In industrial manufacturing, companies often push the life of capital equipment in the hope of optimizing operational costs by utilizing assets that have long since been paid off. However, when the line goes down and failure ultimately occurs, companies can be left scrambling to secure the necessary replacements to resume production. When direct replacements and spare parts are standard and readily available, this practice is justifiable and cost effective. In cases where replacement items have long lead times or have become obsolete and replaced by technology that is not a drop-in solution, waiting until failure can be disastrous to a company’s bottom line.