Track 1 Session 8
2:40 to 3:50 p.m. Thursday June 15, 2006

Prediction of Field Warranty Liability for Diesel Engine Management Systems

In the 21st century, the auto industry can no longer be satisfied with building a quality product that performs for a short while and then disappoints with frequent trips to the dealer for the Time > warranty period repairs. The life cycle costs of these shortcomings in field reliabilities are now leading to costs that exceed the first year revenues (yes, revenue; not profit). This session presents a process to predict these shortcomings based on accelerated system lab testing with forced failure. The results of initial testing along with confirmation of a fix documented with a new Weibull-based program reliability growth are discussed.

Key Words: Prevention, Test to Fail