PRODUCT VALIDATION & PRODUCTION

We will find and fix manufacturing issues faster through inspection and measurement and get them build on time in quality. 

PROTOTYPING : The Proto build is a small test run of key product concepts to gain confidence that they can work — potentially a combination of different form factors including looks-like and works-like.

• Purpose: to understand risks around specific modules or designs, usually with multiple variants in low quantities.

• Typical Quantities: 10 or fewer, sometimes no “full systems” are even built

• Exit Criteria: one design concept for the product that the team has reasonable confidence is three major iterations or less from a mass-production worthy design

EVT (Engineering Validation Test) : The EVT build is the first time you combine looks-like and works-like into one form factor, with production intent materials and manufacturing processes.

• Purpose: To select the production intent design, sometimes from a build matrix of options and to identify all of the issues that need to be fixed with that design

• Typical Quantities: 100 to 1000: Units must be fully functional and testable, made from the intended materials and with the intended manufacturing process, but may be from soft-tools (if you’re using 3D printed parts, it’s not EVT!). All functional test stations must be present and collecting data

• Exit Criteria: one production-worthy configuration that meets all of the product requirements for functionality, performance, and reliability

DVT (Design Validation Test) : The DVT build is supposed to be one configuration of your production-worthy design, made of components from production processes (and hard tools) and on a line following production procedures. I believe very few companies actually stick to this requirement — because even if miraculously there are no outstanding issues, there may be parallel efforts to cut cost or increase yields that create additional configurations to build.

If you do have functional, performance, or reliability issues that are driving Plan B and Plan C configurations at this stage, it can be costly because each of those alternates needs to be built in “full quantity” to ensure that design can be fully mass-production qualified by the end of the build. I believe that’s the real test for whether you are at DVT or not: if you are running side configurations of 20 units, you are fooling yourself, and should call it EVT2.

• Purpose: To verify mass production yields with one production-worthy design (one configuration for each shipping SKU) and to qualify the first hard tool for every part in the assembly

• Typical Quantities: 300 to 2000: All parts should be from hard tools or mass production capable processes. All functional test stations must be present with limits in place to understand true yields

• Exit Criteria: high confidence in all corrective actions for any issue that causes unacceptable yields on units using mass production parts made from mass production tools.

PVT (Production Validation Test) : PVT is the “last build” — the units you are building are supposedly intended to be sold to customers, if they pass all of your test stations. PVT typically transitions directly into Ramp and Mass Production, or a Pilot build with no time gap.

• Purpose: to verify mass production yields at mass production speeds

  • Validate and qualify additional tools needed to support quantities for early ramp

  • No parallel experimental units allowed (I have never seen this actually happen, but it is a goal that should be driven to for as long as possible)

• Typical Quantities: 1K to 20K: All units are intended to be sold to customers and the build is potentially phased — red, yellow, green is common — indicating “maturity” of the production process, which includes a combination of operator training level, line speed, and line yield

• Exit Criteria: mass production yields at mass production speeds on at least one line, and replication to other lines already started.

RAMP UP & MP (Mass Production) : PVT flows immediately into the phase of the program called Ramp, where parallel assembly lines are being brought up to increase daily output volume. Mass Production is a super-set of Ramp and the sustaining production that follows.

• Purpose:

  • Bring up multiple lines in parallel to support high volume

  • Continue to improve ongoing yield

  • Qualify additional tools or vendors

  • Make design changes based on returns, Early Field Failure Analysis (EFFA), or cost down efforts

Contact us at sales@neuuinc.com for your project to be designed, tested and built!