More than 90% of R&D engineers have test equipment problems
Experiencing loss of sales and needing external technical support Virtually every company that designs and develops electronic products has experienced predictable delays and associated costs due to misconfiguration, maintenance or training issues with test equipment.
Keysight Technologies announced on the 22nd the results of a survey on the 'Business Impact of Test and Measurement Equipment Training, Maintenance, Technical Support, and Calibration'. The survey was conducted by Dimensional Research and targeted 305 R&D engineers from various industries including the mobile communications field.
▲ Time delays caused by test equipment problems
Financial damage to electronics manufacturers [Graph = Keysight]
Our survey found that 98% of R&D engineers have experienced workflow issues related to calibration and setup, equipment misuse, or equipment failure. 97% experienced delays that directly impacted lost business revenue, and 53% said they lost more than $100,000 per day while waiting for critical technical support issues to be resolved.
Fifty-nine percent of R&D engineers reported experiencing six or more issues per month requiring technical support, and 89 percent said their test teams can reduce these issues by accessing rapid test expert support and knowledge-based resources to perform their roles more efficiently.
“Electronics manufacturers continue to face pressure to shorten product development life cycles to meet time-to-market objectives,” said John Page, president of Keysight Global Services. “These companies can no longer afford to wait to resolve technical support issues related to test and measurement equipment; they need rapid, expert response.”
◇ Test problems are causing corporate losses, but they are difficult to resolve A majority of all companies experienced delays due to test equipment issues / 97% of respondents said they experienced project delays due to test equipment issues. Equipment failures requiring repair were the most common at 63%, followed by incorrect equipment configuration (56%) and equipment out of calibration range (50%).
Financial loss due to delays caused by test equipment problems / 53% of respondents said that delays in R&D work due to test and measurement equipment problems cost their R&D team more than $100,000 per day. 12% responded that they lost more than $500,000 per day.
Test and Measurement Equipment Issues Frequently Occur / 95% of respondents said they typically have to contact their test equipment vendor’s technical support team at least once a month. In addition, 59% of respondents said they experienced more than six technical support issues per month, and 13% said they experienced more than 20 issues per month.
The Business Impact of Equipment Problems / 53% of respondents said that test equipment not working properly had a negative impact on product yield. 47% said that buyers refused to accept their products, and 45% said that product returns increased. 28% experienced product recalls. This had a direct impact on quality control and reputation that was not easily restored.
The Value of Test-Related Expert Support Services / 90% of respondents said they would seek expert technical support from outside their organization. The most requested service was troubleshooting assistance (54%), followed by technical discussion and answering questions (53%), guidance on how specific tests or equipment functions work (49%), and calibration services (46%).
To help companies address these challenges, Keysight offers KeysightCare, a comprehensive and scalable test and measurement support model that provides proactive, dedicated support for instruments, software, and solutions for design and test engineers.
