Statistical testing for assessing the performance of lifetime index of electronic components with exponential distribution

Abstract

The electronics industry has heavily prioritized enhancing the quality, lifetime and conforming rate (conforming to specifications) of electronic components. Various methods have been developed for assessing quality performance. In practice, process capability indices (PCIs) are used as a means of measuring process potential and performance. Moreover, most PCIs have been developed or investigated under the assumption that electronic components have a lifetime with a normal distribution. However, PCIs for non‐normal distributions have seldom been discussed. Nevertheless, the lifetime of electronic components generally may possess an exponential, gamma or Weibull distribution and so forth. Under an exponential distribution, some properties of the PCIs and their estimators differ from those in a normal distribution. To utilize the PCIs more reasonably and accurately in assessing the lifetime performance of electronic components, this study constructs a uniformly minimum variance unbiased (UMVU) estimator of their lifetime performance index under an exponential distribution. The UMVU estimator of the lifetime performance index is then utilized to develop the hypothesis testing procedure. The purchasers can then employ the testing procedure to determine whether the lifetime of the electronic components adheres to the required level. Manufacturers can also utilize this procedure to enhance process capability.