iPolymer, ENIDINE, CCI, and Enertech all had a corporate policy to aggressively performance test their products.
Well-structured Qualification Protocols and Production Test Procedures can save companies and their customers tremendous downstream headaches and stress.
The time to find problems related to components, designs, material selections, and assembly methodologies is early in the product life cycle. Ideally, these issues should be flushed out in a robust Alpha production run (pre-production process). Prototype components should be manufactured on the same CNC machines, with the same tooling, fixtures, and cad-cam programs. This minimizes risk between prototype and production runs. The assembly and test process should follow this similar concept. Assemble with the same tooling, fixtures, and individuals. Test with the same equipment. These steps minimize risk and help to flush out design issues early in the product life cycle.
