CPU obsolescence rarely becomes a problem overnight. The bigger issue is that many plants notice the risk only when the installed controller finally fails.
An effective spare lifecycle plan should cover:
- installed model and revision confirmation
- minimum strategic stock quantity per line or site
- approved sourcing channels for discontinued or aging hardware
- pre-validated replacement procedures before an outage happens
For critical production assets, a single verified CPU spare often costs far less than one unplanned shutdown event.