Improving design for reliability with in-service data analysis

Encouraging electronic engineers to consider how their designs operate in the field, and more importantly how they fail, is imperative to successfully achieving reliable designs. To achieve this goal a cultural change in the electronics design community will be required. This process may take time and education, but it will ultimately result in product designs that satisfy both functional and reliability requirements using sound engineering judgement rather than 'crystal ball' prediction techniques. Although there is a wealth of knowledge and data within companies concerning product performance, it is not necessarily utilized. To this end, more formal and systematic methods using lessons learned and engineering expertise, to maximise reliability, should be introduced during a product's design phase.