/eol-message

EOL Message Example — Industrial

Product: NFA-200 series retrofit controller (Northfield Automation) Size: Full · Path: Replacement, with channel and regulatory obligations Context: ~120 installations, 8 channel partners reselling, service contracts running through 2028, UL/CE certified, spare parts inventory in the field. The NFA-500 platform is the successor but is not a drop-in — it needs a different mounting bracket and a per-site retrofit.

Why this is an End-of-Sale announcement, not an End-of-Life one. A readiness assessment on the NFA-200 landed on hold the EOL, take the EOS now: the pressure to retire was internal (manufacturing wanted the line back), the service obligations run to 2028, and there is no drop-in migration path yet. So this message stops selling the product and commits to servicing it — it does not tell 120 sites their controllers are going dark. Announcing a full EOL here would be announcing a date you cannot keep.

The message

## Product Status Change: NFA-200 Series Retrofit Controller

### Product Transition Narrative

**We are:** Northfield Automation, supplier of retrofit control systems for legacy production lines
- We commit to supporting equipment for the life of the service agreement attached to it
- We modernize our platforms without stranding the installed base
- We're building toward controllers that extend line life rather than forcing line replacement

**Announcing:**
- Effective March 31, 2027, the NFA-200 series will no longer be available for purchase. **Your
  installed NFA-200 units are not affected.** We will continue to service, support, and supply
  parts for every NFA-200 under contract through the end of that agreement.

**Because:**
- The NFA-500 platform supersedes the NFA-200 for new installations, with modular I/O and
  IIoT connectivity the 200 series cannot be retrofitted to provide
- Concentrating manufacturing on one platform lets us hold parts availability and lead times for
  the installed base rather than splitting capacity across two lines
- Consolidating certification and firmware maintenance onto one platform keeps our compliance
  work focused where it protects you

**Which means for you:**
- Nothing changes for your running lines — service, parts, and firmware support continue under
  your existing agreement
- Parts availability for the NFA-200 improves, not degrades, as production capacity consolidates
- When you're ready to modernize, the NFA-500 is available and we'll scope the retrofit with you

### Current Product Context

**Our product** the NFA-200 series retrofit controller
- **is a** drop-in control module for legacy production equipment
- **that has served** manufacturers extending the life of existing lines since 2016
- **by providing** modern control and safety interlocks without replacing working machinery

### Customer Impact

**We understand that this may affect you by:**
- Requiring you to plan NFA-500 evaluation before your service agreement expires, rather than
  after
- Limiting your ability to standardize new lines on the NFA-200 after March 31, 2027 — if you have
  planned expansions on the 200, talk to us now
- Requiring a site-specific retrofit when you do move: the NFA-500 uses a different mounting
  standard and is not a like-for-like swap. We will not pretend otherwise.

### Transition Solution

**For** manufacturers running retrofit control on legacy lines
- **that currently use** the NFA-200 series
- the NFA-500 platform
- **is a** modular retrofit controller with IIoT connectivity
- **that** performs the same control and interlock functions you rely on today, with remote
  diagnostics and modular I/O you can expand without replacing the unit

### Differentiation and Continuity

- **Like** the NFA-200,
- the NFA-500
- **provides** the same safety interlock behavior, the same ladder-logic compatibility, and the
  same field-serviceable design
- **while also offering** modular I/O expansion, remote diagnostics, and firmware updates that
  don't require a site visit

**What is not continuous, stated plainly:** the NFA-500 requires a different mounting bracket and
panel depth. Every migration is a scoped site visit. Budget for it as a project, not a swap.

### Support and Next Steps

**To ensure a smooth transition, we will:**
- Honor every existing NFA-200 service agreement to its full term, including agreements running
  into 2028
- Hold NFA-200 spare parts inventory through December 31, 2028, and publish quarterly parts-stock
  levels so you can plan
- Provide a free site retrofit assessment for any NFA-200 installation, whether or not you commit
  to the NFA-500
- Apply a trade-in credit against NFA-500 hardware for NFA-200 units retired before their
  agreement expires
- Continue issuing safety-related firmware updates for the NFA-200 through end of service

### Timeline

| Gate | Date | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of Status Change | March 31, 2026 | This announcement. Nothing changes operationally. |
| End of Sale | March 31, 2027 | New NFA-200 units can no longer be ordered. Installed units unaffected. |
| End of Expansion | March 31, 2027 | No new I/O expansion modules for the NFA-200. Existing configurations continue. |
| End of Maintenance | December 31, 2028 | Non-safety firmware updates stop. Safety updates continue to end of service. |
| End of Service | December 31, 2028 | Service agreements, parts supply, and support obligations conclude. |

**End of Life is not scheduled.** Your NFA-200 will keep running as long as it runs. We are not
setting a date on which your equipment stops working, and we will not remotely disable installed
units — ever.

### Contractual and Regulatory Notes

- **Service agreements:** All NFA-200 agreements are honored to their stated term. Agreements
  extending past December 31, 2028 will be honored to term; contact your account manager to
  confirm your end date in writing.
- **Certification:** NFA-200 units retain UL 508A and CE marking. This status change does not
  affect the certification of installed equipment or your compliance posture.
- **Validated environments:** For customers operating under validated processes, we will supply
  change-control documentation for your quality records on request.
- **Last-time buy:** Orders for NFA-200 units and expansion modules will be accepted through
  March 31, 2027. Contact your channel partner or account manager to place a final order.

### Call to Action

- **Running NFA-200 units?** No action required. Confirm your service end date at
  northfield-automation.com/agreements
- **Planning expansion on the NFA-200?** Contact your account manager before March 31, 2027 to
  discuss last-time-buy quantities
- **Ready to evaluate the NFA-500?** Request a free retrofit assessment at
  northfield-automation.com/nfa500-assessment
- Questions: service@northfield-automation.com or your channel partner

Why this works

• It announces what is true. EOS with an open-ended EOL, because the retrofit path doesn't exist yet. A confident EOL date here would have been a promise to break in 2028.
• The headline defuses the panic. "Your installed NFA-200 units are not affected" sits in the announcement itself, not four sections down. In industrial contexts the first question is always does my line stop, and the message answers it before it's asked.
• The discontinuity is named without hedging. "Every migration is a scoped site visit. Budget for it as a project, not a swap." Sales will hate this line. It prevents a year of disputes.
• Obligations are addressed, not just acknowledged. Contract terms, certification status, change-control documentation, and last-time-buy each get a specific commitment — this is the section a Brief or Standard message doesn't have, and the reason this one is Full.
• "We will not remotely disable installed units — ever." The single most damaging EOL failures on record involve vendors bricking hardware customers had paid for. Saying the opposite, in writing, is worth the sentence.
• Channel partners have a path. Last-time-buy routes through them explicitly, so the eight resellers aren't finding out from their own customers.

What this example deliberately does not do

• It doesn't set an EOL date to look decisive. The gate table stops at End of Service and says why. Naming a date you can't keep is worse than admitting you don't have one.
• It doesn't oversell the NFA-500. The continuity section lists what genuinely carries over, then breaks out the mounting incompatibility separately rather than burying it in a bullet.
• It doesn't lead with manufacturing capacity. That was the real internal trigger. It appears only as a customer-facing benefit that happens to be true — parts availability for the installed base improves. If it hadn't been true, it wouldn't be in the message.