Sanjay Tiku

Bogus: electronic manufacturing and consumers confront a rising tide of counterfeit electronics

This paper discusses the growing concern over the counterfeiting of electronics components and systems. Three key factors are identified as the root cause of this problem: the shift of manufacturing to China where intellectual property laws are not strictly enforced and supply chains are convoluted; the growing sophistication of technology that enables cheaper and more convincing fakes; and the rise of the Internet as a marketplace, allowing buyers and sellers make fast trades without ever meeting face to face. As many companies are learning the hard way, counterfeiting requires a constant, deliberate, and multifaceted effort, vigorous monitoring of potential trouble spots, and judicious use of anticounterfeiting technologies.

Using a reliability capability maturity model to benchmark electronics companies

Purpose – This paper seeks to introduce a set of key practices that can be used to assess whether an organization has the ability to design, develop and manufacture reliable electronic products.Design/methodology/approach – The ability to design, develop and manufacture reliable electronic products is defined in the paper in terms of a reliability capability maturity model, which is a measure of the practices within an organization that contribute to the reliability of the final product, and the effectiveness of these practices in meeting the reliability requirements of customers.Findings – The paper presents a procedure for evaluating and benchmarking reliability capability. Criteria for assigning different capability maturity levels are presented. The paper also presents a case study corresponding to reliability capability benchmarking of an electronics company.Originality/value – The paper provides a set of practices for evaluating and benchmarking reliability capability.

Auditing the Reliability Capability of Electronics Manufacturers

The globalisation of supply chains has made electronics manufacturers dependent upon worldwide suppliers who provide them with parts or subassemblies. Currently, many manufacturers have to wait until they get the products to assess if they are reliable. This can be an expensive iterative process. As an alternative, it is necessary to define what key processes should comprise the product and process development efforts of suppliers to assure customers that they can supply reliable products. Identification of these key processes can help manufacturers to assess their potential suppliers and/or suppliers to assess themselves. This paper presents a set of key processes and practices that can be used as benchmarks to assess whether an organization has the ability to design, develop and manufacture reliable electronic products. It defines this ability as the reliability capability of an organization.Copyright

Validation of reliability capability evaluation model using a quantitative assessment process

Purpose – Reliability capability is a measure of the practices within an organization that contributes to the reliability of the final product and the effectiveness of these practices in meeting the reliability requirements of customers. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for evaluating the reliability capability of electronics manufacturers.Design/methodology/approach – A survey methodology and statistical methods based on multivariate correlational analysis were used to validate the model theoretically.Findings – The result of the analysis is a list and ranking of tasks that are critical to the development of reliable electronics products.Originality/value – The paper presents a generic model for evaluating both in‐house reliability practices and those of suppliers to identify areas for improvement and for evaluating improvements over time.

Assessment of organizational reliability capability

A reliability capability assessment process can assist OEMs and system integrators in assessing prospective suppliers for their ability to design and manufacture reliable products before they are delivered for use, and on an ongoing basis, help a company in identifying shortcomings in its reliability program, which can be rectified by subsequent improvement actions. The assessment can also help to establish reliability management practices for use by designers, suppliers, customers, and independent authorities. The assessment method may be used to evaluate the reliability capability of all types of electronics-related industries that perform activities influencing the reliability of a product. It can produce increased customer satisfaction, provide competitive opportunities, and shorten the product development cycle. In summary, a reliability capability assessment can be used for: 1) specifying or planning reliability practices if product development is implemented internally; 2) evaluating reliability practices to determine the extent to which a supplier is capable of providing a product that meets the reliability requirements/needs; and 3) improving reliability practices if the current reliability practices have been evaluated and improvement is desired or required

Generalized method for characterizing mechanical loads in mobile devices

This paper presents the concept and design of a test vehicle for characterizing applied mechanical loads on small form-factor devices. These loads can include forces, moments, and torques. A case-study utilizing a version of this test vehicle is discussed. The test vehicle weighs 100 grams and has a form factor similar to commonly available media players like Zune HD. Specific usage scenarios were selected to represent extreme loading conditions. The resulting multivariate, stochastic data were analyzed using the Bounded Johnson System distribution. This statistical treatment eases the use of the empirical data in subsequent analysis, such as determination of the appropriate in-lab loading conditions to quantify the mechanical robustness of a product.

Drop Simulation and Testing in Computer Peripheral Hardware Development

Drop is one of the most common user scenarios for computer peripherals like wired/wireless keyboards, mice, and webcams. Failures due to such impact events are typical examples of overstress types of failures that occur during the useful life of a product. The ability of computer peripheral devices to survive impact with minimal to no impact to product performance or aesthetics is a goal for the product development teams. Engineers have to choose the proper materials and use different simulation and test methods for creating product designs that will survive multiple drop events. Traditional product development process involves iterations of design-physical test-design modification cycles to meet drop requirements. To reduce iterations, expedite product development and reduce time-to-market, virtual drop simulations are conducted at an early stage in product development without the need for any physical samples. This paper presents case-studies on this approach to product development. Case-studies are presented for a keyboard and a mouse. The case-study shows how drop simulation results were used to inform design decisions and how design improvements in terms of material selection or actual feature changes were made early in the design cycle. The study illustrates the use of a high speed camera to capture movies of product performance in drop tests to further discover weaknesses and correlate actual results with simulations. Using a combination of simulation and capturing deformation information with a high speed camera during actual testing, the product development iterations were minimized in terms of cost and time.Copyright