The Cost-Effectiveness of HASS Testing: Why It Pays to Invest in Product Reliability

Monday, June 24 2024

Manufacturing upsets or supplier disruptions are innate to product manufacturing, particularly in the early life of a product or during volatile supply chain or market conditions. Unfortunately, this is when failures in the field can be least tolerated and can result in enormous problems for any company. Effective testing prior to shipment drives safety and integrity for the end user, and this is where Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS) comes in.

Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) is a critical precursor to HASS testing. The combination of these test methodologies provides a solid foundation for your advanced reliability strategy. In addition to significant reliability improvements, companies stand to gain valuable cost benefits by deploying these tests.

In this guide, we’ll answer questions like, “What is HASS testing?” and “How do HASS tests deliver long-term cost benefits?” Read on to learn more.

What Is HASS Testing?

HALT is deployed during the design/development stage, while HASS comes later, during production. The goal of a HASS test is to expose failure modes that have been introduced by product or supplier changes, or shifts in the production process.

The Long-Term Cost Benefits of HASS Testing

HASS testing is uniquely valuable in industries that have extremely high cost of failure, such as automotive, aerospace, defense, and medical electronics. Here are the biggest reasons why investment in HASS pays dividends in both the short and long term.

1. Avoid the Dreaded Product Recall

The cost of product recalls can be the among the most extreme warranty costs a manufacturer faces. Costs can quickly and dramatically mount as the effects of a recall ripple through a company’s marketplace.

High profile reliability issues in critical applications make it clear that new flaws or defects that might creep into a product, or might be introduced from your supply chain, must be captured during the manufacturing process. HASS testing reduces the risk of recall by catching problems before critical components leave your facility.

2. Reduce Your Warranty Costs

Warranties protect end-users from products that fail to live up to expectations. Ideally, nobody would ever make a warranty claim, but in reality, customers file claims all the time. It’s estimated that warranty claims eat up 2-15% of overall net sales, representing a substantial part of a brand’s profitability.

HASS testing helps reduce warranty costs by detecting defects before they leave the factory. This is because one of the fundamentals of HASS testing is to rapidly expose new product weaknesses by subjecting them to extreme thermal and vibration stresses.

So, what impact does this have on manufacturers?

• Fewer defective products reach end-users

• Lower replacement and repair costs

• Fewer product returns

3. Improve Your Customer Satisfaction Rates

Businesses often discuss the “customer experience” and how to improve it. Despite the modern age, old-fashioned values still reign supreme, with product quality still having one of the most substantial impacts on satisfaction rates.

Since HASS testing aims to achieve a higher level of reliability, it’s natural that manufacturers investing in HASS will see higher satisfaction rates. This increases the number of repeat customers and lowers your customer support costs.

Implementing HASS testing differentiates you from your competitors by highlighting your commitment to reliability, quality, and continuous improvement. It’s a strong selling point that can improve brand value in the marketplace while saving you money.

HASS Testing Drives Savings Across the Board

HALT and HASS testing are invaluable tools that drive manufacturer costs down. It reduces the risk of product recalls, warranty issues, and reputational loss.

Embrace the benefits of HASS testing to make quality more than a word. Contact ESPEC now to learn more about HALT/HASS testing.