Regular product (automotive) testing is the key to build robust products, not the shortcuts!

Product (automotive products are referred here) testing is a very interesting field.

I am not talking about software testing here but referring to?the testing of automotive parts?which are used in automobiles and especially during the?development phase. Many organizations have set up small, medium and big test laboratories, and they do carry out testing of prototypes as well as the regular products before launch, but some organizations don't invest much for product testing. Often they rely on outside agencies which is a very expensive proposition.

In-house test laboratories do require big investments, but it is nothing in comparison to the benefits it brings in with it. The first and foremost benefit is that the organization knows where their product stand in the market once they go through the test data, and accordingly they may improve the same if required or if the performance is not meeting the specifications or standards or the customer requirements.

Product testing may be categorized?into the following areas. The main ones are the performance, reliability, endurance, rigidity, torsional rigidity, impact strength and environmental testing. To summarize,?these tests are based on application of force, load, impact and?torque and under various environmental conditions. Various special purpose machines need to be?developed for application of these test conditions. There was a time when specialized test equipment was needed to be imported from abroad but now the country?being self-sufficient post trade liberalization, there are many companies who are into the manufacturing of specialized test equipments which has also brought down its development cost. No doubt, the earlier test equipments used to cost a bomb but nowadays, the cost has come down considerably.?

During renowned statistician and quality expert Edward Deming's regular visits to Japan, after the Second World War, Japan spent a lot of its industrial energy in studying the quality data,?applying statistical analysis and thus improving the products. Today, one can see where the Japanese products stand for their quality in the world scenario. We should not forget that there was a time when the Japanese products?had a few takers. Quality was bad, but use of statistics on the product test data did wonders. Based on these observations, now we can say,?that?using test data garnered during the product testing, can improve the products to a desired level. Launching the products in the market without testing them properly is equivalent?to the?Harakiri (Japanese word for suicide). It's suicidal for the company's product portfolio as well as for its reputation.??

Launching the products in the market without testing them properly is equivalent?to the?Harakiri (Japanese word for suicide).

Test data can be used for benchmarking,?for reverse engineering as well as for making design changes for optimization. For any product two important parameters upon which the manufacturer should work is its weight and secondly its cost to the customer. And both can be improved by using right statistical and analytical techniques on the available product test data. A product should not be over designed as well as under designed. Technically stating, it should be an?optimally designed product. The best possible which saves the company money thus improving profits.

Many organizations skip testing and try to find out ways to bypass the process during the new product development phase and try hard?so that the product gains acceptance with the customer somehow. Often they?learn?later that the product?failed in the actual field conditions. This leads to loss both in terms of money and reputation. Customer loses?faith in the supplier. The customer's?confidence in the supplier drops. This should be avoided.

With new automobiles being developed and high expectations from the customers, vehicle part?manufacturers are finding it very challenging that their products meet the stringent test specifications.?

To manufacture vehicles which customers want to buy them is quite a demanding and highly competitive business. Manufacturers invest millions on research and development to enhance their vehicles and to gain a competitive edge over their competitors, and they go extra miles in their attempts to keep their findings secret until they’re ready to be launched. Yet, sometimes, they fail to get the maximum from product testing. There are several automobile manufacturers who are struggling right now, in India, due to premature product failure, which a stringent test schedule covering all aspects could have helped them otherwise.??

To ensure that their products meet the consumer’s expectations and beat their competitors, automobile manufacturers test their prototypes in all types of environments. While much testing can be done on closed tracks, real-world testing needs to take place in real-world conditions. Manufacturers would find out ways so that maximum test data can be extracted form the testing despite a tight vehicle launch schedule.?By collating data from these tests, manufactures should be?able to design vehicles that they hope will satisfy market demand.

To summarize, the testing?process covers everything from performance, comfort, reliability, safety to quality and appearance. Since the idea behind testing is to ensure automakers fix all the potential problems of a model before it goes into full production, it is much cheaper to eliminate a problem with a product before mass production than it is to discover problems and try to fix them afterward.

Hence, companies should invest more and more in product testing, invest more and more in testing equipments and make the products they make as much?as robust as possible,?which are the fittest for usage in different environmental conditions.

Companies should invest more and more in product testing, invest more and more in testing equipments and make the products they make as much?as robust as possible,?which are the fittest for usage in different environmental conditions.

Then only they will reap the real benefits and improve the profitability, reputation, trust and will earn more business from their customers! And the customer will get the maximum returns?from his money spent. After all, customer satisfaction is what that makes a company make or break.?