Coordinated warranty and burn-in strategies

In product reliability assurance, the warranty and burn-in (W&BI) strategies are usually selected separately, despite the fact that both depend on the early-life failure behavior of the product. This paper treats W&BI strategies together in order to examine the possible benefits of coordinated strategies for product performance management. As these strategies are meaningful only for decreasing hazard-rate systems, a Weibull life distribution is assumed for each system component. A net-profit model that includes an increase in product price as a function of warranty duration is constructed. The model shows how a coordinated W&BI strategy can be selected. The model is quite general and its extension to other cases is explained. A central point that is treated thoroughly is the renewal analysis necessary to determine replacement costs during burn-in and during the warranty period. As part of the analysis, a useful approximation is defined, and efficient optimization routines are identified. An example illustrates the use of analytical methods. The analysis and discussion of the example show that there are advantages in coordinating the selection of W&BI strategies.