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Design Process and Control
Benchmark Electronics Design
Services has had an ISO certified Design process in place for over 10 years.
The structure of the design process is based on the traditional waterfall
methodology as outlined in the figure.
Design Process and Control
The process starts by
generating the User/Product’s set of needs that are documented as the features
of the system. This is typically described by documenting the intended use of
the device to be designed.
The Design Inputs or Requirements phase is the
next critical point. The basic form fit and function are determined and then
broken down to a list of requirements. These can then be partitioned into:
- Electronic Requirements
- Software Requirements
- Mechanical Requirements
- Environmental
Requirements.
Benchmark typically documents the Design Input
in a Requirements Specification and is adept at converting and documenting
informal and even verbal requirements. Benchmark often provides this activity as
a service to our customers. The design input, whether formal or informal,
results in a list of “SHALLs”. These can be:
- Directly Stated
- Derived by the Design
Engineer from Stated Requirements
- Referenced by a Stated
Requirement to another document
- Referenced to an Agency
specification
It is the design engineer's responsibility to
generate a design which complies to this list of SHALLs.
The design process produces many documents,
which have various names and means of subdivision and organization, but most are
similar to the Benchmark Design Specification and Test Plan.
These design inputs are used for the product
Design and the generation of the Design Specification. The Design Specification
converts the raw requirements to detailed and parametric specifications from
which a design can be generated.
Also generated is the test plan which provides
test procedures and pass/fail criterion linked through the design specification
to the requirements document. This linkage is usually called Requirements
Traceability and the tool often used to demonstrate this linkage, is a
Requirements Verification Matrix.
These outputs combined with
schematics, software code, PCB databases, Mechanical models, etc. are the
resultant of the design activity and are the Design outputs. All Design outputs
combined together results in the Final product.
Design Reviews are a required part of all
Benchmark Design Projects and the review board consists of the design team,
independent reviewers and usually the customer. These give the design team
benefit of the review board ‘s aggregate experience and ensure that the required
level of rigor and design discipline has been used in the execution of the
design process.
Design Verification /
Validation
The Verification and
Validation Process is a methodology used by Benchmark Development Teams to prove
conformance to product features and design inputs/requirements.
Design Verification confirms that the results
of the design process meet the design requirements. Design Validation ensures
that the resultant device or product performs the intended function.
The Test Plan provides the various methods to
prove conformance to the requirements, which include:
- Inspection/Audit
- Analysis
- Review
- Test
Inspections or audits can be performed by the
design team, an independent team or the customer. These run the gamut from
ensuring compliance to process through determining “as designed / as built”
criterion.
Analysis is usually performed by the designer
and offered in support of a statement of compliance or in defense of the design
during a review.
Test is the most visible method used in the
verification process. A series of electrical, mechanical and environmental
stimulus is applied to the design or it’s subsystems and the responses are
measured and judged for compliance to the specifications and requirements.
Benchmark has well equipped engineering laboratories associated with all
development sites available to perform most bench level electronic tests.
Benchmark also has a 6 axis Halt / Hass Chamber to perform Life Tests and
Screens as required by the development plan.
The Benchmark documented, revision controlled,
audit certified process meets the requirements of ISO9001, ISO13485 and TL9000
and is used extensively at Benchmark Electronics. Since Benchmark is a customer
driven organization, this process can be easily adapted to meet the requirements
of our customer processes or we can also change our methods to work completely
in the bounds of your organization.
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