Case Study 4: Product Verification Testing

Our client’s product failed Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) testing.  Our client was prepared to have the failed samples analyzed to determine the root cause of the failure.  In a brief discussion we found that the components used to make the product were not prepared using production processes and also used materials that were not going to be in the final product. 

We concluded that the entire UL test was a waste and that the test should have not been performed.  Furthermore, we decided that any further analysis of the failed samples would not be of much value since the samples were not a good representation of the intended product.

We recommended that the test be repeated with the proper materials and processes.  Also, we recommended performing metallurgical examinations of the samples regardless of the test outcome.  The information from such analyses provides a benchmark for the materials properties and how they relate to the materials’ performance.