Achieving Dependability with CPPD

When considering new product features and capabilities, risk is inevitably introduced. Systematically measuring and comparing alternatives assesses and mitigates risk early in planning. This includes investment in planning, engineering, and validation. Plans can be established to improve warranty costs, eliminate quality and reliability issues, and manage other expenses associated with poor dependability. Dependability ensures that durability and reliability targets are achieved during product development and pilot production -- before a new product goes into full-scale production.

ITI's Managing Product Dependability program typically includes:

• Customer Usage Profiling
• Reliability Growth
• Durability Optimization

The goal is to optimize the overall reliability engineering activity, achieve the best practical starting prototype reliability level, and then systematically identify and resolve system reliability problems unanticipated, undetected, or underestimated in earlier design and development activities.

Examples of RG project goals may be to:

• Specifically reduce warranty costs/risk
• Maintain current warranty cost/risk levels of a mature product during the introduction of typical levels of new product content
• Minimize risk of a new product's introduction or high levels of new content in a mature product

Results are accomplished through a carefully planned and executed Reliability Growth program that includes:

• Understanding current product behavior through warranty / customer data
• Definition of achievable reliability targets
• Rigorous new content planning, alternative evaluations and new content optimization in advance of making final product planning decisions
• Strategic planning and deployment of proactive / preventative efforts during the design process to design reliability into the products
• Planning and deployment of Reliability Growth testing of complete system prototypes and key sub-systems, early production units and components
• Ongoing monitoring of reliability during production and early market release
• Transfer of methods/software to clients
• Discipline to stay on a planned schedule within a budget as established at the beginning of a product development program
• Promotion of the required discipline / formal documentation and changes in work processes and culture needed to achieve real improvements

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