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    <description>Hardware supply chains, China strategy, deep-tech architecture.</description>
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    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <title>Pin-Compatible" Isn't "Drop-In": How to Find and Verify a Replacement for a Discontinued Part</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/pin-compatible-is-not-drop-in-how-to-find-verify-replacement-discontinued-part/</link>
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      <pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>Supply Chain</category>
      <category>Hardware</category>
      <category>Procurement</category>
      <description><![CDATA[When a part goes obsolete, "pin-compatible" is the phrase that gets people into trouble. Whether a replacement actually works on your board depends on three separate things: form, fit, and function — and "pin-compatible" only guarantees two of them.]]></description>
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      <title>Component Obsolescence Management: The 2026 EOL / NRND / Last-Time-Buy Playbook</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/component-obsolescence-management-eol-nrnd-ltb-playbook/</link>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>Supply Chain</category>
      <category>Hardware</category>
      <category>Procurement</category>
      <category>Obsolescence</category>
      <description><![CDATA[More than 620,000 electronic part numbers went obsolete in 2025, and about half of them were discontinued without a product change notification. If your product ships for seven years and carries three hundred components, discontinuation is not a risk — it is a schedule.]]></description>
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      <title>HS Code Classification for Electronic Components: A Step-by-Step Guide (and Where One Wrong Digit Costs You)</title>
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      <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>Customs</category>
      <category>Supply Chain</category>
      <category>Hardware</category>
      <category>Import</category>
      <category>Tariffs</category>
      <description><![CDATA[Every product that crosses a border gets classified under a commodity code, and that code — not your invoice description — decides your duty rate, your overlay tariffs, and which regulations apply. Classifying an electronic component comes down to seven steps.]]></description>
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      <title>The Hidden Documentation Gap in Chinese Electronics</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/chinese-component-documentation-the-hidden-gap/</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>China Strategy</category>
      <category>Documentation</category>
      <category>Embedded Systems</category>
      <description><![CDATA[Chinese component vendors operate a two-tier documentation system. The English datasheet is the marketing version. The real technical reference — the one with the register maps, the undocumented features, and the application notes — is in Mandarin.]]></description>
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      <title>AI in Industrial Systems: Bounded, Not Magical</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/ai-in-industrial-systems-bounded-not-magical/</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>AI &amp; Automation</category>
      <category>Industrial</category>
      <category>Mittelstand</category>
      <description><![CDATA[German Mittelstand companies hear about AI constantly. Most are sceptical — and rightly so. The question is not whether AI can help, but where it creates measurable, bounded value and where it introduces risk you cannot afford.]]></description>
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      <title>Supplier Lock-In Is an Architecture Problem, Not a Procurement Problem</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/supplier-lock-in-is-an-architecture-problem/</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>System Architecture</category>
      <category>Supplier Strategy</category>
      <category>Hardware</category>
      <description><![CDATA[Most hardware founders discover their Chinese supplier dependency too late — when a component goes EOL, a geopolitical shock hits, or a quality failure forces a redesign. The root cause is almost never procurement. It is architecture.]]></description>
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      <title>How System Architecture Shapes Supplier Flexibility</title>
      <link>https://meritong.com/en/blog/how-system-architecture-shapes-supplier-flexibility/</link>
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      <pubDate>Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <category>System Architecture</category>
      <category>Supplier Lock-In</category>
      <category>Hardware Architecture</category>
      <category>Software Architecture</category>
      <category>Industrial Automation</category>
      <category>Sourcing Strategy</category>
      <description><![CDATA[System architecture shapes supplier flexibility long before procurement gets involved. This article explores how hardware choices, software ecosystems, deployment models, compliance constraints, and other architectural decisions can quietly create supplier lock-in over time.]]></description>
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