Product change notices: what buyers should verify before ordering

Published 21 October 2026 (UTC). Manufacturer sources reviewed on 21 October 2026.

A product-change notice describes a manufacturer’s change. It does not, by itself, identify the material in a supplier’s quotation or document approval for your application. Keep three records connected: the applicable notice, the offered lot and your internal review decision.

Find the original notice and its revision

Analog Devices says its PCNs are available in the Documentation section of product detail pages. Start from the manufacturer’s own notice rather than a forwarded summary. Save the notice number, revision, publication date, source link and the date you checked it; look for later amendments before making a purchase decision.

For a document example, ADI PCN 24_0206 Rev. E was published on 20 April 2026. It removes models from the notice’s scope, while its appendices distinguish affected and removed models and record earlier revisions. A notice number alone therefore does not preserve the scope you reviewed. This example is not a claim that Rev. E is the latest version for a current order.

Match the full affected ordering code

TI includes identification of affected products among the information in a notifiable-change communication. Compare the approved manufacturer and complete ordering code with the notice’s applicable list or appendix. Keep package, grade and ordering suffixes intact; a family name in an email is not a model-level match.

Record the matching entry alongside the notice revision and BOM revision. If the scope is unclear, ask the manufacturer contact for clarification rather than assuming the part is covered or exempt. A model removed from one notice’s scope should not be labelled discontinued on that basis alone.

Read the change and its supporting evidence

TI’s policy lists the change and its reason, expected product impact, and qualification evidence or a timetable when results are not yet available. Read those fields and the actual supporting documents. A plan to finish qualification is a different record from completed results.

Ask the design or quality owner to assess the stated change against the approved application and assembly requirements. If a notice reports no expected impact, retain that manufacturer assessment for that specific change; it does not document your own review decision. Keep missing attachments, unanswered questions and any required sample evaluation visible.

Separate dates from offered-lot identity

ADI defines a PCN’s effectivity date as the earliest date a customer could receive changed material. TI separately identifies sample timing and a projected production-shipment date. Record each date with its stated meaning, together with any response or sample-request deadline in the notice. Do not turn a projected implementation milestone into a supplier delivery promise.

In the ADI example, manufacturing-location traceability is maintained internally through device markings. That statement is not a public decoding method for the buyer. Ask how the identification method in the applicable notice relates to the offered material, and retain the answer and its evidence.

Request the complete offered code, readable package labels and available lot or batch records. Ask whether the offer is identified as material before the change, after the change, mixed or undetermined, and how that conclusion was reached. A date code or label photograph alone does not settle that question or prove authenticity. If the records do not resolve it, record the material’s change status as unknown.

Keep the purchasing handoff reviewable

Use a short evidence record for each affected BOM line. The following is a purchasing checklist, not a manufacturer’s universal acceptance procedure:

Approved manufacturer, complete ordering code and BOM revision.
Notice number, revision, checked source and the affected-model entry.
Change summary, available supporting evidence, relevant dates and open questions.
Offered-lot identification, the evidence behind it and any unknown history.
Responsible reviewer, decision reference and any outstanding evaluation.

Resolve the decision before ordering

Use your engineering and quality change process to decide whether the material is acceptable and whether more evidence or evaluation is needed. Keep a different proposed ordering code on a separate line until its suitability is assessed. A quotation should not silently change the approved requirement.

For a BOM/RFQ enquiry to HongKong Wei Ya Hua Electronic Technology Co.,Limited, include the full code, quantity, required date and PCN reference. State unresolved scope or lot questions explicitly, and keep the technical decision separate from availability and commercial confirmation.

Does a PCN automatically mean the part is obsolete?

No. Read the notice’s classification, scope and any explicit discontinuance deadlines. TI’s notification page covers both product changes and obsolescence information; the PCN label alone does not decide lifecycle status.

Is a matching ordering code enough to accept changed material?

It is the starting point. Resolve the applicable notice, offered-lot evidence and your engineering or quality review decision through the relevant change process before treating acceptance as settled.

Electronic Components

Services We Support