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.