DESIGN CAPABILITY AND THE COSTS OF FAILURE

In this paper, recent advances in the analysis of products for assessi ng the consequences of design decisions on quality of conformance are presented. The approach, called conformability analysis, uses estimate s of likely process capability levels and likely failure severity to a pproximate the costs of failure in production and service, associated with non-conforming design characteristics. Improvements in estimating process capability are discussed and the correlation between the esti mated values and shop-floor capability levels is reported. A case stud y is employed to illustrate how the analysis can be used in new produc t development and the benefits that may accrue from its applications.