From Data to Decisions: How Z2Data and AMSYS Turn Risk Recognition Into Action

Article Highlights:

• Obsolescence is no longer the only threat in the electronic supply chain; today’s threats include geopolitical tensions, environmental regulations, sub-tier risks, and more.
• The most advanced supply chain risk management platforms give OEMs and others reliable data, supplier risk insights, and complete compliance coverage.
• Z2Data recently acquired AMSYS, a lifecycle and obsolescence management company, to combine its supply chain intelligence with customer data and deliver actionable, business-specific strategies and workflows.
• Z2Data and AMSYS provide teams with scenario planning dashboards that help them visualize various possible decisions and outcomes.
• Because there’s such a data overload, the real competitive advantage no longer comes from the ability to amass more supply chain information. Rather, it stems from knowing what to do with all that information. This is what the Z2Data and AMSYS partnership accomplishes.

For years, obsolescence forecasting was considered the most critical—and to some, the only—objective when it came to managing risk in the electronic supply chain. Over half-a-million electronic parts go obsolete every year, and businesses in industries like consumer electronics, automotive, and aerospace and defense must navigate a dynamic and often unpredictable component landscape. If not adequately prepared for, a discontinued part can trigger major issues for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including manufacturing delays, costly product re-designs, and other obstacles to production continuity. Organizations that are prepared for end-of-life events, on the other hand, can effectively mitigate these types of disruptions and minimize their associated costs.  

But although it continues to loom large, obsolescence is no longer the only threat in the electronic supply chain. Given how tumultuous the 2020s have been for supply chains, it’s safe to say that the era when end-of-life events were the sole concern for OEMs is firmly behind us. Geopolitical tensions, environmental regulations, and sub-tier risk have all emerged as formidable threats, making supply chain risk management (SCRM) arguably more important than ever. Companies that are able to map their suppliers multiple tiers down; assess risk at the part, supplier, and site level; and leverage real-time monitoring to understand evolving disruptions put themselves at a marked advantage over their less-prepared competitors. In addition, major developments in international trade over the past two years have made trade compliance a significantly more prominent issue, with companies now having to think about tariffs, export restrictions, and sanctioned entities.  

The most comprehensive supply chain risk management platforms are able to provide OEMs and other customers with trustworthy supply chain data, supplier risk assessments, and comprehensive compliance coverage. This holistic approach benefits businesses by giving them a single, centralized software platform to manage their supply chain risk. Instead of toggling between different tools, files, and programs, companies can leverage multifaceted SCRM platforms for supply chain risk management, compliance obligations, and electronic supply chain data.  

A New Partnership to Enhance Workflow Solutions 

SCRM tool Z2Data recently acquired AMSYS, a lifecycle and obsolescence management company. In carrying out this acquisition, Z2Data wanted to combine its own extensive supply chain intelligence with internal customer data and create actionable, business-specific strategies and workflows. By contextualizing supply chain data with internal company information, Z2Data will be able to help customers develop a better understanding of the potential impacts of disruptions and other critical incidents happening within their manufacturing network. And by leveraging both external and internal data to build workflows, Z2Data and AMSYS can now guide businesses toward developing and executing mitigation strategies tailored to their specific risks.  

By contextualizing supply chain data with internal company information, Z2Data will be able to help customers develop a better understanding of the potential impacts of disruptions and other critical incidents happening within their manufacturing network.

To get an even closer look at this new collaborative relationship between Z2Data and AMSYS, it’s worth breaking down the partnership into two main processes.  

Bringing Together External and Internal Data 

The Z2Data platform is built on three foundational databases: parts, suppliers, and sites. These databases collectively cover billions of data points, including (but not limited to): 

• Component parametric: Provides detailed technical specifications of components (e.g., voltage, current, package types), enabling engineers to identify functionally compatible parts during redesigns or substitutions. 

• Crosses: Lists substitutes, including alternatives or functionally equivalent parts across different manufacturers. This helps procurement and engineering quickly identify viable substitutes when a component becomes obsolete or unavailable. 

• Supplier assessments: Evaluates suppliers on financial stability, geopolitical exposure, compliance track records, and past performance, among other criteria, giving companies a clear view of where supply chain vulnerabilities lie. 

• Site details and locations: Maps manufacturing and logistics sites, allowing companies to identify geographical concentrations for specific disruption events (e.g., earthquake zones, regions prone to political unrest). 

• Obsolescence forecasts: Predicts when components are likely to reach discontinuation. These forecasts are critical for proactive lifecycle planning and early mitigation. 

• Full material declarations (FMDs): Discloses all substances present in a component, ensuring compliance with environmental regulations—including RoHS, REACH, and Cal Prop 65—and supporting sustainability reporting. 

• Direct and sub-tier supply chain relationships: Traces dependencies beyond tier-1 suppliers, giving visibility into hidden risks within deeper tiers that often trigger unexpected disruptions. 

AMSYS combines this external supply chain information with a company’s own internal data. This internal data includes information like part and product usage rates, component criticality, stock levels, redesign costs, and frequency of use across products and components. When these two types of data are synthesized, companies can arrive at more accurate, effective risk evaluations—assessments that incorporate both likelihood and impact.  

Put differently, when supply chain risks are contextualized within a company’s own inventories, usage, and other relevant operations information, those risks can be evaluated with a higher degree of accuracy and nuance. While it's helpful to know that one of your tier 1 suppliers is high-risk, that assessment is even more valuable if you know that supplier is manufacturing several of your most high-usage components, and is instrumental to millions of dollars in annual company revenue.  

While it's helpful to know that one of your tier 1 suppliers is high-risk, that assessment is even more valuable if you know that supplier is manufacturing several of your most high-usage components, and is instrumental to millions of dollars in annual company revenue.  

Obsolescence Risk Assessment  

Obsolescence management offers an ideal example of how leveraging both external and internal data can provide businesses with a more precise understanding of risk. Let’s say that Z2Data has flagged a semiconductor for likely obsolescence within the next two years. Additional data shows that the surrounding supply chain context is not forgiving: manufacturer lead times for comparable parts are nearly six months long, and the only top-tier cross is manufactured by a supplier with a history of high failure rates.  

AMSYS then further quantifies the potential obsolescence impact by combining this part data with internal company insights. Combining likelihood—which is what Z2Data is providing through its obsolescence forecasting—with potential impact is a critical step in the risk assessment process. This is a widely accepted set of criteria for obsolescence management, one that’s reflected in the International Electrotechnical Commission’s obsolescence management standards, the IEC 62402.  

Combining likelihood—which is what Z2Data is providing through its obsolescence forecasting—with potential impact is a critical step in the risk assessment process.

The IEC’s standard stipulates that obsolescence risk assessments should look at both the likelihood of obsolescence—including factors like obsolescence status and market availability for the component—with the impact, which takes into account inventory levels, usage rates, and criticality.  

Key Likelihood Factors  

• End of Production (EoP) /Obsolescence Forecast: Anticipates when a component is scheduled to reach its official end of production. This allows companies to align procurement and design strategies before supply constraints become critical. 

• Market Availability (or Lead-Times): Tracks how long it will take to source replacement parts. Long lead-times increase vulnerability, as alternatives may not be available when disruptions occur. 

• Number of Available Substitutes: Indicates how many equivalent parts are available in the market. The fewer the substitutes, the higher the supply risk. 

• Environmental Compliance (RoHS, REACH, et al.): Evaluates whether a component meets environmental regulations. Noncompliance can trigger redesigns, fines, or the need for exemptions, adding to operational complexity. 

• End of Service/Repair (EoSR) Forecast: Predicts when service and repair support for a part or software will cease. A lack of service availability can accelerate obsolescence risks. 

• Failure Rates (MTBF) or Manufacturer Performance: Considers mean time between failures (MTBF) and historical supplier performance. High failure rates or poor reliability history magnify the risks associated with continued part use. 
  

Key Impact Factors 

• Usage Rates (Stock Levels vs. Demand/Consumption): Examines whether existing inventory can sustain demand. If demand outpaces stock, exposure to risks increases dramatically. 

• Costs of Redesigning Product: Evaluates the financial and technical burden of redesigning products if a component becomes unavailable and no other alternative mitigation measures are possible. High redesign costs can delay projects and erode margins. 

• Number of Approved Alternatives/Equivalents: Measures how many validated alternatives are already qualified for use. A low number of approved options forces longer and riskier qualification cycles. 

• Frequency of Use in Products: Identifies how many product lines rely on the same part. A widely used part creates systemic vulnerability if it becomes unavailable. 

• Critical Item: Assesses whether a component is tied to critical system functions. Parts that are integral to safety or operationally critical require stricter mitigation planning. 

• Downtime (MTTR)/Technology or Material Group: Considers mean time to repair (MTTR) and the component’s role within specific technology groups. Long repair cycles or hard-to-replace material groups can amplify overall operational impact. 

Once the Key Likelihood and Key Impact Factors have been identified for a component, companies can calculate a quantified risk score to prioritize mitigation actions. These risk scores can be calculated using a formula like this: 
 
Risk Score (by AMSYS) = Likelihood (by Z2Data) × Impact (by Customer)

In this equation, “Likelihood” represents the aggregated probability of obsolescence or other forms of disruption, while “Impact” represents the aggregated operational, financial, and strategic consequences. Components with higher risk scores can be prioritized for proactive mitigation, including implementing measures like securing alternative suppliers, redesigning products, or increasing inventory buffers. 

To operationalize risk management, components are often categorized into High, Medium, and Low Risk tiers: 

• High Risk: Triggers proactive risk mitigation and case management, including immediate workflows for cross-functional teams, scenario planning, and executive oversight. 

• Medium Risk: Subject to daily monitoring, automated alert notifications, and periodic review to detect emerging issues before they escalate. 

• Low Risk: Typically requires no immediate action beyond documenting the risk and the decision rationale for future reference or audit purposes. 
  

Categorizing components in this way allows companies to turn raw data points into actionable intelligence. With components assessed based on both disruption likelihood and impact, operational teams and executives can focus on the most critical risks first, allocate resources more efficiently, and implement repeatable workflows tailored to the risk level of each component. 

Based on internal company information, this is what Z2Data and AMSYS are able to determine about the hypothetical semiconductor discussed above that’s facing obsolescence within the next two years: 

• The component nearing obsolescence is used across 12 active product lines, including three safety-critical devices. 

• The company’s current stock levels cover less than six months of demand. 

• A redesign of the product lines currently utilizing the component would be costly, requiring regulatory recertification. 

• Only one approved manufacturer is qualified for the part. 
  

These insights all speak to a high impact if the component in question were to become obsolete. The obsolescence event would reverberate across 12 product lines, and redesigns for all these items would be a costly, time-intensive endeavor, one requiring a new certification by a regulatory body. Finally, there is minimal opportunity for alternative suppliers, with only one manufacturer qualified to produce the part.  

How Z2Data and AMSYS Turn Risk Data Into Strategic Action 

The second way in which AMSYS strengthens the Z2Data platform is in its ability to create workflows that achieve efficient risk resolution. Once obsolescence information and internal company data have been synthesized for the semiconductor facing impending obsolescence, it’s clear that this impending obsolescence event demands mitigating action. For this, Z2Data and AMSYS build a custom workflow to achieve resolution. This custom workflow is multifaceted, deploying multiple teams and departments to work simultaneously to mitigate the potential impacts of the part’s obsolescence—long before it actually reaches end-of-life.  

• Procurement is responsible for identifying and qualifying potential alternative parts. 

• Engineering starts the process of testing these crosses to determine whether there is a viable fit currently available in the marketplace.  

• Once procurement and engineering have zeroed in on one or multiple replacement parts, compliance can start preparing the necessary documentation for regulatory approval with the relevant directives.  
  

While all this is happening at the engineering, supply chain, and compliance levels, Z2Data and AMSYS are providing management with scenario planning dashboards that help them visualize various possible decisions and outcomes. By utilizing these dashboards, executive leadership can guide these interdepartmental actions with overarching strategies geared toward achieving streamlined solutions.  

While all this is happening at the engineering, supply chain, and compliance levels, Z2Data and AMSYS are providing management with scenario planning dashboards that help them visualize various possible decisions and outcomes.

The Strategic Impact of Workflows on Executive Decision-Making 

Going beyond operational responses, Z2Data/AMSYS workflows are capable of converting tactical actions into strategic insight. By standardizing risk signals and aggregating them into prioritized, comparable items, workflows help executives decide where to focus resources, which supplier relationships require attention, and which product lines justify contingency investments. These workflows are automated within the AMSYS framework, too, with the platform assigning responsibilities and embedding accountability in a consistent, highly standardized fashion.  

These workflows are also tailored to both an organization’s internal processes and its communications with customers, allowing all stakeholders to stay informed throughout the risk resolution process. Leadership gains measurable KPIs—such as aggregate risk exposure, time-to-mitigation, mitigation cost, and inventory coverage—that help them monitor progress and refine their related internal governance.  

Finally, workflows can be synchronized to post-mitigation reviews to create a feedback loop, one that helps teams adjust risk appetites, supplier strategies, and product design rules. In this way, supply chain resilience organically transitions into becoming a core element of enterprise strategy, rather than an ad-hoc reaction.  

Red Flags to Repeatable Processes  

Part of the underlying logic behind establishing a long-term partnership between Z2Data and AMSYS is the idea that SCRM tools should provide both data and clear steps through which to act on that data. There’s no doubt that obsolescence forecasting can be a powerful tool, helping companies understand what parts are most vulnerable to risk. But that forecasting is not being maximized if it isn’t combined with clear, repeatable steps manufacturers, operators, and suppliers can take to respond when a discontinuance notification is received.  

But that forecasting is not being maximized if it isn’t combined with clear, repeatable steps manufacturers, operators, and suppliers can take to respond when a discontinuance notification is received.  

Building a systematic internal process for managing obsolescence and other supply chain risks is the single-most important aspect of proactive risk management. The new partnership between Z2Data and AMSYS facilitates this proactive posture by combining data and mitigation workflows, with the ultimate goal being to go from risk identification to resolution. Through this strategic collaboration, these two SCRM firms are able to turn red flags in component databases into repeatable processes that are trackable, cross-functional, and equipped with measurable outcomes.  

Finally, it’s important to note that this supply chain risk management (SCRM) process isn’t limited to obsolescence issues. Z2Data and AMSYS can carry out the same data synthesis, risk evaluation, and custom workflow creation across a variety of challenges, including: 

• Price Increases: Managing sudden cost escalations by comparing alternative sourcing options. 

• Noncompliance/Regulatory Violations: Ensuring proactive alignment with changing environmental and trade regulations. 

• Supplier Risks: Mitigating sanctions, financial instability, and geopolitical issues that could disrupt continuity. 

The Clear Advantages When Data Leads to Strategic Action 

We’re now in an era in which companies in industries like automotive, electronics, and aerospace and defense are inundated with data points on everything from markets and suppliers to ESG performance and CO2 emissions. Because there’s such a data overload, the real competitive advantage no longer comes from the ability to amass more supply chain information. Rather, it stems from knowing what to do with all that information—that is, how to take decisive action based on the data at your disposal. Tools that are able to combine insights and intelligence with sophisticated risk analysis and workflow management offer the greatest value to businesses drowning in data points.  

Because there’s such a data overload, the real competitive advantage no longer comes from the ability to amass more supply chain information. Rather, it stems from knowing what to do with all that information—that is, how to take decisive action based on the data at your disposal.

The partnership between Z2Data and AMSYS illustrates the next step in modern supply chain risk management (SCRM): moving from fragmented data and spontaneous, reactive responses toward unified intelligence, structured workflows, and measurable mitigation strategies. By combining external and internal data, aligning with IEC 62402 and other industry best practices, and supporting both teams and executive decision-makers, this collaboration provides a new foundation for the future of proactive SCRM.  

To learn more about the partnership between Z2Data and AMSYS, and how their collaboration could support your supply chain risk management efforts, schedule a free trial with one of our product experts.