Managing Factory Test Content under a Risk Management Framework

In this paper the author discusses techniques for Managing Factory Test Content to achieve ‘lean’ test solutions when confronting compressed design schedules, product maturation risks, and high volume. The paper highlights common obstacles to leaner testing in the presence of these forces, reveals how design-centric testing often creeps into defense factories, and explains why it can be difficult to remove. The paper describes how to address this challenge by placing focus on the establishment of minimal and sufficient Core Testing at the beginning of the product development process. The approach then carves out a category of Supplemental Testing that is “recurring yet temporary” for the purpose of mitigating risks during early production phases.