This document discusses performing a trade-off analysis between investing in a reliability program versus returning value. It presents a situation where a company is developing a new portable electronics product to launch for the holiday season and expects it may experience drop damage. The current plan is to do design verification testing through accelerated life testing and testing second prototypes, which has historically found flaws 25% of the time and could delay the project by 30 days. An alternative proposal is to do Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT), which has a 40% chance of finding a major fault in the first prototypes and avoiding delays. The value of HALT is estimated at $1.5 million by assuming $500k lost daily in sales for a 30 day

1. Investment in Reliability
Program versus Return
How to Decide
Fred Schenkelberg, Consultant
January 23rdthru 26th, 2012
RAMS Session 1D

2. Trade off
analysis
Cost
Time to Market
Functionality
Reliability

3. Value

4. Avoiding lost sales and development expenses
HALT & TIME TO MARKET

5. Situation
• New Design – no history
• Portable electronics
• Expect drop damage
• Holiday market
• 98% reliability over 1
year of use

6. Current Plan
Design verification
testing
Accelerated Life
Test
2nd prototypes
Historically
25% of time
discover fatal flaw
30 day delay

7. Proposal
HALT
40% chance
of finding major fault
1st Prototypes

8. HALT Value
Cost of HALT
Chamber access, prototypes, technician
time, and failure analysis $24k
Value of HALT
assume $500k/day lost sales
30 days - - $15m
40% x 25% x $15m = $1.5m

9. Lets explore how to estimate return on reliability investment
MANY WAYS TO ESTIMATE VALUE

10. Ideas on estimating value
Avoid field failure expense Save time

11. Yes
No

12. What are your questions?