Keysight Survey finds increasing complexities in achieving quality impact the bottom line

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 22, 2019 — Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS), a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, announced that Keysight Americas’ 19 service centers in the United States, Brazil, Canada and Mexico have received accreditation for the 2017 version of ISO/IEC 17025 by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), the largest multi-disciplinary accreditation body in North America. The company also released the Keysight Test Equipment Report which reveals the increasing challenges to achieving electronic hardware manufacturing quality and the impact of poor testing practices on the bottom line of businesses.

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What is the biggest challenge to maintaining product quality today? (Graphic: Business Wire)

ISO/IEC 17025 is the primary international standard for establishing laboratory competence and quality. The latest version of the standard to ensure calibration accuracy was published in 2017. ANAB assessors evaluate a laboratory’s ability to produce precise, accurate test and calibration data. As part of the accreditation ANAB assessment, the best accuracy (lowest measurement uncertainty) is established for each measurement parameter in a scope-of-accreditation. The scopes for all Keysight laboratories can viewed at: www.keysight.com/find/accreditation. The scopes for these 19 laboratories can also be viewed at the ANAB website: https://www.anab.org/ under Lab Related Accredited Organizations.

“Keysight metrologists and quality experts work with and inside standards committees to ensure we meet evolving calibration standards in our laboratories,” said Tom Ludden, general manager of Keysight's Managed Services Division Americas. “Keysight strives to provide our customers with accredited calibration services so they can manufacture the highest quality electronic hardware.”

Keysight Test Equipment Report Highlights Connection Between Quality and Bottom Line

The Keysight Test Equipment Report is based on a survey conducted by Dimensional Research consisting of 306 participants that use test equipment for ensuring electronic device quality and testing. The survey sought to understand the current challenges for achieving electronic hardware manufacturing quality.

According to the survey, 64% of respondents confirmed that ensuring product quality is growing more difficult due to the increased complexity of electronics, and the corresponding complexities of testing required to measure quality. Respondents reported that quality challenges originate from growing customer demands and tighter tolerances to increasing manufacturing complexity and pace.

“The survey demonstrates that electronic hardware manufacturers are faced with numerous challenges to ensure quality and that achieving that quality is difficult due to the complexities of today’s electronic products,” said John Page, president, Keysight Global Services. “Respondents report that product quality issues can directly impact the bottom line by increasing costs, stalling market momentum and disappointing customers.”

Product Quality Issues Hit the Bottom Line

While extreme product quality issues can make headlines, 92% of survey respondents said that they suffer significant business impact from error-prone test equipment. Survey respondents report that quality issues frequently impact the bottom line, citing increased costs to repair or dispose of defective products and lost business, potential lawsuits and regulatory penalties, as well as lost time-to-market or market advantages, damaged customer relationships and a tarnished brand.

Looking further into quality issues, survey respondents reported that testing equipment that is out of calibration has caused product rejection, recalls, loss and returns. Further, 49% of companies surveyed said that they lose $100,000 or more for every 1% of yield lost.

To download a complimentary copy of the Keysight report, visit: https://about.keysight.com/en/newsroom/pr/2019/22may-nr19071-report.pdf.

An infographic about the report is available here: https://about.keysight.com/en/newsroom/pr/2019/22may-nr19071-infographic.pdf

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) is a leading technology company that helps enterprises, service providers and governments accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world. Keysight's solutions optimize networks and bring electronic products to market faster and at a lower cost with offerings from design simulation, to prototype validation, to manufacturing test, to optimization in networks and cloud environments. Customers span the worldwide communications ecosystem, aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, semiconductor and general electronics end markets. Keysight generated revenues of $3.9B in fiscal year 2018. More information is available at www.keysight.com.

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