Track 2 Session 15

3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Thursday, June 9, 2011

Dramatic COTs Design Accomplishments Traced To Innovative DFR Practice

Design for Reliability (DFR) practices have a spotted success history. When implemented effectively, dramatic design accomplishments occur. Our innovative DFR tool has proven to be powerful for reducing product design and manufacturing risks, and empowers dramatic product launches in record times. This presentation examines why our innovative DFR is so successful and we want to share the details so you can enjoy the same success. The key success factors are: 1) An innovative DFR tool using standard electrical and CAD design tools to deliver our DFR knowledge directly to the design engineer so they have the data when the electrical parts are initially being selected. 2) The same innovative DFR tool automatically sends e-mail with the DFR-annotated Bill of Materials (BOM) as an attachment, in a standard Excel® format, to the reliability engineer and the electrical design engineer as soon as the design engineer initially provides the schematic to the CAD group. 3) The reliability engineer reviews the BOM for DFR alerts and immediately confers with the design engineer by e-mail.

It should be very obvious that if the same DFR alert were discussed much later in the design process, the willingness would not be as high. Our innovative DFR requests appear before the board layout is started, before the electrical simulation work is complete, before the design freeze occurs, before changes must be documented, before Design for Manufacturing (DFM) audits are done, before prototype builds occur, before design verification testing, before HALT, before production builds occur and before customer complaints are received. Our DFR library contains base failure rates from MIL-HDBK-217F-1 and Bellcore/Telcordia SR-332-1, so we also get free MTBFs.

Key Words: Innovative DFR Tool, DFR Practice, DFR Empowers Successful Design Metrics, Successful Designs are Better, Faster and Lower Costing, Basic Hardware Reliability Improvements, System Reliability Improvements, Pro-Active DFR Process, Shorter Design Cycles, Improved DVT and HALT, Improved NPI, Free MTBFs, ISO Metrics

Gene Bridgers and Darryl McKenney

Mercury Computer Systems Inc.

Chelmsford, MA