The Economics of Automatic Testing

Engineering is… “the art of doing that well with one dollar—that any bungler can do with two—after a fashion”.

This famous definition by Arthur Wellington*, the father of engineering economics, says it all. This book takes that premise, shows how it applies to testing decisions in electronics, shows why full life-cycle costs need to be determined, shows how to make all of the calculations and then shows how to present a case to senior management in terms they understand.

Originally published in 1994 the book remains up to date because it is not about defect rates, labour rates or test technology—the things that constantly change—it is about managing the potentially conflicting issues of cost, quality, time-to-market and technology adoption, by using engineering economics and life-cycle-cost analysis, so that optimal decisions can be made about incredibly complex technological issues in design, manufacturing, test and the field—none of which has changed. These core concepts and the calculation methods have changed in only one respect—it has become more important than ever to use them!

Citation (April, 2011): Norman Pascoe. “Reliability Technology: Principles and Practice of Failure Prevention in Electronic Systems.” Based on course notes from an MIT class. Published April 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

“An excellent account of the technology, economics and associated advantages of using ATE is provided by Brendan Davis. Although Davis wrote this comprehensive work on the economics of automatic testing over a quarter of a century ago, the value of its contents has not in any way diminished with time.”

Note that Mr Pascoe’s reference to a “quarter of a century” shows that he is referring to the 1982 edition of the book rather than the much expanded and improved 1994 second edition!

*Arthur Wellington, The Economic Theory of the Location of Railways – Pub 1887