Derek Stewart’s article SoMs and sustainability: designing for long life in a disposable age explores the challenges of ensuring products feature the latest technology while protecting longevity and reliability, and shows how the use of System-on-modules (SoMs) can offer a solution.
Read it below or here online at Electronic Specifier magazine.
The electronics industry faces a paradox. Consumer culture demands ever-faster product refresh cycles, yet industrial and commercial sectors need equipment that operates and can be maintained reliably for decades. Meanwhile, sustainability targets and supply chain volatility add pressure to extend product lifecycles wherever possible.
Many components like memory and processors are driven by the fast-paced consumer market, where greater performance and ever-lower pricing are demanded.
This creates real headaches for engineers working on professional equipment where these types of components are still required. Design a system too conservatively, using mature, tried and tested components, and you risk obsolescence before launch. Build with cutting-edge components and you may struggle with availability five years down the line if they are not well received by the market.
System-on-modules (SoMs) offer a different path. By integrating core processing functions onto standardised, swappable modules, SoMs separate a design’s stable elements from those that need regular updating.
Real-world staying power
The medical sector clearly demonstrates this principle. A dental chair or MRI scanner represents a significant investment, with buyers expecting many years of reliable operation plus ongoing availability of spare parts. These systems can’t follow smartphone replacement cycles. When a component becomes obsolete, you need options beyond “buy a new machine.”
Similarly, the EV-charging infrastructure rollout demands both rapid deployment and long-term reliability. Charge point operators can’t afford to rip out and replace entire installations every few years as technology evolves. They need modular systems that can adapt and upgrade without wholesale replacement.
Industrial automation faces identical challenges. Factory equipment must deliver return on investment over decades, not quarters. When a control system needs updating for new protocols or processing power, modularity beats starting from scratch.
Waste reduction through design
SoMs address waste at multiple levels. Rather than sourcing hundreds of discrete components individually, engineers receive a single, tested module containing what could otherwise be 200-400 separate parts. This consolidation significantly reduces packaging and shipping waste.
More importantly, when technology updates arrive, only the module needs changing. The carrier board, enclosure and other elements remain untouched. Compare this to traditional designs where component obsolescence often triggers complete redesigns, scrapping existing tooling and inventory.
The economics work too. SoMs suppliers maintain much larger volumes than individual product manufacturers, providing better component availability and obsolescence management. When a part does reach end-of-life, reputable suppliers should offer drop-in replacements with identical form factors, avoiding the time and cost consuming changes that plague discrete designs.
Standardisation as a strategy
Rather than each manufacturer burning time and resources on regulatory approval, pre-certified SoMs arrive with existing certifications that can often be transferred to the final product. This accelerates time to market while reducing the duplicated effort and cost across multiple companies developing similar systems.
A well-designed SoM family offers multiple performance levels within identical physical footprints. Customers can generally specify different processing powers, memory configurations and wireless comms options without changing their carrier board designs, supporting product variants and future upgrades without redesign costs.
Incremental updates become possible through this same approach. For example, existing designs can accommodate neural processing units as AI becomes standard, requiring only module swaps rather than complete overhauls.
The shift in thinking
Adoption is spreading beyond traditional SoM markets because, for example, companies producing more than 20,000 units a year are now choosing modules instead of in-house designs, having recognised the hidden costs of developing and maintaining discrete components. The pandemic highlighted supply chain vulnerabilities, while rising design complexity makes self-reliant approaches increasingly expensive.
Rather than viewing SoMs as expensive compared to raw component costs, manufacturers have begun factoring in development time, supply chain management, obsolescence risk and opportunity costs. Internal engineering teams can now focus on differentiating features instead of recreating standard processing architectures.
When security vulnerabilities emerge, SoM-based systems often accommodate incremental firmware updates rather than requiring rebuilt software stacks. This provides a method of keeping products current without the expense and risk of wholesale redesigns.
Beyond throwaway culture
While consumer markets chase ever-shorter replacement cycles, professional and industrial applications demand the opposite. Equipment buyers want systems that remain viable for decades, with clear upgrade paths and guaranteed availability of spare parts.
By planning product lifecycles spanning ten years or more, module suppliers naturally align with these requirements and can offer the longevity guarantees required by non-consumer markets. They manage the complexity of component sourcing, obsolescence planning and technology transitions, allowing equipment manufacturers to focus on their core expertise rather than wrestling with supply chain headaches.
What emerges is more sustainable product development. Systems evolve through selective module updates instead of complete redesigns every few years. With sustainability targets tightening and supply chains remaining volatile, this modular approach offers practical benefits beyond environmental credentials.
In an industry often focused on the next big thing, sometimes the smartest move is building systems designed to last.
Derek Stewart is a Business Development Engineer at Solsta