Robust materials and processes: Key to reliability

Achieving high reliability and yield in the design and manufacture of telecommunications products requires detailed assessment of the materials, product design, manufacturing processes, and use environment. The key prerequisites for eliminating the root causes of failure are both scientific understanding and engineering evaluations that use statistical experimental methods and accelerated-life tests to uncover potential failure mechanisms. This paper illustrates these principles through several examples that pertain to product design, materials selection, performance evaluation, and manufacturing processes. The examples were selected from our work with design, process, field, and system engineers and reliability practitioners throughout AT&T.