Automotive testing is a crucial process to ensure the safety, performance, and reliability of vehicles and components. However, it also involves various risks that can affect the testers, the environment, and the results. In this article, you will learn about some of the common risks of automotive testing and how you can mitigate them.
Automotive testing often requires testers to operate vehicles or equipment under different conditions, such as high speed, extreme weather, or simulated scenarios. This can expose them to physical and mental stress, fatigue, distraction, or errors. To mitigate these risks, you should follow the best practices of human factors engineering, such as designing user-friendly interfaces, providing clear instructions, implementing safety protocols, and monitoring the health and well-being of the testers.
Automotive testing can also have negative impacts on the environment, such as noise, air, water, or soil pollution, or damage to wildlife and habitats. To mitigate these risks, you should comply with the relevant environmental regulations and standards, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). You should also adopt eco-friendly testing methods, such as using renewable energy sources, minimizing waste and emissions, or conducting virtual testing when possible.
Automotive testing can encounter technical issues that can compromise the quality and validity of the data, such as equipment malfunction, software bugs, measurement errors, or communication failures. To mitigate these risks, you should ensure that the testing equipment and software are properly calibrated, maintained, and updated. You should also perform regular checks and backups of the data, and use reliable and secure communication channels.
Automotive testing can pose ethical dilemmas that can affect the reputation and trustworthiness of the testers and the manufacturers, such as confidentiality breaches, data manipulation, or biased results. To mitigate these risks, you should adhere to the ethical principles and codes of conduct of the automotive industry, such as the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) or the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG). You should also disclose any conflicts of interest, protect the privacy and rights of the participants, and report the results honestly and transparently.
Automotive testing can expose the testers and the manufacturers to legal liabilities that can result in lawsuits, fines, or penalties, such as product defects, injuries, or deaths. To mitigate these risks, you should follow the legal requirements and obligations of the automotive industry, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the European Union (EU). You should also obtain the necessary permits, licenses, and insurance, and document and report any incidents or accidents.
Automotive testing is a complex and dynamic process that requires careful planning, execution, and evaluation. To mitigate the risks of automotive testing, you should adopt a systematic and proactive approach to risk management, such as the ISO 31000 standard. You should also involve all the relevant stakeholders, such as the testers, the manufacturers, the regulators, and the customers, and communicate and collaborate effectively with them.
1) Is your test real, does your test represent real customer, real world usage? Frequently, tests are overloading and over cycling to decrease test hardware (costs). This is very common with durability and some serviceability tests. This results in design to pass the test but not necessarily optium for cost, mass and even function. Design realistic tests and instead of shortening your test timing and minimize hardware - operate to optimize overall costs. Review every specification that is test driven and not specifically customer driven or regulation driven. 2) Carryover validation plans - while setting up for your next program, re-evaluate all validation tests, especially the subjective tests. Optimize and review all tests.