Applying Design for Reliability to increase reliability confidence

Design for Reliability (DfR) is focused on demand versus capability modeling, where demand is the functionality, environmental conditions and timing conditions that the customer needs from the system. Capability is the “as-designed” robustness of the system along with the design requirements specified for the system performance. The goal of the method described in this paper is to apply DfR guidance to use test data to measure system reliability. Test data is used to demonstrate improved system capability to satisfy customer demands. Applying DfR activities as a guide, allows engineers to identify and characterize reliability drivers and develop mitigation plans to increase system reliability and provide a quantified measure of reliability growth. Reliability drivers are prioritized to reduce the scope and cost of a reliability program and ensure appropriate attention is placed on high risk capability concerns.