A client's products needed to pass Underwriter's Laboratory (UL) testing, which is required for electronic products and products related to fire safety. UL certification of product performance and reliability was required to sell the products. With previous products, our client sometimes had to repeat the testing because the materials did not hold up. This resulted in product launch delays of up to four months.
We reviewed their design process and found that materials were being selected without consideration of all the performance and reliability factors that influence materials selection.
We worked with the client to implement engineering tools to help identify the factors that influence materials selection, to develop internal and external materials testing capabilities, and to develop a robust process for quickly determining the root cause of product failures. We also helped them identify and evaluate potential materials.
The changes to the engineering processes resulted in their products passing UL testing on the first attempt. Additionally, the time to develop products was reduced because of fewer struggles with design and supplier decisions related to the materials.
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Michael Pfeifer, Ph.D., P.E. is President of Industrial Metallurgists and a metallurgical engineering consultant with more than 30 years of experience in product design, manufacturing, failure analysis, and metallurgy training. He helps clients worldwide solve design and manufacturing problems and is the author of Materials Enabled Designs.
