Product testing and quality control go hand in hand as two of the most important factors in determining return customers for any given product or industry. Streamlining and optimizing this process will lead to improved reliability and a consistent level of quality. To streamline the panel testing process the following guidelines should be implemented:

1. Champion testability of products – A successful testing plan begins before the product is even designed. Throughout the development process product testability and ease of maintenance must always be a consideration. As an electrical or test engineer, it is your task to consistently remind others in the planning process that testing and design must be accomplished in a manner that is efficient both during production and later in the field.
2. Define requirements explicitly – Your testing requirements must be listed in a manner that can be understood by personnel who have not been involved in the design process. Be sure to give product names and identification data for each component in the testing procedure and be sure to state your expected results.
3. Plan for and obtain resources – Research your vendor list in comparison with the product testing components. Find flexible and reliable vendors who can quickly provide testing devices and equipment.  The quality of the contacts, the amount of contact resistance, LED and light pipe selection, communication interfaces, cabling and much more must be on hand with replacements available so that when testing begins it can proceed uninterrupted until completion.
4. Standardize testing set-up – Part of championing the product testability as mentioned in Step One is to attempt to design products that will fit into a standardized testing procedure and panel. The ability to re-use a panel from a now obsolete product line by simply changing the automation components, lighting indicators, pcbs, contacts or cabling will save the company in time and cost as well as allowing the testing staff to feel a familiarity with the testing appearance and procedure that will lead to more independence and product troubleshooting ability.
5. Log results – Its tedious but logging the results of all your testing in a complete manner is more important than you may think. Analyzing testing failures and successes, investigating strange systems behaviors and identifying patterns in execution will not only improve the current product but saves time making field repairs and will lead to additional testing procedures that will more quickly and efficiently locate failures in the future.
6. Face challenges of success – One of the challenges of success is the ability to continually improve your product. A streamlined panel testing process that has identified possible failures opens the possibilities for new development to improve those weaknesses. In addition, it allows the designer to generate product savings by identifying components that can be trimmed from the Bill of Materials or replaced by a less expensive material or device. Standardizing components and vendors will also lead to cost savings as purchasing a larger number of one device or material will often result in a discount as well as reducing inventory space.

VCC has been building and testing our Optoelectronics equipment such as signal LED’s, light pipes and pre-wired cabling for years and has a team of dedicated personnel to assist your design team in the development of a flexible and efficient testing panel. Our LEDs, light pipes, pre-wired cables and PCB components are kept in stock at all times awaiting your needs. Contact VCC today to discuss your panel indication and wiring requirements.