Product Qualification Test Plan (PQTP)

Product test plans, also known as design verification, product qualification, and accelerated life testing (though, these are not the same thing), are critical to the successful launch of a new product or new technology into the marketplace and into the arms of the customer. These test plans require sufficient stresses to bring out real design deficiencies or defects, but not excessive levels that induce non-representative product failure. Tests must be rapid enough to meet tight schedules, but not so accelerated as to produce excessive stresses. Every test must provide value and must demonstrate correlation to the eventual use environment (which includes screening, storage, transportation / shipping, installation, and operation).

Reliateck Solutions uses its intimate knowledge of industry standards combined with our expertise in the physics of degradation mechanisms in electronics to develop efficient product test plans that ensure product reliability without the excessive use of internal resources. In addition, through our life testing and product testing capabilities, we can reduce capital expenses and keep headcount low by performing product testing at Reliateck Solutions.

The staff at Reliateck is knowledgeable and skilled in all industry test specifications, but we are also keenly aware of those test specification's limitations. This knowledge puts us at the forefront of the test industry and provides you with the solutions you need to assure your product's longevity. We provide, and go above and beyond these common industry test specifications'

• MIL-STD-202, MIL-STD-750, MIL-STD-810

• IPC-TM-650 and IPC-9700 series

• JEDEC JESD test requirements

• Telcordia GR-63-Core, GR-78-CORE

• IEC, JEITA, JIS, and more

Reliability is the probability that a product (e.g., product and semiconductor devices) will perform its specified function in a given environment for a specified period of time. We must not only be concerned about quality as our products leave our doors, but also be concerned about product reliability as our products are used in specific environments over time.

Product Reliability Lifetime

In order to appropriately assess product reliability over a range of product applications, we use reliability tiers set according to operating conditions (such as application, speed, power, temperature, lifetime and duty cycle) and reliability (such as early failure rate, failures in time and wear out) during product qualification. Standard tiers are defined for the commercial, industrial and automotive markets, based on the standards set by the Telecordia GR63, Mil-STD 883 and JEDEC standards and other industry standards.

Requirements for performance and reliability are balanced for both commercial/consumer and industrial markets; automotive tier products also must meet the requirements set by the Automotive Electronics Council. In response to specific customer requests, custom reliability requirements also may be considered.  Product failure rate is known to follow a “bathtub curve” with an initially decreasing failure rate followed by a long, low level failure rate and then eventual wear out.

We perform stresses to characterize each product of this curve. Test and burn-in are used to screen infant mortality (or early product failures), and thus, reduce the early failure rate. Extended life tests are performed to verify the intrinsic limits of devices that result in wear out. Because the failure rate of product is inherently low, the industry uses accelerated testing to assess product reliability. During accelerated tests such as HALT/HASS, elevated stress conditions (e.g., voltage, temperature) are used to produce, in a shorter period of time, the same failure mechanisms as would be observed under normal use conditions. The objective is to identify failure mechanisms and eliminate them as a cause of failure during the useful lifetime of a product.