demand the product and companies stop producing it
At ZT Technology Solutions, our Product Life Cycle Management process helps customers achieve maximum investment in their equipment. Our focus in working with our customers is to institute a solid plan of action to prevent obsolescence while extending the life of current systems. And, through our extensive systems experience we can guide customers towards the future by taking present day systems and migrating to newer state of the art technology.
Keeping legacy equipment healthy, having the technical expertise to know when to move from legacy equipment to newer technology and reducing a customer’s total cost of ownership are key factors in implementing a successful Product Life Cycle Management program. At ZT Technology Solutions, that’s exactly what we do.
A Real World example
Did you know that the B-52 Stratofortress has been in active service with US Air Force since 1955? It would almost qualify for Social Security based on its age. As of 2012, 85 remain in service with 9 in reserve. Superior performances as well as relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of later aircraft including the B-1B and B-2 Stealth Bombers. Can the legacy B-52 bomber physically last and continue to contribute to the mission? According to the USAF and industry officials, the answer is emphatically yes. In fact, the B-52s are planned to stay in service thru 2040.
The key metric used by the USAF is military readiness. It is simply defined as the ability, in this case the B-52, to accomplish its assigned mission. Logistics, available spare parts, training, support, equipment, and morale contribute to readiness. The B-52 has amassed an incredible record of superior military readiness over the last 65+ years. The average age of a B-52 is 40+ years and has consistently achiever a military readiness of 70-80% as compared to the B-1B in the mid 60% and the B2, in the 50% range. With a much lower total cost of ownership over its entire life cycle, the B-52 will continue to be an active component of our military strategy.
What does this have to do with ZT Technology solutions? Quite simply our mission, our charter, our passion is to extend the life of legacy telecom equipment. We have the knowledge, expertise, strategies and most importantly, the engineers to help extend the life and assist you with consolidation and migration strategies. There have been many articles describing and prophesizing “the death of the PSTN”. We at ZT believe that is a gross exaggeration. As the B-52, we feel that many of the products that are part of the PSTN and are considered End Of Life (EOL)or Manufactured Discontinued (MD)or Discontinued Availability (DA) can still be supported, and repaired, in spite of claims by the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Many of us in ZT have been doing this since the 1980s and we offer our customers an alternative to prohibitly high maintenance prices from the OEM, and superior performance at a significant reduction. Typically our prices are a small fraction of the price from an OEM. And most importantly, we will work with your staff to institute our Proactive Maintenance Philosophy to ensure high quality and minimize any catastrophic outage in the network.
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