Improving Product Reliability and Software Quality, 2nd Edition

4Alternative Approaches to Implementing Reliability

4.1 Hiring Consultants for HALT Testing

The decision has been made to implement reliability processes on the new product. At the start, there is no one with skills in the company to begin making reliability improvements. Where to begin? Who to call? The first thing to know is what not to do. Do not locate a Highly Accelerated Life Test (HALT) facility, bring the product to be tested, and expect optimum results. A little planning goes a long way.

Contact several contract‐engineering agencies. They will often have resumes of engineers who have experience in HALT and other reliability processes. This will help locate local experts. Interview these specialists and determine if their experience is a good match with your product. During the interviewing process, you will learn if there are local HALT facilities. While looking for a HALT facility, you should inquire about: availability, flexibility, cost, staffing, and so on. There is a list of HALT testing facilities in Appendix A. Do these facilities have additional reliability‐testing capabilities? Can they do failure analysis (FA)? FA will help you with in‐process and field failures that have been difficult to correct.

When you contact these test houses, learn as much as you can about their capabilities and the costs of their services. They will usually have a fee for the test equipment, the test engineer, support materials, and so on. You will be surprised at how this fee will ...