Tipping the scales in your favor when uprating

Many parts with leading-edge technologies (e.g., microprocessors, low-voltage logic devices, and high-capacity DRAMs) are available mostly in commercial or industrial temperature ranges. Some companies are responding by using the available parts in temperature ranges wider than those for which they are specified (uprating). The use of uprated parts should be considered as an option to mitigate environmental mismatch only when no other feasible alternative can be found. Companies who uprate parts must follow documented, controlled and repeatable processes, and they still may be subject to liability if a product that used uprated parts fails or is suspected to have caused harm. Product liability defenses are available to companies who use electronic parts outside the original manufacturer's specified temperature ranges. In order to maximize the effectiveness of these defenses, however, a company must be vigilant in seeking out ways in which it can demonstrate the viability of these defenses before the lawsuit is ever filed. Both the government contractor defense and the contract specification defense are vehicles around which a company can establish a product liability prevention program. In the final analysis, there is no substitute in product liability prevention for the training and education of employees and the endorsement by senior management of such a program.