Reliability growth planning for electronics design under distributed manufacturing paradigm

Abstract

This paper proposes an integrated reliability management programme for faster time-to-market electronics products which are designed under the distributed manufacturing chain. Our objective is to resolve the reliability issue across the product life cycle from design, manufacturing, integration, and field deployment. The idea is to bridge the reliability information gap between the manufacturer and the customers through an effective failure tracking and corrective action system. Engineers can leverage the field information to carry out reliability analysis, implement corrective actions, and monitor the reliability growth rate. The system consists of four modules: 1) stochastic-based reliability prediction tools; 2) real-time failure mode rate charts; 3) corrective action effectiveness functions; 4) reliability monitoring mechanism. The proposed reliability management system will be illustrated through the design and deployment of automatic test equipment. The study shows that reliability growth for capital-intensive equipment can be approached from the entire life cycle. This is particularly important for new technologies or products developed in the faster time-to-market environment.