A component supplier sends a product change notification, or PCN, for a part used in your production BOM. Purchasing forwards it to engineering, engineering asks for more data, and the next delivery arrives while the review is still open. Who decides whether that material can enter production?
The answer should be defined before the shipment arrives. A useful PCN process connects the manufacturer's notice to your part records, affected products, evaluation plan, and receiving instructions. It gives buyers a clear sourcing decision and engineers a documented basis for accepting the change.
What a component PCN tells you
A PCN communicates a product or process change. In its product change notification policy, Texas Instruments describes notification of major changes affecting form, fit, or function, or adversely affecting quality or reliability. Its stated notice content includes affected products, the reason for change, qualification information, sample availability, and the projected production shipment date.
Use those details to start your review. Do not treat an unchanged ordering code as sufficient evidence that there is nothing to evaluate. Instead, identify what the manufacturer proposes to change and whether it matters to the way your company uses the component.
A PCN is also different from a product discontinuance notice, often called a PDN. A discontinuance notice requires an obsolescence response, including checking any last-order and final-delivery dates. TI describes product changes and discontinuance separately and notes that withdrawal schedules can be accelerated. Read the actual notice rather than assuming a standard purchasing window applies.
1. Register the notice and assign an owner
Save the original notice, its attachments, notification number, revision, and receipt date in a shared record. Confirm the source through the manufacturer's official resources or your established supplier contact. A forwarded email summary should point to the controlled documents rather than become the only evidence.
Assign one coordinator to keep the review moving. This person does not have to make every technical decision, but should know who owns each action and when it is due. A shared mailbox helps receive notifications; a named owner helps complete them.
Use visible states such as “received,” “affected parts confirmed,” “evaluation in progress,” “decision recorded,” and “transition complete.” Keep acknowledgment and technical approval as separate fields so nobody mistakes one for the other.
2. Map the notice to every affected BOM
Match the manufacturer's affected-part list against complete manufacturer part numbers in your purchasing and engineering records. Check internal aliases, approved-manufacturer lists, and variants that purchasing may group under a single internal item.
Then identify where each affected part is used:
- Current production products and their BOM revisions.
- Products being introduced or redesigned.
- Service and repair requirements for installed equipment.
- Open purchase orders, supplier-held material, and inventory at contract manufacturers.
Include alternate suppliers of the same manufacturer's part. The notice concerns the affected component, so changing the distributor alone does not answer whether a shipment contains the changed product.
If you conclude that the notice does not apply, record the exact reason. “Different package suffix, outside the affected list” is more useful than “not relevant.” Ask the manufacturer to clarify ambiguous part coverage before closing the record.
3. Track each deadline separately
The acknowledgment deadline, sample-request deadline, evaluation schedule, and planned first shipment are different milestones. Put each applicable date in the record, with the supporting source and an internal owner.
This matters because supplier policies are not interchangeable. NXP's customer change-management policy states that lack of acknowledgment within 30 days is considered acceptance of a PCN. Treat that as a supplier-policy example, and check the actual notice and applicable terms for your purchase.
Separately, TI currently states a 60-day window for requesting samples in its PCN sample-request guidance. That sample window does not establish your acknowledgment deadline or extend your internal approval schedule.
Respond through the requested channel and retain the response. If evaluation will take longer, raise the issue early and seek a documented arrangement. A request for extra time should not be treated as a confirmed postponement.
4. Translate the change into application questions
Start with the manufacturer's explanation and ask what evidence your application needs. “No impact expected” is a conclusion to review against the stated scope and supporting data.
For a hypothetical change adding an assembly location, your quality team might ask which qualification results cover that location and how changed material will be identified. For a hypothetical package-material change, engineering and manufacturing might ask whether their assembly profile or application-specific validation needs review. These are examples of review questions, not claims that every such change causes a problem.
Keep questions specific. “Please clarify whether the qualification report covers all affected package variants” is easier to resolve than “Please send everything.” Record which evidence is missing and who will assess the reply.
TI provides a route for requesting standard data packets, part clarifications, and evaluation data through its PCN additional-information process. Use the equivalent official channel for the manufacturer involved in your notice.
5. Agree on the evaluation and decision criteria
Scale the review to the change and the application. Some notices may be resolved through documented evidence review; others may justify samples and board-level evaluation. Engineering and quality should decide what is necessary and write down the rationale.
Before testing, define the questions the evaluation must answer, the relevant product configurations, and the pass/fail criteria. Depending on the change, checks may concern assembly behavior, electrical performance, startup, communication, or operation across the product's specified conditions.
Review manufacturer qualification evidence alongside your own requirements. It can support the decision without automatically covering every condition in your finished product. Identify any customer approval obligations within your established quality process and include them in the schedule.
Assign the decision clearly: accepted, accepted with stated restrictions, or unresolved pending further evidence. Preserve the supporting documents and the approver's rationale. Avoid a vague “looks fine” email that leaves purchasing unsure which products or shipments are covered.
6. Plan how changed material enters production
Ask the supplier how old and changed material will be distinguished, where applicable. The answer may involve manufacturer-defined markings, lot information, or shipping documentation. Confirm the method rather than imposing an assumed date-code boundary.
Update receiving and inventory instructions to reflect the decision. If mixed material needs separate handling, state how it will be identified and which builds may use it. Decide what happens to deliveries received before the evaluation closes.
A bridge purchase of earlier material may be an option, but confirm the quantity, identification, and commercial commitment before relying on it. Compare the coverage it provides with the time required for evaluation or redesign. Do not assume that all inventory shipped before the planned transition date is from the earlier process.
7. Close the record only when the transition is complete
Close the PCN after the decision has reached the teams that order, receive, build, and service the product. Update relevant internal item records, approved-manufacturer information, inspection instructions, and BOM documentation where your process requires it.
A final review should confirm:
- The notice revision and affected part numbers are recorded.
- All applicable dates and supplier responses are retained.
- Required evidence and evaluation results support the decision.
- The approval scope and any restrictions are clear.
- Open orders and inventory have an agreed disposition.
- Receiving and manufacturing know how to handle the transition.
Keep the record accessible for later investigations. If a newer notice revision arrives, review what changed and reopen affected actions rather than assuming the previous decision still covers it.
When the review creates a sourcing requirement
A PCN or discontinuance notice may leave your team needing bridge material or a candidate replacement. Cplus Electronics lists component sourcing and obsolete-part replacement services. A sourcing request should include the exact manufacturer part number, quantity, required delivery date, relevant change restrictions, and whether proposed alternates need engineering evaluation.
You can submit your component sourcing requirement to Cplus Electronics with those details. Keep the approved technical scope visible throughout the purchase: a complete PCN review ends with a documented decision and a controlled material transition.
