 Reliability Services in the Manufacturing Phase
Repair Depot Setup
DEFINITION
The Repair Depot is the place that products (or assemblies within products) get returned from the field and repaired.
SITUATION
As products get more complex and field usage of products gets more varied, having a good Repair Depot process becomes more important. We must link the Repair Depot process with the customer call center to get good information from the field, and we must have a robust test process to be able to duplicate customer issues.
OBJECTIVE
To set up a Repair Depot system to successfully duplicate customer findings and to feed back to the design and test processes to help eliminate these failures in the future.
VALUE TO YOUR ORGANIZATION
A good Repair Depot facility has the ability to reproduce field failures and to assure that the product has enough life left to be shipped back into the field. But more importantly it allows us to learn from the failures and make changes to the design and manufacturing processes to assure the failures are not repeated.
RELIABILITY INTEGRATION
An example of Reliability Integration during Repair Depot Setup is as follows:
Integrating the Repair Depot Center with HALT results
If we find design issues in the field and we can duplicate these issues in the Repair Depot Center, we must feed them back into the HALT process. Therefore, the Repair Depot must be set up to easily feed information back to the HALT process when issues like this arise. The Corrective Action System is the perfect vehicle for linking these two together. Integrating the Repair Depot Center with HASS results
If we find process issues in the field and we can duplicate these issues in the Repair Depot Center, we must feed them back into the HASS process. Therefore, the Repair Depot must be set up to easily feed information back to the HASS process when issues like this arise. The Corrective Action System is the perfect vehicle for linking these two together.
METHODOLOGY
1) Repair Depot Plan
The plan will outline the Repair Depot process from beginning to end and the decisions that have to be made along the way, including identifying the Lowest Replaceable Units (LRUs), the location of the Repair Depot, and the Repair Process itself.
2) Lowest Replaceable Unit (LRU) Level Analysis
Through the use of a reliability prediction and a maintainability prediction, we shall help identify the LRU's for the product. The choice of which subassemblies will be LRU's is based on how often the subassembly will fail, how easy it is for the user to identify and replace the LRU, and how safe the operation is for the user and the product. 3) Repair Depot Location Strategy - In-house vs. 3rd Party
Depending on the complexity of the product, it may make sense have a 3rd Party vendor act as the Repair Depot. We shall help perform this analysis and evaluate the needs vs. the capabilities to determine the strategy that makes the most sense. 4) Repair Process
Setting up a Repair Process requires that we understand the testing processes leading up to shipping a product as well as the field environment. 4a) Integrate with HALT results
If we find design issues in the field and we can duplicate these issues in the Repair Depot Center, we must feed them back into the HALT process. Therefore, the Repair Depot must be set up to easily feed information back to the HALT process when issues like this arise. 4b) Integrate with HASS results
If we find process issues in the field and we can duplicate these issues in the Repair Depot Center, we must feed them back into the HASS process. Therefore, the Repair Depot must be set up to easily feed information back to the HASS process when issues like this arise. 4c) Using HASS for "No Problem Found" issues
We shall help determine how to treat "No Problem Founds" (NPFs). We shall also help integrate the Repair Depot process with the HASS process so that "No Problem Found" items are sent through the HASS process so that intermittent failures can be discovered and repaired as well. 4d) "Three Strikes" Process
We shall help identify how often to allow failed products to be sent back to the field. A typical rule of thumb is to apply a "three strikes" policy in which a failed product may not be returned to the field if it has been returned 3 times. 4e) Set up to feed data to the Field Failure Tracking System
The Repair Depot Center retests products returned from the field to confirm failures and determine root cause. The confirmation is then fed back to the Field Failure Tracking System so that it can be properly categorized for reliability data reporting.
CASE STUDIES/OPTIONS
The following case studies and options provide example approaches. We shall tailor our approach to meet your specific situation.
1) Reducing No Problem Found (NPF) Rate
A Telecommunications company had about a 50% No Problem Found (NPF) rate (for 50% of all assemblies returned, we could not duplicate the failure). We analyzed their field data and determined that a high percentage of assemblies that failed were returned a second time. This was an indication that these assemblies may have intermittent problems. Therefore, we implemented a process in which all failed assemblies went through a HASS prior to being returned to the field. We were able to reduce the NPF rate by 10%. 2) Helping with a Repair Depot Outsourcing Project
A Networking company decided to outsource their Repair Depot process to their Contract Manufacturer and they hired us to help with the implementation process, assuring that a database was set up and trend analysis was being performed on that data, and that a proper failure analysis escalation process was in place when trends were identified.
top of page | 
Many New Reliability Services & Reliability Seminars added! 