Abstract

The main components of product assurance are: cost-of-quality management; just-in-time training; product assurance planning; and quality and reliability tool application. Product assurance applies simultaneously to hardware and software aspects of product development, and it is appropriate for any level of product development and any product regardless of its age or complexity. Product assurance should be applied periodically during all four phases of the product development cycle: planning; design and process development; design and process validation; and production and continuous improvement. Benefits of a product assurance program include meeting customer needs for quality, reliability, cost, development time, product features, and environmental safety. Management of the program can be handled by product assurance hardware and software experts in an independent department that supports engineering with the proper quality and reliability tools. This article includes a list of 16 steps in the implementation of product assurance, from the early steps of receiving commitment from upper management and communicating benefits of the program through later steps of evaluating cost of quality and margin of improvement.