How a $12 Obsolete Part Can Shut Down a $2M System
It wasn’t a transformer, a PLC, or even a motor drive that took the line down.
It was a $12 obsolete IGBT.
In the middle of Q4, a Tier 1 automotive supplier’s production line in Ohio ground to a halt. The culprit? An aging inverter that finally gave out — its power stage crippled by a failed IGBT module that hadn’t been manufactured in over a decade. Replacement lead time from overseas brokers: 6–8 weeks, maybe. The cost of downtime? $60,000 per hour.
Multiply that by a week, and you’ve got a seven-figure disaster triggered by a component that costs less than a case of bottled water.
The Hidden Risk in Obsolete Components
This isn’t an isolated incident. Across manufacturing, energy, and transportation, companies are running legacy systems with critical parts long since discontinued. The assumption is often: “If something breaks, we’ll just replace it.”
But with obsolete semiconductors—especially IGBTs—the window to "just replace it" is closing fast.
- Manufacturers have ended support.
- Inventories are vanishing.
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Counterfeits are rising.
And the ripple effect of a missing $12 component can shut down systems worth millions.
What Could Have Prevented It?
Proactive inventory planning.
Had the supplier conducted a critical parts audit or even monitored failure rates on key systems, they could’ve identified the IGBT as a single point of failure. Stocking just two units of the obsolete module would’ve saved the entire shutdown — a $24 investment protecting over $2 million in assets.
Takeaway: Don’t Let Small Parts Cause Big Problems
If your systems depend on legacy IGBTs, now’s the time to:
- Audit your current inventory
- Identify at-risk parts
-
Proactively source and stock before prices spike or supply disappears
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