Deciding when reliability demonstration is best for the bottom line

Statistically demonstrating reliability does cost. It requires specimens, test resources, and personnel. Effectively choosing which failure modes need statistical demonstration to the product reliability specification can lead to increased product reliability. This is done by moving resources from unnecessary verification work to product improvement work. Because statistical verification of reliability can be costly and/or take a long time to complete, organizations can save time and money by having a strategy for choosing when and when not to verify reliability of various failure modes. Due to the vast differences in goals and customer requirements from industry to industry and company to company, the specific strategy will vary from organization to organization A simple decision matrix that takes into account the potential impact of the failure mode, the ease of demonstrating the failure mode and the perceived level of margin the component or system has above the specified reliability, will provide structure in deciding which failure modes to demonstrate.